According to the latest data, more social media users than ever are choosing to visit the ‘Explore’ section of Instagram – in fact, more than half of users do. Along with the data also showing that 80% of users follow a business* on the app, the top bods over there have decided, finally, that brands can get a slice of this action.

If you’re anything like me, you turn to the ‘Explore’ tab when you’ve “read all of Instagram” and watched all the stories you can – I’m looking for even more content. And, granted, I don’t always find what I want, there’s the occasional gem. If you find the tab doesn’t serve you anything you like, well that’s all down to the algorithm picking up on posts you’ve liked & commented on, and who you follow.

Did you know you can view the data Instagram is holding to target you? Click on Privacy and Security on desktop or Security on mobile. On the next screen, tap on View Account Data or Access Data, then scroll down to Ads Interests and click View All. Here, you’ll find an exhaustive list of what Instagram thinks your interests are. Unlike Facebook, Insta hasn’t quite got around to offering you the option to remove these interests, but if you see irrelevant ads, you can choose to “hide ad” by using the three action dots on the post.

But, I digress – brands will soon start to have ads appearing in users’ ‘Explore’ tab, but Instagram is introducing this “slowly”. When a user clicks on an image in the tab, it will open a stream of related posts, which is where the ads will be included. Check your campaigns via Facebook Ads Manager and look through the Ad Placements to see if this option is available for you already. Do remember, though, that shouty “BUY ME” ads just won’t cut it here (or, well, anywhere on social these days) because users are looking for inspiring, new brands to follow. Consider your creative and call to action wisely!

To find out more about how to take advantage of new ad placements, or how we craft our paid ad campaigns, get in touch!

*Instagram data May 2018