A new ad unit is coming to Instagram stories, as advertisers can now feature up to three pieces of media per stories ad.
Stories ads will display multiple pieces of media in a carousel-style format, similar to stories you would see posted by any of your Instagram contacts. Users can tap through, swipe back and forth or pause the content.
Previously, Instagram stories ads were limited to either one photo or one video. Now they can feature either three of the same type of media, or a combination of both.
This greatly expands the size of the canvas that advertisers can work with when telling their stories. Whether it’s a video ad shown in three parts, or a slideshow highlighting three different product features, there are a host of new opportunities.
Carousel stories ads are being rolled out to a limited group of advertisers at first, some of which include Coca-Cola, Renault, and Paramount. Instagram says it needs time to learn how users and brands engage with the new ad unit.
A further announcement will be made when carousel ads for Instagram stories are more widely available.
