Last week, Instagram announced they would be introducing ads in the Explore feed.
It was one of two interesting new updates from the ‘gram, the other a new sticker that allows the user to start a group chat with people who engage with their Story.
Ok cool – another placement option. Why should you care?
Well for starters, more than 50% of accounts on Instagram use Explore every month.
That’s over 500 million accounts scrolling through influencers, food porn, memes and the occasional photo from that one mutual friend who you know, but don’t know well enough to follow them just yet.
Another reason to care is because people who use the Explore tab are actively searching for content.
”“It's where people go when they want to see photos and videos related to their interests from accounts they may not already follow.”
Instagram
Look, they probably don’t want to go there to see your ads. But at least you’re not interrupting their feed full of people they actually follow. #EveryoneIsInEuropeButMe2019.
The nature of how the ads appear will also help this placement feel less like an ad, and more like organic content.
Ads will only appear once the user has clicked on a post in their Explore tab and started to scroll.
Finally, it allows you to place ads in really contextual spaces.
For example, my Explore tab is almost exclusively full of NBA basketball content (go Bucks!). If I was to see an ad for the latest basketball sneakers or a jersey with my favourite player’s name on it, I’d be more likely to engage with that ad there, then most other contexts.
If you’re interested in reviewing or updating your Instagram strategy, drop us a line.
