Instagram has created a new advertising feature called “carousel ads”, which allows advertisers to promote their products by posting a series of photos that users can swipe through with links to the product or brand web pages.
This new style of advertising will allow brands to share further information about what they’re offering to users.
For example, if an automobile company decides to use the service to promote a new car then they could upload several different pictures of the vehicle (ranging from the exterior, interior and engine), and provide a link to their official website.
“A New Way for Brands to Tell Stories on Instagram”
Here is what the Facebook-owned social networking app said in a recent blog post:
“Instagram helps brands share stories through imagery. And since we began offering a way for advertisers to reach people on Instagram in 2013, we’ve heard from marketers that they want to tell sequenced stories in beautiful, compelling ways that lead to meaningful results for their businesses.”
“We’ve also received feedback from the Instagram community that they are interested in learning more about a brand or product after they have been inspired by a sponsored photo or video.
So, today we’re introducing a new format we’re calling carousel ads – a new way for brands to share more images with people interested in their posts.
Carousel ads give brands more flexibility in telling their stories by allowing people who view their ads to swipe left to see additional images and link to a website of the brand’s choice.
One way to look at it is carousel ads bring the potential of multi-page print campaigns to mobile phones – with the added benefit of taking people to a website to learn more. For instance, a fashion company could use the carousel to deconstruct the individual products in a ‘look.’ A car company might share an array of different features of a vehicle and provide a link to learn more about the new model. Or, an advertiser could showcase how multiple ingredients come together to make a delicious meal.”
Instagram users can expect to start seeing the new carousel ads over the next couple of weeks. At first Instagram will try them out on a small scale and analyse audience reaction.
Considering the number of users on Instagram, which Facebook acquired for $1 billion three years ago, it has been slow to offer new advertising features.
In December Instagram reported that 300 million people were using its service at least once a month, up 50 percent from nine months earlier.
This new feature may significantly ramp up revenue for the firm.
