Ayaz Nanji says, “Do photos with above-average engagement on Instagram have any qualities in common? Does the use of tags lead to more likes and comments? Are people more likely to interact with images featuring certain filters and colors? To find out, Dan Zarrella examined data in 2014 from nearly 1.5 million images posted by more than 500,000 users on Instagram. Zarella analyzed various elements—including tags, captions, and visual characteristics—to see which correlated to higher than average likes per follower and comments per follower. Some key findings from the analysis include... [...]

Carly Stec says, “Instagram is a powerful visual platform for expanding your agency’s reach; however, there’s more to it than point, click, filter, and post. If you want to ensure that your images aren’t lost in a sea of selfies and abstract shots of people’s lunches, you must have a plan for optimizing their discoverability. Hashtagging not only provides users with a way to easily search for and surface relevant content, but it also gives brands an opportunity to join the larger conversation on Instagram. Considering Instagram recently launched new Search... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Get ready to see more ads popping up in your Instagram feed. As of Tuesday, the photo-sharing app is switching on an API that lets advertisers use third-party platforms like Brand Networks and Salesforce to schedule their own campaigns for the first time. In short, it’s now way easier for more brands to buy more Instagram ads. The change will effectively throw open the gates to a much wider set of advertisers. Before now, Instagram only sold ads to a select group of big brands it worked with directly — a process that ran up a big tab that smaller companies couldn’t... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Instagram’s advertising efforts appear to be paying off in a big way. How big? Big enough to pass Twitter and Google in mobile ad revenue in the next two years. That’s according to a new forecast by industry analyst eMarketer. EMarketer predicts that the Faceboook-owned visual social network will bring in $595 million in global ad revenue this year. And by 2017, Instagram ad revenue will jump to $2.81 billion. That would be more than 10.6% of Facebook’s total 2017 ad revenue, according to eMarketer projections”. Forecast: Instagram Will Pass Google, Twitter... [...]

Patricio Robles says, “Instagram is one of the most popular mobile photo and video sharing apps, but that doesn’t mean that the web isn’t important to its continued success. Recognizing that, the Facebook-owned service has unveiled an update to its web interface that allows users to search for people, places and hashtags on web”. Instagram unveils web search ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]

New software, called Social Autobots, by Luke Maguire automates your Facebook and Instagram marketing with only a few minutes of setup. This new software, by Luke Maguire is the only tool ever created to automate your marketing on both Facebook and Instagram, and it does it around the clock. Using Social Autobots, you can have your Facebook and Instagram accounts setup and ready to go in moments and then, here’s what can happen automatically: ■ It will post content, comment on content, follow other accounts, and send traffic wherever you choose. ■ It will automatically curate content... [...]

Jami Oetting says, “Instagram has been slow to open up the network to advertising. It was only in March that the company allowed select brands to include links to additional content in its ads. Now, the platform is moving into the ecommerce realm with its recently announced “Shop Now” buttons, more sophisticated targeting, and an API for automated advertising. There is still a lot of opportunity for brands that wish to bootstrap it and build an audience without a paid budget. Kissmetrics created this infographic to highlight the best times to post, the most engaging filters... [...]

Matt Britton says, “As CEO of a creative and tech agency, I’ve spent considerable time in the boardrooms of major corporate marketers, and I’ve gotten an understanding of their business challenges and needs. But I’ve also gotten an inside look at the major disconnect between their knowledge of the marketplace and the groundswell of disruption and change being driven by youth culture. Many of today’s business leaders do not understand that youth culture is no longer counterculture as it was in the ’60s and ’70s. Instead, our nation’s youth have become... [...]

Patricio Robles says, “Advertisers looking for the next big opportunity in social media received good news this week… One of the most popular platforms, Instagram, will soon open its doors to advertisers large and small. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, is one of the dominant mobile photo sharing services in the world. But up until now, its experiments with ad offerings like Carousel Ads have been exclusive to major brands like Old Navy and L’Oreal, as well as large agencies. But that will be changing as Instagram is preparing to offer a larger number of advertisers access... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Instagram’s carousel ad unit is being rolled out internationally. The company announced today that on June 1 the feature will be made available in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, France and Brazil. Carousel ads, launched in March for Instagram’s U.S. market, give advertisers the ability to present multiple images for people to swipe through. Instagram has compared the ads to print magazine style ads. Unlike print and organic messages within Instagram, they include the ability to include links within the post. For more information, see Instagram’s... [...]