A critical update to Instagram that will impact both paid and organic marketing.

1. INSTAGRAM ADS UPDATE
© Havas Group, Cake Group, Socialyse 2015 • www.havasmedia.com www.cakegroup.com www.socialyse.net
In Brief
Instagram is making some major updates to their ad product, which will closely mirror the
existing ad offering from Facebook. In fact, eventually a single campaign will be able to run
across both platforms simultaneously.
Ad Unit Roadmap:
A new ad format, “Link Ads,” will include CTA buttons that will drive traffic off-platform, a
major decision for Instagram, which until now had only allowed the description URL to serve
as the “link out” from the app.
CTA buttons will include: Book Now, Learn More, Sign Up, Shop Now, and Download
Ads API will allow for self-service buys and auction-based pricing (initially oCPM only)
Targeting will be expanded beyond the current Age, Gender, Geo to include all Facebook tar-
geting parameters (Interest, 3rd Party, Custom Audiences, Look-a-likes, etc.)
Timing
Alpha partners that are selected will launch in early July, with a full offering to all advertisers
expected in late Q3 or Q4. In order to qualify for alpha access inclusion, brands must meet
certain requirements, including running a previous campaign on Instagram, being tied to a
selected technology partner (the Socialyse platform is covered), and run in specific countries
(US, CA, UK, DE, FR, AU).
Measurement
Instagram conversion pixels can be created in order to measure website conversions.
Additionally, for larger-scale buys, Nielsen Brand Effect studies will continue to be available/
included.
Additional Info
In the near-term, self-service buys will only be allowed access to run the new Link Ad format,
as well as :15s video ads (which don’t include a CTA button.) Buys of standard Image Ads
and Carousel Ads will continue to exist from an IO-structured buy, but will be added to the
self-serve platform in the coming months.

2. INSTAGRAM ADS UPDATE
© Havas Group, Cake Group, Socialyse 2015 • www.havasmedia.com www.cakegroup.com www.socialyse.net
Paid – Initial Perspective
Instagram is great visual storytelling platform. By launching the API approach that has successfully scaled marketing for Face-
book, Twitter and Linkedin, Instagram will be able to provide brands additional targeting capabilities & more efficient inventory
— while making the ads more useful to the consumer with improvements on the data used for ad delivery. Brands will now
be able to measure not only the impact of ads on brand health metrics, but actual post-click and post-impression attribution
on website conversions or sales. This evolution positions Instagram as a solution for all levels of the purchase funnel – from
awareness, to engagement and conversion.
We expect some initial growing pains with the product (as with any alpha offering), but think there is a great opportunity for cli-
ents who are willing to take a risk in order to capitalize on a new user experience and measurement offering, and can leverage
the ability to drive scale through extended reach in a contextually relevant way.
Earned & Owned – Initial Perspective
From the perspective of earned and owned, it is too early to determine exactly how Instagram’s introduction of its automated
API and full-fledged “Shop Now” features will explicitly impact organic conversations on the platform, However, as with effective
organic brand content on Instagram – and organic brand expressions on other platforms – advertisers will likely need to align
with the creative principles that have made the platform so successful, familar calls to action and meaningful imagery that
aligns with existing behaviors.
Instagram’s Global Head of Business and Brand Development James Quarles shared the platform is “staying true to the values
of simplicity” by keeping the browsing experience in-app, returning users back to their feeds once their purchase or sign-up is
complete.
The emphasis on simplicity will likely extend to advertisers as well. Instagram has always been, and continues to be rooted,
in sharing moments, giving context and telling stories. Advertisers will likely need to keep those guiding facotrs in mind when
crafting advertising content that leverages Instagram’s new functionality.
The new API will eventually grant advertisers access to a wider range of demographics leveraging data from Facebook, allow-
ing more precise targeting and measurement. The specificity of this data will require brands to test and learn, and take even
greater responsibility for producing great content on the platform, relevant and targeted to specific audiences they are trying to
reach.
The integration of Cake and Socialyse will allow us to partner to develop and produce creative social content in-house, then
leverage Socialyse’s access to the Instagram API to build highly-targeted programs to match this creative, anchored by a unified
insight. For example, the units will be able to better tie back influencer efforts to conversion.