Facebook widens net to advertisers on Instagram

Come September 30, Instagram, the picture-sharing platform owned by Facebook, will open up advertising to allow all businesses to spread their message. David Paul Morris / Bloomberg

Instagram, the picture-sharing platform owned by Facebook, has taken another step towards greater revenue generation.

From September 30 the social media company will open up advertising to allow all businesses to spread their message via Instagram via longer ads.

The move will allow companies in the Mena region to target tech-savvy consumers where smartphone usage is relatively high.

“Instagram’s decision to extend its ads from 15 to 30 seconds will only increase advertisers appetite for Instagram partnerships,” said Tracey Grant, the head of media and broadcasting, Middle East and Africa for tech research firm IDC. “Social media participation levels are extremely high here in the UAE so it’s only logical that advertisers would want to access these users and keep them engaged with their brands for longer.”

Instagram would not answer how many users it has in the region.

“The Instagram community is now at 300 million and it has doubled year-on-year, with 70 per cent of users outside of the United States,” said Jonathan Labin, the business head of Facebook Mena.

“Mobile and visual media is a huge opportunity for marketers. Facebook and Instagram are 10 times bigger than any other platform on mobile. Facebook Mena has double the amount of video consumers than the rest of the world. With the smartphone proliferation in the Mena region we see local flower shops to telecoms becoming part of our messages.”

Facebook bought Instagram in April 2012 in a deal worth about $1 billion, and since then has been rebuilding its “back-end” – the hardware and software that provides a seamless experience – to include video.

Early advertising adopters, in the UAE include souq.com.

“Instagram advertising allows us to immerse the souq.com brand among a stream of powerful visuals and to feature our fashion and lifestyle products in an inspiring way,” said Sonia Lekhal, the regional marketing director of Souq.com.

“Instagram ad formats also offer strong calls to action supporting different business objectives. As instagrammers are mostly smartphone users, it is the perfect set-up to introduce them to the souq.com mobile shopping app.”

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