Off the back of the newly introduced advertising policies from social media powerhouses, Instagram and Facebook, we endeavour to take a look at the new role of mobile advertising and what it all means.
Instagram Adding Sponsored Ads
We refused to believe the rumours, but Instagram has officially begun its run as the latest social media channel to profit from online advertising. As you absentmindedly scroll through your lengthy list of photo updates from the day, you will undoubtedly find yourself looking at many of your favourite products and brands without realising it.
Using the tag ‘sponsored’, the image based media rolls out adverts across its US, UK and AUS markets, from companies including, Instagram, StarBucks and Michael Kors. As well as, some home grown favourites with Australia being targeted by their favourite sandwich spread, Vegemite (Marmite’s alter-ego down under).
The adverts are designed to be non-intrusive, as they have been handpicked due to the brands active nature, content creation and association with audiences, based on location, gender and age within the Insta community.
The ads themselves will look and feel just like the photos your friends are posting, while being just as creative and engaging (of course). With the added element of user control to ‘Learn More’, to allow users to hide the advert, provide feedback and outline any questions you might have about your privacy and how it all works.
Facebook Opens Mobile Ad ‘Audience Network’
Do not panic, this is not another clever roll out from Facebook that will fill your newsfeed with adverts, that until now each dollar Facebook earned meant annoying its own users.
Instead the latest from the social media camp, after announcing its mobile ad network back in April, is the officially launch of the ‘Audience Network’. Effectively Facebook’s way of simply extending its own advertising, by leveraging its personal data trove for targeting without cluttering its own service with any more ads, across mobile apps to increase relevancy for people, yield for publishers and results for advertisers.
Who benefits? Well the app aims to give developers an easy option for monetisation by hosting Facebook’s ads, while letting advertisers get in front of more people in a certain demographic more frequently than if they could only reach people on Facebook. Welcome to the cross-platform platform.
So What Does It Mean?
A number of things potentially, it either means social medai channels like Facebook are finally listening to users about the quanitity and quality of advertising clutter that continues to consume our newsfeeds, or have realised that there is an untapped means to make more money. Either way, we couldn’t be happier! Mobile advertising is on the up-and-up my friends, get ready for some serious developments!