The Evolution of Ads on Instagram

I signed up my personal IG account back in 2011. I remember it was beginning to be a topic of conversation as someone would ask “Do you have an Instagram?” a what? Back then, location didn’t exist, nor the capability of tagging someone else on your Instagram picture.

Instagram has over 700 million active users online. This may be questionable on how many users are actually active, but as a marketer you need to understand that this platform will continue to grow. According to Statista, Instagram had 300 million active users in December 2016. The growth of Instagram within 4 months was 400 million. That is crazy! No wonder companies are beginning to move to this social media platform.

Throughout the years, Instagram kept revamping its platform and making it new for the account user. Sometimes the new wasn’t quite the best move for Instagram. For Instance, last year Instagram decided to change its logo, and it caused an uproar with millennials.

Not only that, Instagram also evolved in allowing advertisements. In 2015, advertisements opened to all users instead of selected brands, and these ads began to be displayed on everyone’s feed. This was a huge jump for the business world of Instagram. After that, many businesses created accounts to allow growth. With the help of this increase, engagement on Instagram grew 10 times higher than Facebook.

Businesses began to find different ways to advertise through Instagram by paid ads and free ads. Wait…free? Yup! Although, with certain conditions. Endorsements on Instagram began to skyrocket. The condition? You have to give the endorser your product for free, and they post an image with your product. The description will either be a promo code or a shoutout, and it may even include the hashtag #ad.

Most of the time (okay, maybe 100% of the time) these pictures will have a promo code for the certain product, for example, here’s something I created with a coworker for AnyPromo, it would look something like this:

I know the promo code may not match with my “celebrity”, but that’s because you can actually use this following promo code from 5/10-5/12, and I want to make sure you save, order with us today!

Be smart about the Free IG World

As a marketer, you must have your company on Instagram (actually, every social media platform). If you need to represent your company through endorsement, then do it. Followers are always looking at the specific posts they follow, so if you choose the right endorser than you will have aimed for the right target audience.

I love to choose FabFitFun as an example, because their product is all over my feed. They target men and women who purchase health and beauty products. I see at least 4 of those that I follow endorse this product, including a promo code for their followers. Most of these celebrities have more than 40k followers, and if each of their posts receive around 10,000 likes then that’s 10,000 accounts that the product reached out to for only one endorser. If we use that same concept for the other 4 accounts that I follow, then it’s a total of 40,000 people that the product reached out to. The 10,000 likes represents the account I follow that has the least amount of followers and lease amount of likes, so the number 40,000 could be greater.

Samples are all the endorsers need to represent your brand. Even if it’s giving you a shoutout through Instagram. Instagrammers look up to their celebrity idol, and if your product is in the same picture with their idol, then your product will definitely catch the Instagrammer’s eye.

Free marketing also includes having your own account and promoting your own products. This will cost nothing, not even a sample of your product. All you have to do is put in the extra work to collect followers, likes, and comments. With more followers on Instagram, comes more revenue for your company.

Don’t Fall Behind On The Trend

You have to keep consistent with what is popular on the daily. Many marketers don’t realize that the word “hip” is actually no longer hip. The mode changes, and so do marketing strategies.

Before Instagram advertisements were allowed, driving traffic to a company’s website was hard. Your Instagram post didn’t have the capability of linking to your company’s website. Once ads were allowed for everyone’s use, Instagram made posts user-friendly to followers and allowed posts to link directly to a specific website.

With Instagram continuing to grow, businesses are starting to realize this. When I first started on Instagram, advertisements were never displayed on my feed. Today, a few scrolls down and I see a paid advertisement from a specific company that will show SPONSORED. Of course, your company may have to pay a high cost for this, but your ad will reach across many different users.

Don’t Think Less of Instagram

Sign up if you haven’t created an account. Stay consistent with it, and post images of your product. You’ll be bound to catch your customer’s eye, and attract new customers. Post on and join the rest of us Instagrammers.