Why Even More Advertisers Choose Instagram Over Snapchat

When the Snapchat Story feature emerged in 2013, it seemed as if everybody took a brief Instagram hiatus and focused their energy on these temporary snippets of daily hijinks. However, as the two social media platforms evolved over the years, users’ attention seems to have migrated back to Instagram.

In August 2016, Instagram adopted this story feature and users had a very positive response across the board. Instagram users typically feel more inclined to provide their followers with higher quality content than Snapchat. The lack of doggy ears and goofy face filters made for a cleaner, more developed story experience.

Naturally, progressive companies will follow wherever the consumers’ eyeballs wander, and any agency or Instagram growth service will verify that these stories see more traffic than Snapchat. While Snapchat continues to evolve, according to TechCrunch, their user engagement has actually dropped 82-percent since the introduction of Instagram Stories.

Instagram Is King

It has only been a couple months since Instagram allowed companies to post real ad campaigns within the story feature. Nike, Ben & Jerry’s and Netflix are just a few of the 30 renowned brands that were given a test run at this Instagram Story advertising. As there were no notable conflicts or concerns from the user end, we can expect these advertisements to be a regular occurrence in our story feed.

In many ways, Instagram is more ad-friendly than Snapchat. For starters, brands have already established a loyal Instagram following that is eager to see a variety of content through different mediums. Having a basic understanding of the amount viewers that your advertisement will reach is reassuring when spending money to market your brand.

Unlike Snapchat, Instagram has multiple platform options for posting advertisements. While we’ve only been discussing the story feature, brands are also given the option to post on the traditional feed with a sponsored post as well. These posts will appear in your followers feed as well as the feed of other users who interact with similar accounts to yours.

There’s More Where That Came From …

Additionally, Instagram has made it much simpler for companies to buy advertisements than Snapchat, offering a complete self-serve experience. Companies are now able to post their ads when they please and follow the analytics and user engagement using the unified dashboard.

As you should already know, Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 and passed along its strategic marketing characteristics to the mobile app. Any Instagram growth service will tell you that this ultimately allows lesser-known brands to reach a relevant audience merely based upon accounts they follow, Facebook pages they ‘like’ and online stores they’ve purchased from.

Most Instagram users despised the initial incorporation of sponsored posts. However, we have now come as far as advertising within the story feature. What began as an escape from the corporate entities of Facebook has transitioned into a full-blown marketing platform that any promising company would be senseless not to capitalize on.

While unexpected content from accounts you don’t follow seems a bit intrusive, the relevance that Instagram and marketers are able to achieve is nothing short of impressive. In fact, users have admitted to mistaking a sponsored post or a brief commercial in their story feed for organic content.

The foundation of Instagram lies within this notion of organic content, and relevant companies ought to follow this same principle with their marketing campaigns.

The Future Is Now

We are seeing the future of advertising unfold before our eyes, one update at a time. The future is mobile just as much as it is organic, and modern consumers are quicker than ever to write off any corny ad as “spammy.” Do not fall victim to this harsh accusation and keep your Instagram marketing strategy fresh.