Study: Instagram Ads Saw Massive Demand In 2015, Thanks In Part To Video Surge

2015 was the year of the ad on Instagram. Brand Networks released a report breaking down costs across verticals, popularity of ad types and much more.

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A new study from Brand Networks paints quite the rosy picture for Instagram’s ad platform. Instagram’s ad API opened up in August of 2015 and  saw an influx of ad volume and interest in the platform. Brand Networks analyzed 1.6 billion Instagram ad impressions over the last six months for this study and uncovered some interesting facts.

Video-Impressions

One of the biggest areas of growth that was discovered was the rise of video. From September to November, a five-fold spike occurred, shooting monthly video impressions served to 250 million. All in all, video made up 22.52 percent of all Instagram impressions in December, up from just 9.54 percent in September.

CPM

Another finding was that since the API opened up, the overall costs increased along with volume. In September, the average CPM was $5.21, while in November, the average CPM jumped to $7.20 before settling at $5.96 in December. The fashion vertical had the priciest ads, with CPMs eclipsing $16. Fashion was closely followed by the organizations, education and retail verticals, all with CPMs north of $10. Consumer packaged goods (CPGs) saw surprisingly lower CPMs that ranged from $2.00 to $4.92 during the holidays.

For more information, see the official Infographic from Brand Networks, or download their free report for even more data.

 

 


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Greg Finn
Contributor
Greg Finn is the Director of Marketing for Cypress North, a company that provides world-class social media and search marketing services and web & application development. He has been in the Internet marketing industry for 10+ years and specializes in Digital Marketing. You can also find Greg on Twitter (@gregfinn) or LinkedIn.

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