Source: TheDrum
Instagram has launched its hotly-anticipated new set of business tools, which will help advertisers on the platform better stand out from ordinary users and equip them with greater measurement capabilities.
Dubbed Business Profiles, the new offering is now being rolled out in Europe and will enable customers to use a ‘contact’ button to connect with brands on the image-sharing app. It will also provide companies with a mobile analytics suite called Insights that will package “actionable information” about shoppers in an easy-to-understand format.
A final tool called ‘Promote’ will let brands position well-performing posts at the top of users’ news feeds, which the Facebook-owned firm has said will allow firms “to reach new customers on the go using Facebook’s best in class targeting and measurement.”
200,000 advertisers are now active on Instagram, which only fully opened up its ad offering less than one year ago. The latest move has been designed to keep active businesses happy and encourage more to sign up, and was first teased via a blog post from the company a few months back.
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Facebook’s sister site is keen to work in tandem with small businesses, which make up the bulk of advertisers on the platform. Instagram’s EMEA head of brand development Amy Cole said smaller firms have been a “key part” of the Instagram community from the start and that many had turned to Instagram because it “makes it easy to connect with a relevant audience, anywhere in the world when they’re in a key mind-set of discovery.”
“Small businesses are some of the most creative and innovative in our community and it’s incredible how many businesses have grown using the platform. But we want to make Instagram work even better for them, so we listened carefully to their feedback to understand challenges they face, and the tools they need to drive real business results.
“With Business Tools now available across Europe, it will be even easier for small businesses to get insights, connect with new customers and promote their favourite posts straight from a mobile device.”
Instagram now has over half a billion users worldwide, with 80 per cent of its subscribers based outside the US.
