Instagram Introducing Carousel Ads

Instagram app service reached its peak in 2012 when Facebook paid almost 1 billion dollars to acquire it, at the same time leaving no doubts to anyone whether it had any revenue potential.  

At that time, it had over 200 million activeInstagramers worldwide using the app every month. Given its popularity, especially amongst the younger generation, let’s take a look at its marketing potential. 

Similar to Facebook’s multi-product ads, advertisers can now showcase multiple photos at once in a sponsored Instagram post. Last Wednesday Instagram announced the launch of carousel ads, allowing users to swipe through a series of photos in one click-able ad. This is coming out on a limited basis over the next few weeks and is only for advertisers, not organic users (as yet). Instagram said these advertisements will also feature a new ‘Learn More’ button which will link users to a dedicated website of the advertisers' choosing. The move comes after Instagram first debuted photos ads in 2013, before rolling out video ads in 2014. 

Instagram helps brands share stories through imagery. And since they started offering a way for advertisers to reach people on Instagram in 2013, as the company heard from marketers that they want to tell sequenced stories in beautiful, compelling ways that lead to meaningful results for their businesses. 

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Instagram’s Global Head of Business and Brand Development, James Quarles, said, “Users see ads on Instagram and ask where they can find [products], and businesses want to help them learn more.” "We've heard from marketers that they want to tell sequenced stories in beautiful, compelling ways that lead to meaningful results for their businesses," Instagram said in a Wednesday blog post. 

"We've also received feedback from the Instagram community that they are interested in learning more about a brand or product after they have been inspired by a sponsored photo or video." Enter "carousel ads"  a new way for brands to share more content with people interested in their posts. 

If you like what you see, you'll soon be able to swipe left to view additional photos from the advertiser. If you don't care, simply scroll past the ad in your feed and ignore it, just like you normally would. Instagram said these new ads are kind of like multi-page print campaigns for mobile phones, with the added benefit of being able to navigate to a website to learn more. 

 "A fashion company could use the carousel to deconstruct the individual products in a 'look,'" Instagram said. "A car company might share an array of different features of a vehicle and provide a link to learn more about the new model. Or, an advertiser could showcase how multiple ingredients come together to make a delicious meal." 

According to Instagram they received feedback from the Instagram community that they are interested in learning more about a brand or product after they have been inspired by a sponsored photo or video. Carousel ads give brands more flexibility in telling their stories by allowing people who view their ads to swipe left to see additional images and link to a website of the brand’s choice.  

One way to look at it is carousel ads bring the potential of multi-page print campaigns to mobile phones  with the added benefit of taking people to a website to learn more. For instance, a fashion company could use the carousel to deconstruct the individual products in a ‘look.’ 

A car company might share an array of different features of a vehicle and provide a link to learn more about the new model. Or, an advertiser could showcase how multiple ingredients come together to make a delicious meal.