The popular photography app Instagram recently added advertisements to the program, causing many users to complain about their inclusion. However, the advertising strategy seems to be working for Instagram, as the company has revealed some new facts and figures that show how effect the new ads have been.

According to a new blog post written by the company, Instagram's ads have managed to become very effective for sponsors since their launch on Nov. 1. For example, Levi's ads on the app managed to reach 7.4 million people in just nine days, and Ben and Jerry's reach 9.8 million people in eight days. In particular, it is being reported that the advertisement for Ben and jerry's new ice cream flavor, Ben & Jerry's Scotchy Scotch Scotch (a tie-in to the upcoming Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues) saw 17 percent of users becoming aware of the flavor and associating it with Ben and Jerry's after a single viewing of the advertisement. In the four different ad campaigns seen by Instagram users it is being reported that a 32-point incremental lift in ad recall per campaign was noted for those who were repeatedly exposed to the ads versus control groups.

Instagram appears to be trying to make high impact ads for the app rather than just blanketing users with frequent ads, based on their statements in the blog post concerning how they choose ad campaigns that will be seen by users:

"Ads on Instagram are designed to support brands focused on reaching large audiences with memorable, high quality content. We think this aligns with the way people and brands already use Instagram - sharing photos and videos that capture a moment, inspire others, or shift perceptions. For this analysis, we focused on metrics such as reach, ad recall, and awareness, which reflect the value and effectiveness of brand campaigns, rather than on social metrics such as comments, likes and followers."

The company went on to say that they will continue to make the ads on Instagram the best they can be, and Instagram will continue to give reports on the effectiveness of the advertising on the app in the future:
"While these initial results are promising, we believe that early campaigns may benefit from an overall increase in awareness of ads on Instagram due to their recent introduction. We will continue to optimize our ad products to make them successful for marketers and a great experience for people on Instagram. We'll share additional case studies and results periodically in the future."