Instagram ads are getting the carousel treatment along with links, the photo-sharing app announced today. These crucial new ad features signal a maturing Instagram, which has been slowly increasing its marketing sophistication. Advertisers can now place multiple photos in one sponsored post for consumers to flip through. At the end of the carousel, users have options to click on additional content or visit a website to learn more.
Instagram is evolving with advertiser demands by allowing clickable links in their ads. But not for regular users, only for paid advertising. At the same time, they are also allowing for carousel-style photos for users to thumb through. But again, only for advertisers. It’s not hard to imagine one or more of these features becoming available to users if/when Instagram decides it should be so, but in the meantime it does make advertising on the platform much more creative and much more measurable.