Instagram Rolls Out Branded Content Ad Format – How Online Marketers Can Take Advantage of It?

Great news for online marketers!

Instagram has rolled out a branded content partnership program, which will allow marketers to promote their branded content and make the influencer marketing process more transparent. This feature connects online advertisers and influencers on a deeper level, fostering stronger relationships.

Instagram, now owned by Facebook, is working on the new ad format that will allow small businesses to sponsor influencers’ posts while giving them an opportunity to promote these posts as their branded content.

The new branded content ads format makes it easier for advertisers to pay influencers for promoted posts to increase the reach of their content and promote their branded content to a wider audience.

Until now, brands used to nurture relationships with micro-influencers and then leverage these contacts to promote their products and services with branded content. The downside of these posts was that they only reached the followers of the influencers and not the audience brands can traditionally target in their ads.

Thanks to the branded content ads, now marketers will be able to promote these branded posts just like any other ad campaign and reach a wider audience.

Instagram Branded Ads – What Does It Mean for Brands?

Brands are taking this new feature of the branded content as a great opportunity that helps them to overcome the challenges they usually face to promote their organic branded content. Online marketers are looking for more innovative opportunities to amplify branded content; Instagram is providing marketers an amazing opportunity to agencies and small businesses to promote their content to a wider audience.

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I can, so I did. This is @revlon newest campaign championing women's achievements, big and small. 💋 #icansoidid

A post shared by Gal Gadot (@gal_gadot) on Feb 15, 2019 at 9:16am PST

Brands on Instagram find different and interesting ways to cultivate relationships with influencers to promote content. But brands can’t see the posts which feature their products and services. This makes it more challenging for many brands to target and scale their organic branded content.

The new ad format of Instagram makes it easier for brands to promote their content with the help of influencers and widen their brand reach. Currently, the most effective influencer marketing content format is Instagram Stories that is gaining more popularity than any other type of content format.

More and more digital marketers are planning to increase their influencer marketing budget in 2019 and thinking to add Instagram as a crucial part of their digital marketing strategy.

How Can Marketers Take Maximum Advantage of this Branded Content Program?

Instagram is one of the top platforms for influencer marketing that brands are using to sponsor their branded content from celebrities and social media stars. It is a workable marketing strategy that can generate brand awareness, maximum engagement, and interest among your target audience.

By promoting their Instagram sponsored posts just like any other ad campaign, brands have greater chances of driving more engagement, likes, and comments. Instagram’s branded content partnership program is a result-oriented marketing strategy that allows brands to connect to new and engaged fans.

Why Instagram has expanded its Branded Content Program?

In 2017, Instagram released its first branded content tools to promote products and services without revealing their direct relationship to advertisers. These posts can only be seen by the influencers’ followers. Therefore, Instagram has come up with a solution for advertisers and influencers both and allow influencers to tag the brand name and clearly mention that it is a sponsored post.

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Excited to unveil the new @tudorwatch Glamour Double Date, live from Hong Kong. #BornToDare

A post shared by David Beckham (@davidbeckham) on Nov 14, 2018 at 8:40am PST

Instagram is offering more transparency and authenticity with their brand content partnership program by offering a tag which helps influencers disclose the brand name and marketers to check the performance of their branded content campaigns.

If a brand wanted to take the post from the celebrities and sponsors and invest more money to reach more and more people, it could not be possible within the old branded content partnership program.

Instagram wanted to prevent brands from fake influencers that have fake followers and engagement. When a brand invests on influencers who have fake following and engagement, chances are you won’t get the desired results.

All Instagram users will be eligible to join the partner program and make the most of this feature.

How Can This New Ad Format Increase Transparency between Influencers and Advertisers?

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Awesome evening at #sihh2019 with @montblanc. My watch is the Geosphere 1858. #Reconnect1858 @isabelifontana

A post shared by Hugh Jackman (@thehughjackman) on Jan 15, 2019 at 9:16am PST

There is no denying the fact that the Instagram’s move brings more transparency and authenticity among brands, influencers, and the community. Now followers of social media influencers and celebrities will get the idea that they are seeing sponsored content.

Authenticity in terms of genuine followers is also a major factor that helps advertisers ascertain whether it will actually yield substantial results if they collaborate with an influencer. What this means is that now Instagram will formalize the relationship between influencers and brands. Previously, this relationship was maintained outside Instagram’s ecosystem and brands had no option to verify the authenticity of the engagement stats provided by the influencer.

With the arrival of the branded ad feature, now advertisers will get real-time insights about the number of people reached and know if the influencer has used phony tricks to increase his followership. This would be a huge leap and secure brands from spending huge chunk of their ad spends on pseudo-influencers who have garnered fake fan base by exploiting the technical loopholes.

Is it equally beneficial for Consumers?

These sponsored posts benefit consumers, creators, and brands equally. Today’s consumers are very smart; they can instantly smell whether a content is sponsored or not. The new ad format allows creators to disclose the sponsorship and agencies and small businesses to increase their reach and give their content a significant boost.