instagram has finished testing various advertising options and is ready to reveal all. the photo-centric social network, with more than 300 million monthly active users, announced it has opened up its new and improved ad campaign floodgates for all businesses.

instagram ads, which initially surfaced in late 2013, are now available on a self-service basis for businesses large and small in more than 30 countries. more world-wide markets will open up on september 30.

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in addition to carousel ads (4 swipeable images) released earlier this year, businesses also have access to new, additional ad formats, tools, and options including the following:

• landscape photo and video (as opposed to traditional square shapes – see examples below)
• 30 second video ads/commercials
• marquee, a new tool instagram calls a “premium product that helps drive mass awareness and expanded reach in a short time-frame – perfect for events like movie premieres and new product launches.”
• delivery and optimization tools that work across instagram and facebook
• improved calls to action including “shop now,” “install now,” “sign up,” and “learn more.”
• expanded targeting options (coming later this year) – advertisers will be able to reach people based on demographics, interests, and information businesses already have about their customers.
• feedback mechanisms (also coming later this year) to give instagram users the ability to improve the relevance of the ads they’ll see, which will help businesses target the right audiences.

according to instagram, “businesses of all sizes have been testing these new capabilities this summer with positive results, and we’re seeing significant demand, particularly in areas like e-commerce, travel, entertainment, and retail.”

after testing ads over the last few months, 97% of measured ad campaigns have proven to generate “significant lifts in ad recall.”

facebook recently announced more than 2 million of active advertisers are mostly small businesses. do you have plans to take advantage of instagram’s global ad platform as well? tell us about it.  

images courtesy of instagram.