Instagram has launched a set of new 30-second TV-style ad formats across 38 markets, as the Facebook-owned chat app looks to boost its ad reach.
Instagram also launched new advertising formats including landscape-shaped photo and video to give ads a “more cinematic feel”.
A new “premium” advertising product called Marquee is aimed at driving mass awareness in a short time-frame for events like movie premieres and new product launches.
“Starting this month Instagram is open for business and available to advertisers large and small,” Instagram said in a statement.
Instagram, which was acquired by Facebook in 2012, has had only limited advertising opportunities up to now. In 2013, it began with a small number of “sponsored” posts by well-known brands such as Michael Kors and Adidas.
The new system could help Instagram generate considerably more revenue.
“Over the past few months, we’ve been working to make ads on Instagram available to more types of businesses on a self-serve basis,” the statement said.
“We’re excited to announce that starting this month, advertisers both large and small can run campaigns on Instagram. In addition, ads are now available in more than 30 new countries- including Italy, Spain, Mexico, India and South Korea – and will be launching in markets around the world on September 30.”
Instagram has more than 300 million users around the world and is seen as a potential growth segment for Facebook, which has nearly 1.5 billion users.
By 2017, Facebook is now on track to rake in roughly $12.14 billion in U.S. digital ad revenues, according to a newly revised forecast from eMarketer.
While the researcher expects Google to remain the leader in mobile through 2017, Facebook’s share is growing at a higher rate, and the gap is expected to narrow slightly over the next several years.
Facebook will narrow the divide in overall digital spending, growing its market share from 13.2% in 2015 to 16.1% in 2017, eMarketer expects.
“As it continues to leverage its unique targeting capabilities, we expect Facebook to increase its share of ad budgets from brands, direct response advertisers and small businesses,” eMarketer analyst Martín Utreras explains in a new report.
By contrast, Google’s share of the total digital ad market in the U.S. will shrink from 40.1% to 35.4% during the same period.
This year, mobile should account for 77% of Facebook’s digital ad revenue, and grow to 85% by 2017.