In May AdAge reported that the New York based social media agency
Laundry Service has discovered that Instagram photos perform better than more professionally shot photos. The agency found that while regular photos achieved 2.35% click-through rate, Instagram photos achieved an 8% click-through. And even better, Instagram photos led to a 25% increase in conversion rate.
Laundry Service founder and president Jason Stein told AdAge, "We always liked organic content better, So we started recommending it more and more to our clients."
Over a six month period, the company measured the performance of its campaigns using "organic" Instagram-style photos -- defined as a non-glossy pictures shot outside of a studio -- and found that they performed far better than their traditional-looking counterparts.
Not only were the click-through rates more than 3 times higher with the Instagram-style photos, but the ads that used Instagram-style photos generated 25% more sales than those with the typical studio style photos used so heavily in advertising. The data was drawn from over 100 million impressions, according to Mr. Stein, spanning campaigns from more than 15 advertisers.
Laundry Service has now started an Instagram division under Liz Eswein, whose @newyorkcity handle is followed by 1.2 million people on the platform. Laundry Service plans to further build out the network of Instagram photographers Ms. Eswein has cultivated, which it will lean on to shoot photos and videos for advertisers.