The global expansion of ads in Instagram Reels is the latest sign of the Facebook-owned app’s commitment to becoming a one-stop-shop for any marketers’ needs.

In its early days, Instagram sought to strike a balance between developing with consumers and marketers in mind. But – more recently – it’s clear the focus is on the latter, with the reformatting of the home screen to promote the app’s shopping function being a case in point.

With this latest update, Instagram will not only increase and improve opportunities for marketers to generate sales, but it will also enhance their ability to measure ROI more accurately on social media and influencer marketing campaigns – a longstanding industry concern. 

It’s easy to see why Instagram has opted to make this update now. The social media cold war the app is engaged in with TikTok has seen both platforms rapidly expand their e-commerce capabilities which, in turn, has led to more brands than ever using social media and influencers for marketing.

Our whitepaper, Into the mainstream: Influencer marketing in society, which surveyed 3,500 consumers, marketers across the UK, US and Germany, found that almost three quarters of marketers have allocated more resources to influencer marketing in the past year.

With more brands across a range of sectors opting to market via influencers, we can expect Instagram to continue to look for opportunities to monetise their site in their pursuit to become the hub for commerce on social media.

Mary Keane-Dawson is Global CEO at TAKUMI. You can hear from TAKUMI and meet the team at MAD//Fest London.