Franchise News
TechCrunch: Instagram Stories Hits 150 Million Daily Users, Launches Skippable Ads
The social media giant is providing yet another way for advertisers to slip their messages into the app.
Instagram ruffled some feathers after launching its Stories features in August of last year, which strongly mimics Snapchat. Now, Instagram has hit 150 million users (out of 300 million) posting Stories, which are a series of images and videos that stay posted for only 24 hours. Looking to monetize this feature, Instagram announced today the launch of skippable ads mixed into users’ Stories. For brands that choose to post Stories on Instagram, those accounts will be provided with “analytics on the reach, impressions, replies and exits of their Stories.”
To begin rolling out the Story ads feature, Instagram is first starting with 30 partners, including Nike, General Motors and Netflix. According to TechCrunch, 70% of Instagram users already follow a business, while a third of the most watched Stories were created by businesses for Instagram. As of now, there is not yet an option for users to click on the Story ads, but Instagram is working on that feature. “In the future people might want to buy a click or buy a video view and those would be measured differently… We plan to incorporate that in the coming months,” Instagram’s VP of business James Quarles told TechCrunch.
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About the Author
Nick Powills
FollowNick Powills, CFE, founded No Limit Agency in 2008 and serves as Chief Brand Strategist for the Chicago-based firm. No Limit is a full-service communications agency that establishes and elevates brands by bridging Public Relations, Social Media, Marketing, Advertising, Digital, and a lot of creativity, to best strategize well-rounded and successful campaigns for 50+ global franchise brands. By presenting visionary ideas and building real relationships, No Limit is able to create effective media branding strategies to help companies grow. Nick currently leads a staff of writers, media strategists, designers, social media experts and digital producers in an office think-tank where brands are humanized for strong, compelling media stories. Prior to starting No Limit at the age of 27, Nick spent four years working at a franchise PR agency where he mastered the art of building rapport with media outlets and creating newsworthy pitches for earned media placements. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Drake University in Iowa.
