4 Ways Instagram Ads Will Benefit Marketers

Instagram recently opened its ad API, and readily available Instagram ads can mean great things for marketers.

For quite a while now, Instagram ads have been something reserved for the most elite brands, those willing to spend the high costs and take the time needed to execute the programs. Now, as Instagram opens its API to the public, virtually any marketer will be able to reap the benefits of the Instagram ad platform.

These are a few of the benefits that marketers can begin enjoying thanks to this move.

Instagram Advertising (Obviously)

The first one almost goes without saying, but it is (quite obviously) the greatest benefit of all.

Now that the API is open to the public, marketers will finally have access to the hundreds or millions of Instagram users worldwide (in a very targeted way). Of course, it might take a little trial and error before finding an advertising sweet spot (as with most ad capability introductions, there is bound to be some resistance) but reaching specific users with a hypertargeted message is a major win for marketers.

Speaking of which…

Hypertargeting

The ability to pinpoint an audience by tastes, preferences and behaviors, and then craft messaging geared towards those criteria is an under-utilized benefit when it comes to social media and, more specifically, social advertising.

Now, on Instagram, marketers will have the ability to create messaging geared towards a specific group of followers of general users. No longer will there need to be sponsored content worked into a news feed in a clunky way (for example, comedy accounts sharing posts promoting iPhone covers) and marketers can focus messaging efforts on the users that actually want to hear them.

Detailed Analytics

Instagram analytics have been made available in some capacity before (with tools like Simply Measured, for example) but with a native analytics dashboard now available, marketers will be able to see exactly how their content is performing with their desired audience.

As any marketer knows, detailed analytics is something that any client, brand, or boss needs in order to justify a program’s expenses and progress. Now (presumably) there will be far more insights made available with Instagram that marketers are going to love.

Monetization

While the age of Instagram advertising is still quite young (nascent, really) it is fairly safe to assume that there will be aspects worked in that are designed to monetize the ad.

As with Facebook (e.g. register for an event, download an app, click to a website, sign up, etc.) there would really only be value to the investment in advertising (for some marketers) if there were some sort of mechanism built in that allows for a direct return on investment. While there are many ways of measuring ROI, capabilities like those outlined above surely aren’t too long for this new space.

Conclusion

There will certainly be a lot of excitement over the new ad platform (and capabilities) and a lot of these features and benefits will be rolled out over time. But the one thing that can be said for certain is that there is sure to be a great deal of benefits reaped for this new launch. It’s exciting to watch.

Do you plan on using Instagram ads? Tell us in the comments below!