What Instagram killing #ad really means
Instagram is replacing the ‘ad’ hashtag with a ‘Paid partnerships’ offering. Tribe’s Jules Lund explores whether the move is actually about transparency, or if it’s just a new way for the social media giant to make money.
As regulatory advertising bodies attempt to guide marketers on the importance of disclosing when a sponsored post is exactly that, Instagram just introduced a ‘Paid partnerships’ tag. Rather than including #ad in an influencer’s caption or story, they’ll soon be required to declare the brand they’re partnering with.
A small feature, but a massive statement from the platform who up until now, has preferred to silently ignore the growing category. Yet in one fell swoop, they’ve taken the lead as the number one stakeholder in influencer marketing.
So is it about putting their community first or capturing the growing ad revenue they’re missing out on?
A little of column A.
Amazing article Jules. It’s all a double edged sword. Pay to play is definitely here to stay but that kind of frustration can be wearing on new Instagram adopters. Time will tell if this will scare people off. FB needs to tread v carefully,
It’s not just about content. It’s the reach and, well, influence of those influencers I want.
And Jules seems to be one of the few stating the obvious: Instagram is gonna turn the screws on the organic reach of these paid posts. It’ll be just like Facebook, pay to play. How that works for the relationship between brands and influencers remains to be seen. Suddenly lots of “entrepreneurs” (aka 20yo girls who look good in a bikini) making money off tanning products will learn the lesson of not diversifying income streams.
Great article Jules. You’ve nicely articulated a number of the points I was thinking about in relation to this move by Instagram. Clearly Instagram want a piece of the Influencer Marketing (IM) action here.
If brands get such great returns from IM then why pay for native ads on Instagram? Instagram must see this as a bit of a threat to their model.
Regarding this: “Will Instagram limit the organic reach of these Paid Partnerships?” – I wouldn’t be surprised if they do. It’s something vendors and brands operating in this space will need to keep a close eye on. Effectively Instagram need to readdress the imbalance between advertising via influencers (be they celebs or ‘micro’ influencers) and paying for ads to make the latter relatively more cost-effective.
All of which of course means brands need to consider how to generate non-commercial partnerships with influencers to avoid having to label posts in this way.
I think the move by IG is as much about driving up the quality of content as anything.
By sharing metrics with both brand and influencer IG is focusing on engagement levels over theoretical reach. Influencers will now struggle to take cash from brands which don’t align with the influencer’s following.
Maybe I’m an optimist, but I don’t think consumers mind if influencers form partnerships with brands – as long as the fit is natural and the followers don’t feel ‘hoodwinked’ into believing it’s editorial when, in reality, it is sponsored content.
So, using the “partnering with xxx” label shouldn’t dent engagement levels — if the content quality is there.
As Jules, writes, it’s a way to help influencer marketing mature as a discipline. After all, sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Great article.
And here I was assuming comments were just reserved for competitors sledging me.
Thank you M, Alistair and Scott. Really insightful additions.
Alistair, I don’t think Instagram would see IM as a threat. They talk in billions when it comes to advertising revenue, Influencer Marketing is far too messy for the return. In the coming years, brands won’t use influencers for their reach, but for their content. I feel Instagram sees this as an opportunity to accelerate their social advertising.
Fast moving space. Good fun.
I agree IM is “messy” at the moment but the space is maturing fast and there is a growing ecosystem of platforms (like TRIBE and Onalytica) designed to help make it easier for brands to manage this ‘mess’ and better measure it. All of which can chip away at the demand for brands to invest in more “traditional” social advertising. A lot of IM spend is replacement Ad spend rather than entirely new budget.
But you’re right this is probably a lot to do with content as Instagram wants to have a content flow in it’s own ecosystem to directly cross-pollinate to other Facebook-owned networks rather than that content sitting in third-party platforms. All very interesting!
Brands are already using influencers for their content. It is cheaper to use tribe and get semi natural images rather than pay a professional photographer ect for a single shoot showcasing their products 🙂
what an awful vulgar thing the internet has become