Instagram, the video and photo sharing platform owned by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) attracted more than 200,000 advertisers over the past five months.
The company opened its advertising platform to businesses worldwide in September last year. It appears that Instagram is succeeding in its effort to transform itself into a sustainable and serious advertising business.
Instagram also demonstrated its ability to become a significant revenue contributor to Facebook. According to the company, 75% of its advertisers are located outside the United States.
Advertisers on Instagram are reaching their customers with ads that ignites different interests in the company’s community such as building awareness of book lovers about a small business, increasing downloads for a mobile gaming app, or selling concert tickers.
“People come to Instagram to be inspired and discover things they care about, and that includes content from businesses. In fact, 60% of Instagrammers say they learn about products and services on Instagram and 75% say they take action after being inspired by an Instagram post—like visiting a website, searching, shopping or telling a friend,” according to the company.
Advertisers get the results they want from Instagram
Advertisers on the photo and video sharing platform obtain the results they want from brand awareness to increased sales. Advertisers are combining relevant targeting with visual storytelling to gain new customers around the world. Instagram has a diverse global community and advertisers are getting meaningful results from their campaigns.
For example, Shore Projects, a small e-Commerce watch company based in London became a global business after placing successful targeted advertisements on Instagram. Shore Projects in now shipping its products to more than 100 countries. Retailers around the world are also selling its watches in store.
Instagram surpasses Twitter
The photo and video sharing platform said it will continue to expand its advertising formats and offerings. Take note that the company’s user base is growing rapidly. Last year, the number of its users reached more than 400 million, surpassing Twitter with more than 320 million users and 130,000 advertisers.
Instagram’s head of global advertising, James Quarles said, “The Facebook relationship has helped us grow our user base.”
The social network giant also helped its video and photo sharing platform attract advertisers because of its ad technology that allows advertisers target specific demographic groups. Quarles also explained that advertisers have the option to place campaigns on Facebook and Instagram.
“People can be creative in using the two together and run things across both platforms. That really hasn’t existed much in the marketing world,” said Quarles.
Last month, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg disclosed that 98% of the social network giant’s top advertisers have ads on Instagram.
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