Instagram introducing ads on Stories

London - Image-sharing platform Instagram is introducing ads on its Stories format, which allows users to share a series of photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours.

Launched last August, Instagram Stories is used by more than 150 million Instagrammers daily and Instagram states that 70 percent of people on Instagram follow a business, with one-third of the most-viewed Stories so far having been produced by businesses.

To capitalise on the success of the format, Instagram has said it is testing full-screen video ads within Stories with 30 global advertisers including Asos, Yoox, Mulberry, Louis Vuitton, Nike, Maybelline New York, Airbnb, and Netflix.

The ads will be tagged with text reading "sponsored" and they will be a maximum of 15 seconds long. Brands and retailers will initially be able to use targeting, reach, and measurement capabilities such as broad 18+ men and women in the US. But it has added that it will expand its targeting to other outcomes, such as a certain number of users swiping up on the ad to visit a website or to download an app.

In order to give advertisers measuring tools, it also announced that its Business Tools dashboard will now include analytics about Stories, including the reach, impressions, replies and exits for each individual story.

“We’ve seen a great deal of success over the past year with landing our brand messaging through video content formats, which are naturally engaging and emotive ways to speak to our audience, and have been impressed with the early signs of success we’ve seen with Instagram Stories,” commented Leila Thabet, content and engagement director of Asos on its success using the platform. “We’re eager to be able to showcase how Instagram Stories will help drive brand awareness and engagement amongst new audiences and continued international growth in 2017.”