Many marketing agencies and social media specialists have seen a higher incidence of Instagram Stories ads in recent weeks. Instagram confirmed that it is experimenting with back-to-back Stories ads. The goal of the test is to determine the correct frequency of ads in Stories for the user experience.
A select and very narrow sample of users started to see back-to-back Stories ads from two different advertisers in Instagram Stories. Instagram wants to find out how users and advertisers will respond to this small test to determine the right frequency of ads in Stories.
An Instagram spokesman has pointed out that 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business, and ads are one way for them to learn more about brands and their products. The test could thus pave the way for more ads in Stories. Some marketers interviewed by Marketing Land reported that they have already seen an increase in sponsored messages on Instagram. According to them, advertising made up 22% of posts and 23% of Stories.
Kenshoo’s research also shows other interesting statistics:
- Last year, the amount of money spent on ads was growing four times faster on Instagram than on Facebook. According to data from the second quarter of 2019, however, the situation is changing and both platforms show almost identical growth this year.
- In the second quarter of 2019, the share of advertising spending in Stories in total advertising spending on Instagram doubled from 9% to 18% year on year.
- Advertising spending on Stories grew by 186% compared to the same quarter last year.
The extent to which advertisers sponsor Instagram Stories directly in the Instagram app, and to what extent their ads appear in stories through automatic placement, is not yet clear.
