In an effort to increase its revenue while also giving advertisers new opportunities Instagram has revealed that it is testing out some new ad options as we approach the holiday shopping season.
Although we doubt that all users will find these additions to be welcome.
The first page of Explore will now include a new ad unit in the content feed as part of Instagram’s addition of new ads.
This option provides another means to reach IG users ‘in the earliest stages of discovering new content they care about’.
With a potential to have your products included in the app’s main explore feed, it might be something to think about.
Instagram’s also testing ads in profile feed – ‘which is the feed experience that people can scroll through after visiting another account’s profile and tapping on a post’.
So now, if you check out someone’s profile, and tap on a post, you’ll also be eligible to be served ads in that dedicated stream of their content, essentially inserting ads into another surface in the app.
Instagram’s also testing what it’s calling ‘Multi-Advertiser Ads’, which will display more promotions from similar businesses to users after they’ve engaged with an ad.
Finally, Instagram has also started an open beta for its AR Ads, which will appear in the app’s feed and Stories.
As seen below, Instagram’s AR ads, which are built on the Spark AR platform, will enable users to engage with their ad content, which might involve arranging virtual furniture in their home or testing drive a car in the app.
Which, according to Meta, will help companies match with future engagement shifts.
These are some interesting ad considerations, but they will also result in a lot more promotions being squeezed into your Instagram feeds, which, as previously stated, are unlikely to be welcomed by users. However, with parent company Meta under increasing pressure, Instagram must also play its part.
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