Instagram is not only adept at creating a new generation of Insta-stars, but it is also a dab hand at generating revenue. The social media platform is predicted to overtake Google as the leading US mobile advertising machine within two years.
The findings were predicted by eMarketer, who believe that by 2017, Instagram will amass $US2.81 billion from mobile advertising revenues - more than four times it is expected to make this year.
While in 2015, Instagram’s ad revenues made up five per cent of Facebook’s overall ad sales, this is predicted to increase to 14 per cent by 2017. Globally, this means Instagram made $US595 million in mobile ad revenues worldwide this year. By 2017, that number will grow to $US2.39 billion through its eight markets around the globe: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the U.K.
This rise has a lot to do with the expected growth in Instagram users - the US user base is currently 64.2 million (which is a 60 per cent growth on last year), but by 2019, there are expected to be 111.6 million users of the app.
The news comes as no shock to brands such as The Iconic. Co-founder of the company Adam Jacobs explains: “From a brand marketing perspective, [working with Instagram] has reinforced our hypothesis that traditional media isn't where our consumers are anymore, and there was a bigger opportunity to engage with them in more emerging digital platforms.”
