Facebook has introduced retargeting to Instagram, meaning users of its photo-sharing app will now be served highly customised product ads based around their browsing habits and interests.
This enables advertisers to engage the platform’s 1.65 billion mobile user base with messaging based on items they have viewed, added to their basket, or products related to past purchases.
The move follows Q1 results from Facebook, which attributed mobile revenue to 82% of its $5.2 billion gleaned from advertising – up from 73% in 2015 – with video identified as a key driver.
Keeping up
On its Facebook for Business blog, the group states that “advertising strategies have to change to keep up” with the way consumers “discover, browse and purchase”, adding that 60% of Instagram users discover new products on the platform, while 75% have gone on to buy after being inspired by a post.
While some marketers already use the platform to promote products, manually tailoring the creative can be time-consuming. The ability to retarget the app’s highly-engaged users automatically opens up the chance to drive hard, direct sales as a main objective.
The success of Dynamic adverts on Facebook has accrued some 2.5 billion unique products uploaded to the platform. With Nielsen finding both Facebook and Instagram among the worldwide top ten most-used apps from last year, the ability for retargeters to spread budget and share data across the two is going to a significant upgrade to Facebook’s ad tech rank.
Travel intent
In addition to its launch on Instagram, Facebook has sharpened its Dynamic ads for travel advertisers, adding locations and other journey data to the marketer’s arsenal in order to leverage on high-intent consumers.
“Dynamic Ads for travel empowers travel advertisers to offer hotel options to people who have shown interest in taking a trip, either by browsing hotels or searching and purchasing a flight,” Facebook commented.
“For example, a travel business can connect with people who viewed a hotel on their website by showing them an ad featuring the hotel they viewed along with similar hotels in the area.”