According to emarketer’s first ever advertising forecast, Instagram could generate as much as $545 million in worldwide advertising revenue this year. When it comes to maximizing your brand’s presence in a digital world—Instagram is becoming an extremely large player. As more and more companies spend marketing dollars on Instagram ads—one question marketing teams are asking themselves is: How can my brand differentiate itself from my competitors on Instagram?Instagram is a visual platform. And photos speak much louder than words. In fact, visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text. That means, in the mere seconds that an Instagram users views your display ad while scrolling through her news feed-- she will be able to process it much faster than if it were a search ad.‍

By placing display ads solely on mobile (instead of on desktop), it also makes it much more likely that the user will see and/or interact with it.  This alone makes Instagram appealing to brands looking to make an impression on potential customers.But in just two years, Instagram's global mobile ad revenues will hit $2.81 billion — 10% of Facebook's estimated global ad revenues that year. In a sign of just how quickly Instagram is expected to grow in the US, eMarketer forecasts that it will have higher net mobile display ad revenues than both Google and Twitter in 2017. That’s lot of competition your ads will be running against.

But there are ways to optimize your ad campaigns for success. Data shows that 92% of consumers around the world say they trust their peers above all other forms of advertising. (Nielsen) Coincidentally, consumers are posting about the products and brands they love across social every day. So what would happen if you placed this high-performing, user generated content (UGC) into your Instagram display ads?

‍Your brand will generate trust: Social media is the next word-of-mouth. Consumers are proven to trust visual endorsements by people they know over recommendations from brands themselves.

‍Your brand will increase conversion and AOV: Businesses that use customer content in advertising see higher conversion, click-through rates to product pages, and average order values. By placing UGC in display ads, your brand will instantly drive revenue with Instagram.

‍Your brand will amplify brand awareness: UGC creates a two-way dialogue and allows brands to directly engage in real conversation with customers on social through likes and comments. In fact, 80% of a marketing campaign’s reach comes from social amplification. (Ogilvy)

‍Your brand will have unlimited visual content: Your customers’ photos are a limitless pool of content that resonates strongly with potential customers and keeps your advertising campaigns fresh.

Because of its mass amount of users and visual nature, Instagram is becoming increasingly relevant in the discussion around driving revenue from social media. However, as brands begin to flock to the social platform to purchase display ads, your brand will have to take additional steps to stand out in the crowd. Strangely enough, this means blending in. In particular, it means leveraging the on-brand content that your existing customers are generating every day. While it may seem counter intuitive, your brand will stay ahead of the curve and maximize returns on your social investments—all by marketing with the voice of your own customers.