Advertising Trend: Ads Are Becoming More Personalized

Instagram Experimenting with Personalization Updates

In March 2024, Instagram began releasing updates to experiment with different features that’ll increase the personalization of the content and ads users are shown in their feeds. While there are many new functionalities Instagram is experimenting with, here are the most relevant to advertisers and marketers:

Longer reels: Select users are now able to upload 3-minute-long videos to Reels. This will help increase engagement and broaden user behaviors.
Updated hashtag search: Prior to this update, users were simply taken to a “Top Posts” feed while conducting a search using hashtags. This new update will direct users to broader search accounts to make finding relevant accounts easier.
More carousel frames: Select users are now able to add up to 15 images to their posts instead of being maxed out at 10. This will allow brands to create more personalized content by telling a larger story in a single post.

Personalized Versus Non-Personalized Ads

So, what’s the difference between personalized and non-personalized ads? Formerly known as interest-based advertising, personalized advertising is a tool that has two important benefits:

Improves advertising relevance for users.
Increases ROI for advertisers.

Companies like Google create these ads by inferencing a user’s interests based on the websites they visit or apps they use. The collection of data can also include demographic targeting, remarketing and interest category targeting. By targeting consumers’ interests, companies can provide an improved experience for their audiences.

Opposingly, non-personalized ads, or NPAs, are not based on a user’s past behavior. These types of ads are typically based on contextual information and coarse geo-targeting, including analyzing data such as city-level, current location and content on current websites or apps.

Now that these two ads have been distinguished, why does personalization matter?

Why Personalization Matters

According to a study conducted by Adlucent, 71% of consumers prefer personalized ads over ones that aren’t aligned with their needs or interests. The same study asked consumers to rank why they preferred ad personalization, and the results are as follows:

46% of people say it reduces irrelevant advertising.
25% of people say it’s a way to discover new products.
19% of people say it makes online shopping faster and easier.

As these statistics demonstrate, personalized ads can boost engagement. In most cases, people are almost twice as likely to click on an ad tailored to their needs and interests.

Despite the benefits of using personalized ads, it’s important to remember to use information responsibly. The same study from above notes that engagement rates significantly decrease to 29% when ads incorporate the use of names, and 3% when they ask for an address.

If you’re looking for a company to help you create targeted, relevant ads and campaigns, then you’re in the right place! Appleton is an award-winning, full-service Orlando advertising agency that works with local, national and international clients to deliver impressive ad campaigns, branding, print, web, public relations, social media and video services — all in-house. At Appleton, we want to learn about your business, empower your marketing team and be your creative resource. Your advertising goals are worth a conversation: contact us at 407-537-6352 or info@appletoncreative.com.