Emerging Advertising Platforms: Instagram and Snapchat

The explosion in social media usage on a global scale has paved the way for many purposeful and interesting advertising interfaces. Companies like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn already have established paid advertising interfaces that many small and large companies readily incorporate into marketing mixes. Two recently new advertising platforms of note include Instagram advertising (or “Instagram for Business”) and Snapchat Advertising. Given the popularity and acceptance of the two social networks, their respective advertising platforms are expected to grow in usage as marketing departments learn how to best utilize the interfaces.

Instagram for Business

With more than 300 million accounts and 70 million shared posts, brands are highly incentivized to advertise on Instagram for Business (source: http://blog.business.instagram.com/). Simply put, Instagram advertising is intuitive and easy to use. Brands create Instagram accounts like any normal user and have the option of “sponsoring” certain posts to be used as advertisements. Sponsored posts can be recognized by a blue “sponsored label” at the top right of each photo or video post. Brands can cater their advertisement targeting based on various demographics, like age, location, sex, and other target market profiles.

Source: http://instagram.com/about-ads

Snapchat Advertising

Like Instagram, Snapchat has also boomed in global popularity. The photo sharing platform allows users to send pictures and videos to other users that automatically delete after a few seconds. The Snapchat Advertising platform is similar in nature. Brands first designate certain posts to be pushed as sponsored content. Next, said sponsored content is pushed to users within the “Recent Updates” section of the application, based on target audience preferences. Brands can advertise sponsored posts as “Stories” that can be replayed continuously by users. Whether or not Snapchat Adverting becomes an accepted marketing mechanism remains to be seen.

Source: http://adage.com/article/digital/snapchat-s-advertiser-messaging-service-tv/295473/

Is your business thinking about advertising on Instagram or Snapchat, or have you run across these ads yourself? Share your experiences in the comment section below, email us at [email protected], or tweet us @Perfect_Search!