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A Look at Ads on Instagram

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Re: A Look at Ads on Instagram

#11

Post by nemothekid »

jrockway wrote: post #7
wmeredith wrote: post #3

This is a really good looking ad. Do you know what the problem with ads like this is? They don't work. Ads that don't stand out, that blend into a seamless UX that allows a person to navigate a content company's media platform quickly in a goal-orineted manner; they don't fucking work. They get ignored. So the marketing company or the sales dept turns up the juice a little bit. They allow them to stand out a little m…

I'd like to see someone disrupt that. Ads are the only form of micropayment that is currently widely-available. If you solve the micropayment problem, you have a chance of shifting control from advertisers to consumers. I'd pay $0.001 to read your blog post. Of course, many companies like to double-dip, like the NYT with their subscription charges and ads, so I think ads are going to be around for a long time.

Should also highlight that these companies have a long history of double dipping. Like getting commercials on your $59.99 comcast subscription.

Re: A Look at Ads on Instagram

#12

Post by mcmoose »

kelnos wrote: post #6

I would gladly pay some yearly fee to be able to use Instagram (and most of the services I use often, really) ad-free. I really wish this was an option. I assume either a) it's prohibitively expensive to implement such an ability based on how much revenue they expect vs. lost ad revenue vs. lower user engagement due to ads lessening the user experience, b) people are less willing to pay to put ads on your service at…

I'd expect, also, that the users that are engaged enough and affluent enough to be willing to pay for such a service are also especially valuable as targets for advertising, to add to point b) above. I'd expect CPMs to be pretty profoundly affected by allowing that kind of option.

Re: A Look at Ads on Instagram

#13

Post by GBKS »

Interesting how both Instagram and Pinterest are starting this transition at pretty much the same time with a very similar approach (http://blog.pinterest.com/post/61688351103/planning-for-the-...). Tumblr is already down the exact same path of inserting native-looking content with a small "sponsored" label.

I'm sure big, sexy brands will have no problem creating some nice-looking visuals that will fit right in. Questions is for me whether this will ever work for the long tail of advertising that is currently tweaking their keywords on AdWords. Anybody have any insight or experience with this?

Re: A Look at Ads on Instagram

#14

Post by jasonlaramburu »

kelnos wrote: post #6

I would gladly pay some yearly fee to be able to use Instagram (and most of the services I use often, really) ad-free. I really wish this was an option. I assume either a) it's prohibitively expensive to implement such an ability based on how much revenue they expect vs. lost ad revenue vs. lower user engagement due to ads lessening the user experience, b) people are less willing to pay to put ads on your service at…

Agreed. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but having ads on instagram makes it feel somehow 'cheaper'

Re: A Look at Ads on Instagram

#15

Post by barce »

kelnos wrote: post #6

I would gladly pay some yearly fee to be able to use Instagram (and most of the services I use often, really) ad-free. I really wish this was an option. I assume either a) it's prohibitively expensive to implement such an ability based on how much revenue they expect vs. lost ad revenue vs. lower user engagement due to ads lessening the user experience, b) people are less willing to pay to put ads on your service at…

There's also a huge cost in supporting subscribers. I worked at 2 startups that supported subscriptions, and at least 50% of support was just around that. No subscribers at this point means keeping support costs the same instead of doubling them.

Re: A Look at Ads on Instagram

#16

Post by zek »

pwhython wrote: post #9

I just invented something (probably not). Voluntary Ad Photo Submissions™. Someone takes a photo of their friend drinking Pepsi. Posts it, tags the advertiser: @pepsi. Use a hashtag, whatever. Pepsi looks through their submissions, selects a photo they like and uses it for their Instagram ad campaign. BAM. Now it's a game. The "winner" is popular, they get the likes. Pepsi gets tons of free advertising from everyone…

perhaps even pay out a small percentage to the user based on the number of likes?

Re: A Look at Ads on Instagram

#17

Post by fsckin »

nemothekid wrote: post #11
jrockway wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to see someone disrupt that. Ads are the only form of micropayment that is currently widely-available. If you solve the micropayment problem, you have a chance of shifting control from advertisers to consumers. I'd pay $0.001 to read your blog post. Of course, many companies like to double-dip, like the NYT with their subscription charges and ads, so I think ads are going to be around for a long time.

Should also highlight that these companies have a long history of double dipping. Like getting commercials on your $59.99 comcast subscription.

I signed up for cable without previously experiencing it, and I honestly expected no commercials, since I was 'paying for it'. I was not a customer for very long.

Re: A Look at Ads on Instagram

#18

Post by thejulielogan »

wmeredith wrote: post #3

This is a really good looking ad. Do you know what the problem with ads like this is? They don't work. Ads that don't stand out, that blend into a seamless UX that allows a person to navigate a content company's media platform quickly in a goal-orineted manner; they don't fucking work. They get ignored. So the marketing company or the sales dept turns up the juice a little bit. They allow them to stand out a little m…

"This is a really good looking ad. Do you know what the problem with ads like this is? They don't work."

Actually, they do. They become part of the brand story. Whether you realize it or not, Instagram has evolved the SAME WAY as TV commercials in the Post-WWII world.

What started as TV shows sponsored by brands (the Coca-Cola Hour!) became magazine style ads interspersed between the show's content (TV commercials as we know them today).

Instagram started with entire channels sponsored by the brands (@NikeRunning) and now are moving to the magazine/tv commercial model of putting branded content between in-stream photographs.

This is not new. This does work. Stop fighting change just because you think "startups" are above it. They're not. Originality is the art of concealing your sources. Embrace that and just make it work as best as possible given your product + audience and get on with it.

Re: A Look at Ads on Instagram

#19

Post by prawn »

kelnos wrote: post #6

I would gladly pay some yearly fee to be able to use Instagram (and most of the services I use often, really) ad-free. I really wish this was an option. I assume either a) it's prohibitively expensive to implement such an ability based on how much revenue they expect vs. lost ad revenue vs. lower user engagement due to ads lessening the user experience, b) people are less willing to pay to put ads on your service at…

Or provide a paid app ($20-30 even) that handled multiple accounts better. Anyone working in social media would quickly buy this rather than log out and in all the time.

Re: A Look at Ads on Instagram

#20

Post by prawn »

zek wrote: post #16
pwhython wrote: post #9

I just invented something (probably not). Voluntary Ad Photo Submissions™. Someone takes a photo of their friend drinking Pepsi. Posts it, tags the advertiser: @pepsi. Use a hashtag, whatever. Pepsi looks through their submissions, selects a photo they like and uses it for their Instagram ad campaign. BAM. Now it's a game. The "winner" is popular, they get the likes. Pepsi gets tons of free advertising from everyone…

perhaps even pay out a small percentage to the user based on the number of likes?

I don't think they'd need to. Plus doing that and avoiding it being gamed would be a hassle.
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