Following trials in the USA, Instagram advertising has now been officially introduced in the UK. Living in a consumer culture we are unconsciously bombarded with ads everyday through mediums such as T.V and Radio, and now sadly through Instagram. However, much to our dismay, celebrities such as Made in Chelsea stars have been advertising products long before the introduction of “Sponsored” ads.
Many businesses use Instagram as a form of advertising celebrity advocacy. Celebrity endorsements can be defined as marketing magic, especially as Instagram has millions of users. Brands pay the celebrities to photo themselves using products that fans may want to use as a strategic way to promote and boost sales. However, how will paying to advertise boost businesses even more?
Instagram advertising aims to build businesses whilst simultaneously boosting a variety of brands. They will feature on users Instagram feed throughout the coming weeks with a small “Sponsored” sign in the right hand corner. Fortunately, if the user dislikes the ad, they can select to hide all ads from that particular brand. Instagram ideally would like to divert from users hiding the ads and have therefore broadcasted ads to users based on their Facebook activity. In consequence, all ads that appear on users Instagram feed, should be relevant to that user.
As of September 2014, Instagram announced a total of more than 150 million monthly active users. Due to the vast amount of Instagram users, using Instagram advertising may be considered an obvious tactic to increase business leads. It allows brilliant advertising tactics that are considered essential as a result of its amplification of targeted ads, however the real question lies between whether businesses really need to pay to advertise or whether they can simply use an account themselves to advertise. Whichever the answer may be, it confirms that consumers cannot escape ads.
Here are a handful of examples of celebrity endorsements. Some more blatant than others.
