Instagram has been careful in venturing into mobile advertising, worrying that it might upset its 300 million users. But on March 4th, 2015, it proudly announced a major change in its advertising strategy by introducing 'slideshow ads'.
Instagram never allowed URLs to be opened until now because it wanted users to browse photos, not the web. But as advertisers demanded more influence to lead "meaningful results for their businesses," Instagram for the first time is showing clickable links.
The clickable links is what advertisers hope in translating the "likes" they have into real world purchases. Advertisers never had this ability, until now.
The ads are shown in 'carousel' so it doesn't interferes with user experience. The ads can tell a story by allowing users to swipe through four branded images in sequence. Taking the analogy from non-digital media, the company makes its carousel ads similar to the multi-page advertising spreads in magazines.
"For instance, a fashion company could use the carousel to deconstruct the individual products in a 'look,'" the company said. "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."
In addition to images, advertiser can also send users to their website with a "Learn More" button that will open a URL in Instagram's internal browser. This would allow users to quickly navigate the pages, and return to the feed in a tap at the top bar.
"It's a great new creative canvas," said James Quarles, Instagram's Monetization Lead.
Instagram, owned by Facebook, has made some people worry that ads would destroy everything Instagram was known for. Refusing to render URLs as clickable links gave Instagram a 'smooth experience' that is not found on apps like Facebook and Twitter.
But for its part, ads are the source of revenue, the money ads generate is what makes the app, and the service, free for users.
Until now, Instagram's ads have been primarily made for advertisers seeking for influence, but not immediate sales. Ads on Instagram were emphasis, shown to make people learn more about a company, not necessarily purchase its product or sign up to something.
But as other social media networks are venturing more into mobile ads, the market demand has given Instagram no choice but to do the same.
"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," wrote the company in a blog post.
The carousel ads initially include photos only. But Instagram that already have video ads, is considering to allow videos in carousel too.
Instagram that was careful in releasing ads, have acknowledged that too much ads is not good, and will decay the 'culture' it has built for years. Successfully focusing on the company's growth, Instagram's CEO Kevin Systrom is the man responsible in giving the final approval on all ads allowed on the platform.
The Change Necessary for the Change
There are many businesses and typical users on Instagram. By showing clickable ads, brands and people that pay for showing ads on the platform would compete with those that aren't advertisers. This was a problem Facebook, Instagram's parent company, had until it tweaked its News Feed algorithm to prioritize people that pay so their ads are put above/more frequent than regular posts.
Facebook as the company who bought Instagram at a phenomenal price, is looking for more ways to make its investment worth its money and efforts. And for that, Facebook is carefully guiding Instagram, that is in its early transformation.
If Facebook's strategy works, brands and people that don't advertise won't find themselves at an advantage on the platform, giving them no choice but to buy ads.
So in contrast to what users have feared, Instagram has not flooded its feed with sponsored materials, but took a slow approach by limiting the number of advertisers, and taking the pains to ensure that those ads will aesthetically fit, without hijacking the user experience that people have long liked.