How to see if your account can advertise on Instagram yet

Instagram is done testing; time to us their ad platform!

Instagram has made it easy for any company to advertise its products next to filtered photos of sunsets and brunch. Previously only open to a limited group of major brands in the U.S., as of September 30th, businesses of all sizes, in 30 different countries, can advertise on the social networking site.

The ad platform is running on the same technology that powers Facebook’s ad infrastructure. Similar to Facebook ads, Instagram advertisers can target their posts to specific demographics and personal interests. Instagram is boasting that its ads can achieve a variety of objectives — such as increase brand awareness, website clicks, app installs, and sales.

Instagram makes a case for advertising

To prove that the ads work, Instagram cited some examples of how the ads improved major brands in the last year and a half:

1. Gilt Group’s campaign drove an 85% increase in app installs
2. Furniture retailer Made.com saw a 10% increase in order value versus its benchmark
3. Game developer Kabam was able to acquire users who played longer and spent more

Instagram is also giving advertisers lots of options. For instance, while Instagram users can only post 15 second videos on the service, advertiser videos can be 30 seconds long. Advertisers can also post landscape photos (not just photos that fit in the Instagram square).

Creating new revenue through IG

Making advertising widely available will not only create new opportunities for businesses to promote themselves, but it’s also a significant step for Instagram, as it should create more revenue for the social networking service.

Instagram has a massive audience of 300 million people scrolling through their feeds multiple times a day, and if a product or an event catches their eye, the potential for advertising engagement is huge.

Brands are already taking advantage of this, forking over their money to the Facebook-owned Instagram and possibly, pulling people away from their selfies and into new sales.

To see if you have access to Instagram ads:

1. Go to Power Editor and click the Manage Ads tab at the top of the page.
2. Click on the left side of the page and click Create Campaign.
3. Click on the dropdown next to Objective and hover over Clicks to Website.

Bonus video:

Here is a great speech on the “Instagram Effect,” and how you can use visuals to accomplish your business goals:

#InstagramAds