Visual social network Instagram has launched a new ad type called “Promote” for Stories. The ad allows business pages to show their Stories to more users without having to increase their follower base.
Admins can choose to target people in a specific location, similar users to their followers, or use all of the platform’s targeting parameters to, essentially, inject their Stories into more user feeds. The ad also links to the business page’s website or profile.
According to TechCrunch, the Promote for Stories function works similarly to Facebook’s Boost feature, which allows people to pay instantly to show their feed posts to more users.
A spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that the company is testing the feature globally, although no timeline is available for 100% rollout.
Previously, if Instagram users wanted to get their Stories in front of more eyeballs, they would have to build their following the old-fashioned way or buy Instagram followers from service providers. Now, Promote for Stories will allow users to put their content in front of more eyes without having to do any of the hard work of building a following.
Instagram has 2 million active advertisers, but designing and targeting ads for the platform can be challenging for public figures and small businesses. Promote for Stories allows these users to turn their existing content into an advertisement.
The move comes as Instagram is taking more steps to boost revenue and user growth. Facebook, which owns Instagram, has seen a massive decline in users and revenue. Revenue growth plunged from 59% in the third quarter last year to 49% in the third quarter this year.
Along with Promote for Stories, Instagram has launched other new features designed to accelerate growth and further promote the use of Stories.
On November 1, the social network announced a new feature that allows users to share their IGTV videos to Instagram Stories. With the new feature, users simply click the airplane icon and choose the option to “Add video to your story.” Followers can tap the preview to watch the entire video on IGTV.
Shazam also announced a new feature that allows users to identify songs and then post the results to their Instagram Stories. Users can Shazam any song and tap the share button to post on Instagram. The cover art of the song will be posted on Stories along with a button that says “More on Shazam” that links back to the song page on the Shazam app. Currently, the feature is only available to iOS users.
