Instagram Now Offers Targeted Advertising - Are You There?

One of the biggest social giants offers businesses a new tool to target buyers...but are you going to use it?

The orthodontist group that we work with has quite the mix of staff.  Some are mothers of teens.  Some are barely out of their teens.

The patients are quite the mix as well.  Most are kids coming in for their braces, but let’s not forget – their parents are just as much “customers” as they are.  After all, they are the ones with the money and the car.

This week, we had a great meeting and discussed some of the marketing initiatives that we’re rolling out for the practices.  We’ve been doing Facebook Dark Posts with them…but it’s time to engage a younger demographic.  So we’re rolling out new marketing campaigns with Instagram and Snapchat.

In this ever-evolving world, there are always new opportunities for marketers.  So let’s take this Instagram conversation to the next level.  Forget just MARKETING there.  Are you ADVERTISING there?

The photo-sharing app touts more than 300 million users.  Facebook bought the visual monster in 2012 for $1 billion.  Ads launched in late 2013, but the targeting capabilities have been pretty exclusive to select brands.  Until now.

It’s the first time that advertisers can link pictures to websites outside the app.  Let’s use the automotive world, as an example.  You can now share a picture of a happy couple with their new baby riding around in their brand new crossover with a “shop now” button that links them to the inventory on a car dealership website.

Big deal, right? 

This advertising beast comes with a new software platform which allows users to target, manage, track and measure all campaigns.  But the real beauty of it is in the data.

Advertisers can target based on interests and data that comes from Facebook itself. 

There was the initial fear that ads would ruin the user experience the same way that lousy photos of crappy food stick out like a sore and bloody thumb on Pinterest.  But the truth of the matter is that because it’s such a highly visual platform, the very audience consuming the ads will most likely end up being the judge and jury when it comes to ad performance.

It’s ripe and ready for the picking.  That’s why our team is diving right in with some HIGHLY visual ads and some killer targeting and tracking.

Because after all, it’s only a matter of time until the advertisers ruin it.

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Kyle Reyes is the President and Creative Director of The Silent Partner Marketing, New England's #1 Marketing Agency. We're a boutique marketing firm focused on helping businesses grow in an age of exploding technology. You can find him on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.