For better or worse, consumers seem to be remembering the ads they encounter on Instagram at a remarkable rate. In fact,
according to fresh analysis of Nielsen Brand Effect data, the social network is seeing average ad-recall rates of 18 points -- 2.8 times higher than Nielsen norms for online advertising.
The numbers were gleaned from around 700 of Instagram’s more popular ad campaigns from September to November of this year.
Among other happy brands, Sony Pictures was recently able to reach 23% more people in its target segment -- those who might have
an interest in the new thriller "The Perfect Guy" -- by adding Instagram to the existing Facebook placements.
Considering
its mostly African-American cast, Sony targeted the African-American affinity segment on Instagram.
Sony Pictures’
creative team also produced a video cut specifically for the Instagram platform in the square aspect ratio, and is now considering using this type of creative on both Facebook and Instagram in order
to improve the ease of executing across both platforms.
Instagram only recently began offering more sophisticated targeting
capabilities to advertisers. This summer, its ad technology finally started leveraging Facebook’s ads infrastructure -- something brands had long asked for.
The network is also testing new ad formats that achieve difference objectives, from Web site clicks to mobile app installs. Most
notably, Instagram recently began letting brands serve video ads of up to 30 seconds in length.
As such, Instagram is
assuming an ever larger share of Facebook’s total ad revenue. The network’s global mobile ad revenues will reach $2.81 billion -- or about 10% of Facebook's global ad revenues -- by 2017,
according to a recent eMarketer forecast.
If accurate, Instagram will then have higher net mobile display ad revenues than
both Google and Twitter. This year alone, Instagram will rack up $595 million in mobile ad revenue around the globe, eMarketer expects.
Marketers clearly appreciate the offerings. This year, 32.3% of U.S. companies with 100 employees or more will use Instagram for marketing activities, according to
recent findings from eMarketer.
That number will jump to 48.8% in 2016, and, by 2017, increase to 70.7% of U.S. companies,
eMarketer predicts. Instagram will then overtake Twitter for the first time in terms of popularity among marketers, if the forecast holds out.