A new report from TechCrunch today says Instagram is testing a new “Promote for Stories” feature will make it easier for businesses and advertisers to target users through Stories. Similar to Facebook’s “Boost” platform, advertisers will be able to target certain users based on a variety of characteristics.
Through “Promote,” Instagram Business pages will be able show their ephemeral stories to larger audiences without doing much work. Businesses can choose to target users based on follower similarity, location, or other built-in Instagram targeting parameters. Matt Navarra also shared images of the new Promote feature on Twitter.
In a statement to TechCrunch, Facebook confirmed that it is testing the Instagram Promote feature worldwide, but does not have a timetable for a full rollout:
Facebook confirms to TechCrunch that Promote for Stories works similarly to Facebook’s Boost option that lets them pay to instantly show their feed posts to more users. “I can confirm that we are testing this feature globally. We don’t have an immediate timeline for 100 percent rollout, but will keep you posted” an Instagram spokesperson told me.
What this means for most users on Instagram is that they could start to see more targeted advertisements in Stories. For instance, you might see an ad for a local car dealership in-between Stories from people you follow. Or, if you follow a lot of fashion accounts, you might see a higher concentration of fashion ads in Stories.
In another piece of Instagram news for the day, Instagram announced that IGTV content creators can now share a preview of their video to their Story. Interestingly, the preview isn’t a video, but rather a still image. Nevertheless, Instagram seemingly hopes that this will help drive traffic to IGTV itself, with viewers being enticed by the static teaser image. Are you an IGTV user? Let us know in the comments below.
Now you can share your favorite IGTV videos to your story. Tap the paper airplane at the bottom of the video you want to share. When friends see your story, they can tap the preview to watch the whole video in IGTV. pic.twitter.com/oaatUoOqZY
— Instagram (@instagram) November 1, 2018
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