Canvas Ads on Instagram Stories arrive, Stories shareable on Direct

Facebook is bringing their immersive Canvas ads on Instagram Stories, the youngest lucrative golden egg laying hen under the Facebook family.

Monetization on Instagram Stories had been available since earlier this year, and with the arrival of Canvas ads on Instagram Stories, things have received a significant upgrade. Facebook’s Canvas ads are “a full-screen ad experience built for bringing brands and products to life on mobile”, is how the company describes it.

"A remarkable 53% of users that open a Canvas ad view at least half of it, and the average view time per ad is a shocking 31 seconds”, as per Instapage.

Canvas ads deliver a completely seamless experience within the Facebook ecosystem itself by combining pictures, videos and GIFs, and users are not required to leave the platform to engage with the ad.

An example of Facebook’s Canvas Ads and how they work.

“Instagram also says businesses will now be able to upload the media they used for organic Instagram Stories and save them for use in future ad campaigns through the Power Editor and Ads Manager. Plus, the company wants advertisers to incorporate Instagram Stories into their campaigns across Facebook properties — it says Stories can now be added to Facebook, Instagram and Audience Network campaigns through placement optimization,” writes Anthony Ha from TechCrunch.

Additionally, Instagram has also rolled out another update for Instagram Stories that allows users to share public Stories with their friends through Instagram Direct. As you can see below, the Direct icon on the bottom right is a new addition, and allows users to share Stories just like regular Instagram posts.

Anyone who wishes their Stories to not be shared via Direct can turn this off through settings, and when the original post disappears from Instagram in 24 hours, the one shared through Direct too will cease to exist. Private accounts will continue to have their Stories privately visible to their followers only.

The update will be rolled out worldwide over the next few weeks, and will be available as a part of Instagram version 11.0. on iOS and Android.