A little over a year and half ago Instagram announced that users will start to see the "occasional ad" on their Insta feed. In order to allay fears of a facebook-esque advert takeover, the company assured gramers they would "start slow." Unfortunately, this did not prevent the anti-capitalist rhetoric, and a few disgruntled users began the #boycottInstagram movement. Luckily for Instagram this campaign gain very little traction as the company were true to the word and this process was indeed very slow at first. In fact, I admired the companies transparency and honesty. As they said the Ads were few in number and were "beautiful, high-quality photos and videos from a handful of brands that are already great members of the Instagram community." Put simply, my user experience was virtually unimpeded but the advent of the monetisation of the photo-based social network. But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and sadly, the end is nigh!
Over the past month, I have noticed that one or two ads every two weeks has turned into one or two a week! Now, as marketer I am all for new innovative ways for companies to reach their audience and achieve brand objectives. I just think they need to clever about it! Instagram claim that they have "worked hard to focus on building a quality experience for businesses and people alike, listening and learning from both [their] community and partners." But apart from once being asked on my feed whether I minded seeing sponsored Ads, personally I don't feel as a user my opinion really matters. Social media is exactly that ,"social", so people will naturally be hostel to those who try to commodify it i.e brands! The potential to reach even small of portion of Insta's 300 million users is tempting for any company, but they need to look beyond number and focus on the users themselves. By doing this they can then ask themselves the question "What do users want to see from us?" As daunting as this question my seem for brands big and small alike, it is far from complicated.
My advice to companies using Sponsored Ads;
1. Make it organic! If you have taken your social presence seriously, then you would already have an Instagram account with followers who choose to view your images, videos and promotions. So all they need to do is look at what your followers have liked and commented positively on and use this as guide for your Sponsored Ads. Firstly, this should ensure that you are not alienating existing users by showing material that have already 'liked'. Secondly, you have an ad which, in some respect, has proven success with your followers so when it is shown to non-followers, there is a better chance that they too will like it.
2. Content marketing not traditional advertising. Consumers are blind to the traditional marketing tools. They are immune to the "here is my product and here are its attribute" type of adverts. Marketers need to create "content" that will get their attention. Content marketing is all about communicating with your customers and prospects without selling them anything. It is non-interruption marketing. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are engaging, informing, or entertaining the consumer. The aim of this approach is to enrich the consumers lives and in return they reward you their custom and loyalty. So use the different tools available on the social platform such as 15 sec videos to make content thats spark debate or excites your audience!
3. Be imaginative! Never be afraid to think out- of-the-box. On Instagram you can make slide shows or videos to bring your content alive, so it might be worth having a coffee with your creative director (or hire one!). Another way to engage the prospect is to have a click through. Instagram have now introduced clickable links which not only helps with measuring the ads impact, but gives you the opportunity to delight your customer by creating an immersive landing page!
Look, brands and celebrities put out meaningful content on the social network to communicate with fans and consumers. So make you do the same when it comes to advertising and you will avoid the fire and pitchforks!
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