Instagram gives 40 martech firms stamp of approval with Partner Program

Dive Brief:

Instagram allowed marketing tech (martech) firms to create tools for the social media platform after opening its API earlier this year, and it’s now created the Instagram Partner Program giving the stamp of approval for 40 martech companies.
The Facebook-owned social photo platform is also planning on adding 60 additional companies to the program.
The martech partners cover three categories: ad tech, community management and content marketing.

Dive Insight:

In a blog post announcing the Instagram Partner Program, the social media platform said, “Instagram Partners help solve a wide variety of business challenges — whether it’s driving more installs for a new mobile gaming app, or driving in-store foot-traffic during the holidays.”

After opening its API this year more than 100 marketing tech companies have built tools to help marketers manage their Instagram accounts and ads, and the Partner Program offers a select group of those companies certification from Instagram.

Laura O’Shaughnessy, co-founder and CEO of Instagram partner SocialCode, said, “Instagram gives brands a powerful platform to drive consumer awareness and action, and to reach new, qualified audiences. Since becoming an Instagram partner, we’ve helped more than 40% of our client advertisers launch Instagram campaigns driving their objectives.”

And Jim Squires, director of market operations at Instagram, told Ad Age, "Now that that ecosystem is blossoming, we want to make it really easy for partners and the companies that are building these tools to get visibility. And we want to make it easy for businesses and marketers that want to connect with partners to understand what each of the partners does."

The photo-sharing app recently hit 400 million users and is testing a slew of ad products as it cements itself as an advertising darling to brands and publishers alike. However, concerns linger about how initiatives like these could possibly lead to lower-quality ads on a platform that has become known for crisp, artistic imagery, especially if it becomes more commercial.