Instagram Lets Brands Share More Photos With Carousel Ads

Instagram’s new ad capabilities allow brands to show sequenced images and add links to their posts, features that will give advertisers more flexibility in how they structure their ads on the platform.

The photo-and-video-sharing app introduced its “carousel ads” today, which let users interested in a post swipe left to see additional images and a link to the website of a brand’s choice.

For example, an automobile manufacturer can share an array of photos of different features of a new car model and insert a link below to allow consumers to learn more about the new product.

Users can easily scroll past carousel ads in their feed if they don’t like the posts.

“This new update is a huge benefit for brands looking to advertise on Instagram, says Jason Mitchell, co-founder of Movement Strategy, a social media creative agency. “Previously, brands had no great way of taking users from Instagram to a website where they could learn more or purchase. Brands would put URLs in their bio link and direct users there, but that was a clunky solution. For brands looking to invest into Instagram’s paid media units, this now provides a much more elegant way of directing users to a place they can find more information.”

Mitchell adds that marketers who want to test this new ad format need to think outside the box and tell interesting sequential stories that entices people to click to learn more.

Today’s debut of carousel ads is a very limited rollout.

“[We want to] gauge the value carousel provides both people and the brands (their accounts), so we’re working with a small set of partners that let us keep this scaled to a size needed for iteration,” an Instagram spokesperson tells ClickZ.

Will you use this new ad unit? Let us know your thoughts below.