Instagram has been testing full screen ads in Stories, one of its most popular extensions, for a couple of months. Now it’s here and all businesses have the ability to advertise in Stories.
As the official release states, “By optimizing for reach, you can show your ads to the maximum number of people in your audience and control how often they see your ads.”
Once you’re creating ads in Facebook’s Ads Manager or Power Editor, select “Reach” as your objective and “Instagram,” and then “Stories” as the placement. Use a photo or a video that is no longer than 15 seconds to pop up between organic Stories. You will be able to get the same insights and statistics as with any other Facebook or Instagram campaign.
So what’s the big buzz about? Why should businesses present on the platform give this new advertising placement a try?
Reach
More than 150 million Instagrammers watch and create Stories daily. This number will only grow considering that the addition to Instagram’s arsenal is relatively new.
Plus, the talk of the town is a rendition of 24-hour ephemeral content now available on most major networks. This is not a passing trend. Stories (on any platform) are here to stay.
Immersive experience
Stories ads will be full screen, meaning nothing can distract viewers from your sponsored content. Besides, users watch Stories to find out something new, exclusive, or intimate. They are in the mood to receive new information -- they are seeking it out. If done correctly, your ads (looking as native as possible0 will be viewed by a “warmed-up” audience.
Moreover, because Stories are short snippets, Instagrammers know that they have 10-15 seconds to spend on this content before it changes to the next thing. They are really, truly paying attention to what they are watching. Ten seconds of undivided attention on your product taking up the whole screen without being spammy -- now that’s an amazing offer.
Engagement
Because you get their full attention, people are much more likely to engage with your ad. Airbnb, which was part of the original 30 global companies testing Stories ads, “saw a double digit point increase in ad recall.” People were more likely to select Airbnb for their travel needs afterwards. Overall, it seems like the company was very happy with their investment, which has “made a measurable impact.”
Eric Toda, global head of social marketing and content at Airbnb, summarizes it best: “reach the right audience, in the right mindset, with the right story at scale has allowed us to achieve the results we were hoping for.”
It is interesting to note that, historicall, new features on social platforms stay off-the-limits for advertisers for relatively long periods of time. It took Facebook three years to start monetizing Instagram. Here, on the other hand, we can clearly see that Instagram can’t wait to monetize its young Snapchat copycat and strike while the iron is hot. The company is not afraid to drive some users away with advertising, which shows how confident they are in the proposition.
With this level of conviction, the only thing advertisers can do is to start shooting video in vertical format and taking advantage of the new Instagram advertising placement.
