Although it was only a matter of time before advertising opportunities arose for businesses looking to capitalize on the popularity of Instagram, how effective such advertising will be among consumers who may not be accustomed to seeing brands they don’t follow in their feeds is a popular topic among social media users and marketers alike. Additionally, how branding and advertising opportunities will affect other social media outlets, such as Facebook is an important topic. As it grows in popularity ads offer a quick, concise method of interaction, sharing and consumption of messages, the social media platform and new advertising opportunities for brands is an exciting topic that may be effective for many companies.

Adding advertisements through Instagram, targeting users right in their feeds, is something that is not new to social media. Instead, users have been bombarded by messages they never asked for in other social media channels, such as Facebook and twitter. As a result of the influx of social media advertising, the introduction of such messages are being scrutinized by marketers and consumers alike, who wonder how such messages will affect audience interaction and how they will affect the way advertisers use other social media for their marketing needs. Will companies looking for fresh ways of reaching their audiences leave or allocate monies used for other social media advertising and allocate more into trying Instagram advertising? Will the influx of advertising affect the way social media users consumer and interact within those outlets?

Facebook advertising has been noted by consumers to be disruptive to their feeds and sometimes not as targeted as they’d like, offering advertisements and messages they find irrelevant. On the other hand, brands taking advantage of Instagram’s new advertising offerings that will be featured within consumer feeds are characterized by enticing, exciting and compelling images and videos that catch the eyes of consumers and garner shares and interaction.

Instagram Advertising and Facebook

Because Instagram is owned by Facebook, tying the two platforms together in an effort to better target Instagram users is something that is vital to making the most out of new opportunities on the image sharing network. Because less information is collected and highlighted on Instagram, using Facebook to help advertisers is an important part of making the new branding offerings more effective than if Facebook was not used to gather and utilize important information. Additionally, the methods tried and executed by facebook give Instagram leverage that can use much of the trial and error already perfected by the parent social media avenue.

Using information already gathered and the knowledge obtained through Facebook advertising, Facebook can help push more brands to find Instagram’s advertising opportunities more enticing, furthering their social media advertising efforts and continuing the build the importance of social media advertising among businesses and brands. By taking advantage of the popularity and number of eyes consuming information, images and video on Instagram, facebook can tap into the hip factor that has driven so much growth among the image based social media outlet.