Instagram is doing very well as an independent arm on the Facebook ecosystem.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Instagram now has over a 1 million active advertisers, which is double the count they reported last year on September. This is way more than what Twitter claims is its active advertiser base and only favourably competes with its parent, Facebook.
Instagram also revealed to the publication that about 8 million businesses use profiles on Instagram which is used to connect with Facebook business profiles and 80% of Instagram users follow a business.
That is not all, Instagram will also soon let people book appointments with businesses. This will work well with businesses that offer services where you will go to their profile and click a button to schedule a visit.
From the scoop Bloomberg had, the feature will be rolled out to the more than a million active advertisers on the platform. “When someone books an appointment, that’s not a ‘like’ or a ‘follow’, that’s actual action,” Instagram’s Head of Business, James Quarles was quoted as saying.
This is a move we’ve seen all too well on Instagram, as it transforms before our very eyes from a simple filtered photo sharing app to an e-commerce juggernaut thanks to Facebook. Its advertiser base has grown fivefold since February last year and its user base has grown to a healthy 600 million. Instagram is the Facebook’s arm to watch as the parent company tries to make sure they get the maximum return of investment from their purchase.
