Instagram, a picture-sharing app which is owned by Facebook, is opening up its advertising to all brands by the end of this month.
Businesses of all sizes will be able to advertise on Instagram and the ads will be available in more than 30 new markets such as Italy, Spain, Mexico, India and South Korea. Until now campaigns were only available in eight markets.
UK director for Facebook, Steve Hatch, said: “The latest comScore mobile metrics data shows that Facebook and Instagram in the UK represent one in every four minutes that are spent on mobile. We’re now in a position to integrate Instagram into the Facebook interface, which makes it easier than ever for advertisers to do the things that we know we want them to do.”
The platform has been working with brands to encourage people to shop through the ads or play a game, for example, within the Instagram interface.
Instagram has also launched new features for the app, including a landscape format rather than the current square format. The length of video ads has also been increased from 15 seconds to 30 seconds giving advertisers a longer time to promote themselves in a creative way.
Instagram is pushing the marquee feature for brands too, which encourages one-day campaigns around a product launch. Three different ads are dropped into the feed at various times of the day.
Instagram states on its website: ‘We’re thrilled to make it easier for businesses of all sizes to reach people with more relevant ads on Instagram. We will continue to improve the feedback mechanisms within Instagram to give people greater control and improve the relevance of the ads they see.’
