In 2010, Kevin Systrom dreamt of a revolutionary way to?take and ?share photos and short videos through social media. Instagram was launched. As of September 2013, it has over 150 million active users (those who use it on at least a monthly basis). But wait; there’s more.
Enter Emily White, Instagram’s new Director of Business Operations. She seems dissatisfied with Instagram being just another app. I can see why; it worth at least a billion dollars. Under White’s guidance, advertisers will be allowed and encouraged to use Instagram for commercials. The ads should begin next year; right now it’s just the courting and wooing phase. She and her team are meeting with marketing companies and potential advertisers. In fact, Levi Strauss and Company are having a marketing campaign featuring Instagram. This campaign artist traveling in major cities and uploading pictures on the app. The ad team is looking at Instagram’s Discover app to launch these future commercials.
I say it’s worth a try. I know there are some of you who say social media is already littered with ads. But if that’s what it takes to keep it free for you and me, then I say advertise on! Plus, Instagram is worth billions and has hundreds of millions of viewers. And advertising is a great way to make money, and to show it’s might. It happened with other social media sites, and they can learn lessons from Facebook’s failures. What do you think about Instagram accepting advertisers?