Facebook Set to Form a Social Colossus

Marketers and close sources have revealed that Instagram advertising is set to be an inevitable part of Facebook’s social media dominance, one which could rack up $100 million per quarter revenue with the help of Facebook’s sales network. Whether the move gains legs in the next six months or the next 18 is still under scrutiny, as the go-ahead for Instagram ads to marketers is yet to materialise. However, industry insiders believe that CEO Mark Zuckerberg should hurry to ride on this year’s mobile advertising wave and maintain high profits into 2015.

Speculation

Although Facebook acquired Instagram more than two years ago for a cool £1 billion, the social media giant has done little to integrate the photo-sharing platform. Speculation surrounding a merge between the two channels has only recently surfaced, news which is already making waves amongst marketing professionals.

Sources claim that Facebook has bestowed the Instagram ads service to a handful of Fortune 500 brands, therefore a mass roll out in the future is unclear. However, if Facebook’s increasing quarterly ad sales (predicted to amount to £6 billion by the end of this year) are anything to go by, brands of all sizes are likely to be included.

A break for battered businesses?

The move could provide an advertising outlet for smaller businesses that have been hit hardest in the wake of Facebook’s algorithm shake-up, which has made organic reach difficult. After eight months of advertising testing on Instagram behind closed doors, these businesses could, in theory, start reaching out to potential customers – and produce millions in the process.
The very nature of Instagram lends itself ideally to the world of advertising. The visual platform, which currently has more than 200 million users, can be used by advertisers to seamlessly integrate brand awareness by utilising a little creativity – think Vine, Pinterest.

Watch this space; Instagram advertising is coming

With so many clear-cut advantages, it raises questions as to why Facebook has not monopolised on its £1bn purchase sooner. It is generally accepted that advertising on Instagram will happen, it is simply a question of when. If this news does turn into a tangible reality for business, Facebook will surely become a social media colossus, one which would be hard to beat! Has Facebook rightly adopted a ‘softly softly’ approach to preserve a user-friendly experience or have they been too tentative? Send us your thoughts