Taco Bell and Chobani Found Instagram Success With #FoodPorn
Instagram made another pitch to advertisers on Wednesday, trotting out some success metrics for Instagram ads for recent campaigns from Taco Bell and Chobani yogurt.
Taco Bell reported reaching 12.5 million 18-to-44 year-olds in the United States over a four-week period with a recent Instagram ad buy. The campaign, which took place from March 26 to April 30, gave the brand a 29-point incremental lift in ad recall for those who were repeatedly exposed to the campaign. That's four times higher than a control group, and almost five times higher than Nielsen's average for online ads.
The results come as Facebook is still being particular about which companies it lets advertise on the platform. The company began running Instagram ads in October, but, like Tumblr, has employed a controlled, curated approach rather than scaling it for maximum revenues and potentially scaring off some users on the platform.
Chobani, meanwhile, reached 4 million 18-to-54 year-olds with its Instagram campaign during a four-week period between March 17 and April 13. The brand saw a 22-point incremental lift for recall. The campaign also saw a 7-point incremental lift in shifting perceptions away from the belief that the yogurt was only eaten at breakfast — a key campaign objective.
Neither the brands nor Instagram disclosed the spending by the campaigns, an important factor for advertisers considering the platform. The ads are sold on a CPM basis, meaning advertisers pay a fee based on every 1,000 people reached. Salesforce has estimated the average price of an app-install ad on Facebook at $5.68. Assuming a CPM in the range, both campaigns cost in the tens of thousands of dollars.
The results are in line with metrics Instagram disclosed from Ben & Jerry's and Levi's last December.
While Taco Bell could not be reached for comment, Jessica Lauria, director of brand communications at Chobani, offered some tips to would-be Instagram advertisers:
- Lean in to what people are already doing. Chobani noticed that many of the food shots on Instagram were from the vantage point of the eater; even the spoon was placed a certain way so it emulated that approach. It also took to heart the popular Instagram hashtag #foodporn as a guiding aesthetic principle, though it didn't actually use that hashtag.
- Be real. As Lauria notes, 95% of their content is coming from their social strategist's iPhone. Chobani avoided professional-looking shots, which would be jarring in the average user's Instagram feed.
- Don't overbrand. Resist the temptation to include a logo in every shot.
- Don't create ads. Like Facebook's News Feed ads, Instagram ads aren't traditional advertising, but posts that an advertiser wants to amplify. "Advertising on Instagram is like advertising without advertising," Lauria says.
