Instagram is developing, but what does it mean for brands?

Instagram is updating and building upon its platform with new innovative developments, such as the integration of the Instagram API (Application Programming Interface).

Representing one of the fastest growing major mobile properties, Instagram is home to an engaged and authentic community with more than 300 million users. To further put this giant powerhouse in perspective, the mobile app shares on average 70 million photos per day and gives out 2.5 billion likes.

More importantly, the avid 13-24 year old users feel as though instagram has provided them with a platform to help define who they are through a 640px squared photo - pretty amazing if you ask me! Instagram as it stands allows their users to be visually creative, to find inspiration and to share snippets of their life, perspective and ways they look at the world.

On a more business-oriented level, Instagram poses an innovative opportunity for social advertisers to grow their brand. If you think about it, users on a global scale can engage with brands of their liking on a daily basis by following them, looking at new content uploaded, liking photos, sharing, commenting and visiting its website. In particular, we are seeing retail fashion, travel and automotive sectors rushing to get in front of the millions of users. The so called APIwill allow such sectors a further means to cross-channel and cross-publish content that is directly aimed at their target audience.

A prime example being high-fashion retailer Net-a-Porter, demonstrates just how influential Instagram actually is in building relationships with both existing customers and reaching new audiences that are interested in luxury brands. The instagram API test allowed Net-a-Porter to target very specific European audiences within 24 hours of their corresponding event. In return, the brand was able to drive awareness which resulted in Net-a-porter being able share outstanding fashion content with its customers quicker, easier and better.

With the API release, any company that is doing branding will be able to easily create, test, and optimise their direct response advertising campaigns on Instagram. Another few things that the API will be able to do include:

• Search tags
• Incorporate photos on websites
• View photos from specific locations in real time
• View popular and trending photos
• •Print photos from dvents and tags instantly
• Create compelling campaigns
• Market venues, events, brands and businesses
• Create event live feeds

Advertising campaigns on the Instagram platform have proved to be highly effective and can easily be managed alongside Facebook and Twitter. By doing this, advertisers are able to obtain some valuable information including performance, insights and management efficiencies. By leveraging the full capabilities of Facebook’s powerful advertising infrastructure on Instagram, brands can drive impact at scale across both platforms.

Lauren Musat
Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School