Jess Flack’s Post

Imagine ads that blend seamlessly into your feed, offer genuine value, and spark your interest instead of interrupting it. 🤔 Maybe Instagram should think outside the box vs. forcing people to watch ads. it's a lazy approach to driving $$$. Stacked Marketer — Instagram is testing unskippable ads Another day, another ad type. And this time, they’re unskippable: Instagram is testing an ad type that blocks a user’s ability to scroll for a few seconds. For advertisers, that would certainly mean more opportunity for catching eyeballs… but it would probably annoy a lot of users, too. In a perfect world, these ads would be flawlessly targeted so they ease potential annoyance. But we don’t live in a perfect world. YouTube’s unskippable ads already fueled the rise of ad blockers, and it’s easy to see why: People don’t want to be forced to sit through an interruption they didn’t ask for. As it stands, there’s no news on when this will roll out, if at all—it’s only a test. But would it discourage people from using the platform? What do you think?

Hey #MarketingCommunity, something interesting is brewing over at Instagram 👀 They're experimenting with a new multi-advertiser layout that could see up to FOUR sponsored posts crammed in one screen between Reels. More details here 👉 https://lnkd.in/g_Ke3tri Now, before you hit the panic button 🛑, there’s an option for advertisers to opt-out from the Settings menu (Phew!). The big question, as always, is balance - while the new format could keep CPMs low for advertisers, there’s a potential risk of ad bombardment which might irk users and ultimately impact click-through rates (CTR). Industry experts seem to echo this sentiment - while brands might see an initial surge in reach and impressions, the novelty might wear off. And let's not forget user experience - too much of something isn’t always good, right? Admittedly, Instagram says the new function is aimed at providing users with ads from different advertisers all related to their interests, but only time will truly tell how brands and users will adapt. So, what do you think? Are these changes innovative or intrusive? And how could it affect your current #InstagramAdvertising strategies? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. #SocialMediaMarketing #DigitalMarketing - Casey Jones

Similar to YouTube, you might soon experience "unskippable" ads on Instagram as you try to scroll past them. Meta is slowly testing this -- so far I have not seen this in my account. Let me know if you are getting these types of ads in your feed and how you think this will impact the platform. Would love to read what you think! #Instagram #Metanews #Socialadvertising

Terrible UX. Bad idea if IG goes through with this. It also doesn’t seem beneficial from a brand perspective to the advertiser. I’m sure IG won’t take a hit, but it definitely will be one of the least desirable things about IG to users. Forcing someone to look at an ad seems counterproductive. If I was forced to look at a full ad, I would be annoyed in the moment and it wouldn’t make me any more intrigued or interested in the ad/brand I’m viewing. While it might work on YouTube, I don’t think IG is the place for this. One of the important things about social apps like IG is the ability to “control” more of your UX in the app.

Giving away something away for free, no strings attached, then eventually adding some strings (usually ads, sometimes subscriptions) when you have built your audience and decide you actually need to make some money is the preferred go-to-market approach for social media companies and other content providers. It makes sense from a business perspective but it's nonetheless strange that pissing off your users is part of the plan. And, as Instagram shows here, they are willing to really dial-up the aggravation if they need to.

⏱ While a formal product update hasn’t occurred yet, it’s been confirmed that Instagram is testing “ad breaks” that force you to stop and look at an ad for a period of time before you can continue scrolling. The experience being tested displays an “ad break” icon with a countdown timer that shows how long until you can get back to scrolling again.   Matt’s Hot Take™ - This could potentially have a major impact on several considerations for marketers. First, the obvious one is the impact to creative. Traditionally, the best practice was to assume you only had a few moments of a user’s time to grab their attention, so branding and messaging had to be front-loaded into paid content. Bringing unskippable inventory into the mix would expand the creative palette for brands to deliver messaging that is guaranteed to be viewed for more than 1-2 seconds. Also, because of the creative implications, marketers would also need to reconsider the role of the channel in their media mix. With the ability to serve unskippable messages, brands could look to Instagram to deliver more complex messages that historically would have been challenging to land on the platform. Now, while this all sounds great to marketers, we must consider that this would likely make the experience for users some factor less awesome and drive people off platform. This will be a fascinating story to follow but my personal $0.02 is that unless there is a clear value for consumers for sitting through an ad, users will begin simply closing the app and go scrolling elsewhere. #mattshottake #instagram #marketing Check out this week's newsletter where we also discuss how networks are effectively recreating cable via a number of streaming bundles that are beginning to hit the market: https://bit.ly/3yOvNyb Subscribe inside the newsletter link for more!

This one feels particularly dicey. Whilst non-skippable ads have been a mainstay on YouTube for some time, I can't see how this takes off on Instagram, where many are already commenting on increased ad load. There is inherently a different value-exchange when watching long-form, high(er) production value content on YouTube for example, vs scrolling on Instagram. Particularly when the feed is now ~50/50: following / suggested. The brief to advertisers should be: make better ads. #Instagram #SocialMedia

📢 Instagram has started testing a new advertising format 🛍️ This is a new product in Multi-Advertiser ad within Reels ads, which will be displayed between Reels videos. If a person is interested in a product or service, the platform will show them related sponsored posts from different companies, placing them in groups of 4 on a single screen. The update is being introduced gradually and is not yet available to everyone, and this feature can be уфішдн easily disabled by opting out in Settings. But advertisers' reactions are already mixed. Some claim that multi-advertising is beneficial for those who like to compare products and prices, and it may also lower costs and increase coverage. Others disagree: consolidating ads into one cluster, which is easy to ignore and scroll through, is not a great idea, and it might even negatively impact CTR and ROI 🙅♂️📉 🤔 So, which side are you on?

Instagram Users, Get Ready for Unskippable Ads - https://lnkd.in/gwtv9CRS Instagram is taking a page out of YouTube's playbook, rolling out a new type of unskippable ad format called "Ad Break."

Yesterday, Facebook and Instagram unveiled a $12.99/month paid ad-free subscription for their users in Europe. Should you fear it? Let's consider this: if someone is willing to pay $155 a year to escape ads, chances are they weren't engaging with those ads in the first place. In essence, this might not just be a challenge but an opportunity for marketers to reassess their strategies. Quality over quantity has always been the golden rule of effective advertising. This shift highlights the importance of creating meaningful, engaging content that resonates with our audience. As marketing professionals, it's a chance for us to elevate our creativity, relevance, and impact. In summary, the quality level required for advertisers will be higher from now on. Let's see who will survive. #facebookads #instagramads #metaads #digitalmarketing