Instagram Advertising Continues to Increase for Social Media Marketers

As marketers continue to look to social media to resonate with their target audience, new research shows that Instagram is leading the way as a top channel.

Marin Software recently published its “Digital Advertising Benchmark Report” to take a closer look at how social media spending is being allocated by marketers. Their statistics showed that in Q4 2018, approximately 18 percent of total spend was going toward Instagram for social media marketing purposes. This is an increase from 14.8 percent from the quarter before.

Stories, in particular, also appear to be paying off for social media marketers. About 34 percent of total spend went toward Instagram Stories in Q4 2018, compared to just 24 percent in Q3 of the same year.

“With over 400 million daily users now on Instagram Stories, advertisers are flocking to this ad format,” wrote the researchers. “Stories offer businesses a unique opportunity to capture the direct attention of audiences and potential customers, and provide a lower-cost alternative to Instagram Feed ads.”

Marin’s Q4 report also covers trends in mobile share and average search CPC’s across popular verticals, including B2B.

The Growing Investment in Social Media Marketing

As social media continues to yield an ROI for marketers, previous research suggests that their spending on this tactic is not slowing down.

Social Media Today published the “Social Spending Survey” to take a closer look at how marketers are investing in various social media channels. Research showed that overall, 68 percent of marketers intend to spend more on social media ads in 2019, which suggests that the tactic is continuing to yield positive results.

In addition, 74 percent of marketers claim that they will increase their investment in Instagram in the coming months.