Instagram redesigned its app. As a result, its call-to-action bar looks a little different. Now, the the bar is a way for the company to subtly display more advertisements. Obviously, the change was made so that Instagram could get more ad clicks from its users. This is why the ads were blended to look like regular Instagram content. They don't stand out as much, which means that users might click on them more.

Before the changes, the call-to-action bar was blue, and it was positioned below videos and images. The redesign makes the bar blend in more with images and videos as they constantly change. For example, if there is an environmental ad that shows trees in the forest, the call-to-action bar changes to green or earth tones to match the greenery in the images. Or it might be red or orange, if the image or picture shows a blazing forest fire.

Youth Prefer Instagram and Snapchat over Facebook

Some interesting facts have emerged from eMarkter's most recent mobile forecast regarding how the young are using social media sites. The most important finding is that younger social media users prefer Instagram and Snapchat over Facebook.

Facebook has 14.5 million users in the 12-17 year old demographic, but Snapchat has 15.8 million in the same age group. Instagram lags behind both with about 4.2 million users in this age group. However, among 18-24 year old users, Instagram has almost the same number as both Facebook and Snapchat with Instagram having 22.1 million, Snapchat 24.4 million, and Facebook coming in at 23.5 million. These statistics are for U.S. users of these social media sites only.

Instagram is making it easy for anyone to place ads on the popular photo sharing/social platform. Previously, only major brands in the US could place ads. Now anyone in over 30 countries has the ability through a self-service interface to run advertisements. The new ad system comes into place as Facebook faces pressure from investors to make their investments in companies like Instagram more profitable. Additional Facebook purchases Oculus VR and WhatsApp have yet to make money.

The Facebook acquisition of WhatsApp may seem excessive, and some insiders echo this sentiment. Reviewing the acquisition may present a different perspective, and the $19 billion price may not seem excessive after all.

WhatsApp users fit the demographic mix of customers that Facebook may be searching for. Facebook enthusiasts display a preference for mobile messaging that works as a social network as well.

You can send messages to a single recipient or to many recipients with WhatsApp. 600 million photos are sent daily with WhatsApp, and this is greater than the number of photos that are uploaded to Facebook each day. 62 percent of Facebook users are active each day, but WhatsApp reports daily activity of 70 percent.
Facebook wants to grow its base, and the WhatsApp purchase mirrors the Instagram acquisition of 2012. Facebook has lost some of its younger customers, but WhatsApp may help them recapture the teen and tween mobile messaging market.

Data released this week by Socialbakers showed that Instagram photo posts had 50 times the engagement for big brands as similar posts on Twitter. This follows a story that the photo app surpassed Twitter in total number of accounts, 300 million to 284 million. The study looked at the top 25 brands on each network and then compared user interaction with the brand’s posts. Twitter feels that it has more reach that is not easily tracked in such reports since it allows tweets to be viewed by non-account holders.

Instagram (Photo credit: Jon@th@nC)

Using The Instagrate To WordPress Plugin

For those who want to post Instagram images directly into their WordPress blog, you will want to install the Instagrate to WordPress plugin for your computer, which will immediately work with your computer to create a Wordpress blog post with the Instagram image file that you take.

Instagram - 8 (Photo credit: BrentOzar)

Photo Tagging On Instagram And Its Online Marketing Potential

Instagram now allows users to tag others in their online photos. Without a doubt, this news comes as a welcome addition to the site's features. A user can tag any other username in their own photos to increase the social interaction between members. The fact of the matter is that marketers can utilize this feature, too. Fortunately, online marketing opportunities just expanded thanks to Instagram.