What is Instagram?
Instagram is a photo and video sharing application that also allows the posting of stories and reels, which are short videos. It focuses mainly on the aesthetic themes of videos or pictures shared and how the community engages with each other. It is owned by Meta, which provides sponsored posts and implements advertisement models such as carousel ads, stories ads, and shoppable posts, which enable direct selling of brands and items and increase conversions from the feed. Audience engagement and performance analytics are monitored through audience targeting and optimization tools.
For example, fashion retailers use shoppable tags to enable the purchase of items directly from images, restaurants use poll stickers in Stories to engage customers, and travel brands collaborate with creators on Reels to showcase featured locations.
Related terms: Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, visual social media, social commerce.