Martin Beck says, “It’s hip to be beyond square. Or something like that. Instagram, the visual social network with the famously rigid equal-sided format, announced today that it’s now allowing people to post rectangular photos and videos, in either landscape and portrait orientation. “It turns out that nearly one in five photos or videos people post aren’t in the square format, and we know that it hasn’t been easy to share this type of content on Instagram: friends get cut out of group shots, the subject of your video feels cramped and you can’t capture the Golden Gate Bridge... [...]

How about a source of traffic that is picture-oriented and intended for mobile users. Did you know this kind of service can be used by marketers to sell products; their own products, affiliate products or CPA offers? Jani G and his student, Glynn have a process they want to share with you (at a very low cost) about how Glynn has been earning about $300 per day for quite a while, now, with CPA offers on this kind of free service. Glynn admits that $300 is approximate, but isn’t exactly right; some days he earns more, but some days he only earns about $250. In their training, $300 CPA Every... [...]

Danny Sullivan says, “This year marked a return for me to Instagram, where my account had largely been dormant. I’ve greatly enjoyed my time on the service, but I find several things maddening. Here’s what I see wrong with Instagram, despite its great success. 1) You Can’t Regram Natively If I see something awesome on Twitter or Facebook, it’s easy for me to share that with others. On Instagram, there’s no such luck. If I want to “regram” an image, I either need to use a third-party tool or make a copy and credit the originator. Neither is satisfactory. Moreover, as The Awl... [...]

Ayaz Nanji says, “Do photos with above-average engagement on Instagram have any qualities in common? Does the use of tags lead to more likes and comments? Are people more likely to interact with images featuring certain filters and colors? To find out, Dan Zarrella examined data in 2014 from nearly 1.5 million images posted by more than 500,000 users on Instagram. Zarella analyzed various elements—including tags, captions, and visual characteristics—to see which correlated to higher than average likes per follower and comments per follower. Some key findings from the analysis include... [...]

Carly Stec says, “Instagram is a powerful visual platform for expanding your agency’s reach; however, there’s more to it than point, click, filter, and post. If you want to ensure that your images aren’t lost in a sea of selfies and abstract shots of people’s lunches, you must have a plan for optimizing their discoverability. Hashtagging not only provides users with a way to easily search for and surface relevant content, but it also gives brands an opportunity to join the larger conversation on Instagram. Considering Instagram recently launched new Search... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Get ready to see more ads popping up in your Instagram feed. As of Tuesday, the photo-sharing app is switching on an API that lets advertisers use third-party platforms like Brand Networks and Salesforce to schedule their own campaigns for the first time. In short, it’s now way easier for more brands to buy more Instagram ads. The change will effectively throw open the gates to a much wider set of advertisers. Before now, Instagram only sold ads to a select group of big brands it worked with directly — a process that ran up a big tab that smaller companies couldn’t... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Instagram’s advertising efforts appear to be paying off in a big way. How big? Big enough to pass Twitter and Google in mobile ad revenue in the next two years. That’s according to a new forecast by industry analyst eMarketer. EMarketer predicts that the Faceboook-owned visual social network will bring in $595 million in global ad revenue this year. And by 2017, Instagram ad revenue will jump to $2.81 billion. That would be more than 10.6% of Facebook’s total 2017 ad revenue, according to eMarketer projections”. Forecast: Instagram Will Pass Google, Twitter... [...]

Patricio Robles says, “Instagram is one of the most popular mobile photo and video sharing apps, but that doesn’t mean that the web isn’t important to its continued success. Recognizing that, the Facebook-owned service has unveiled an update to its web interface that allows users to search for people, places and hashtags on web”. Instagram unveils web search ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]

New software, called Social Autobots, by Luke Maguire automates your Facebook and Instagram marketing with only a few minutes of setup. This new software, by Luke Maguire is the only tool ever created to automate your marketing on both Facebook and Instagram, and it does it around the clock. Using Social Autobots, you can have your Facebook and Instagram accounts setup and ready to go in moments and then, here’s what can happen automatically: ■ It will post content, comment on content, follow other accounts, and send traffic wherever you choose. ■ It will automatically curate content... [...]

Jami Oetting says, “Instagram has been slow to open up the network to advertising. It was only in March that the company allowed select brands to include links to additional content in its ads. Now, the platform is moving into the ecommerce realm with its recently announced “Shop Now” buttons, more sophisticated targeting, and an API for automated advertising. There is still a lot of opportunity for brands that wish to bootstrap it and build an audience without a paid budget. Kissmetrics created this infographic to highlight the best times to post, the most engaging filters... [...]