Last September, we opened up advertising to businesses of all sizes around the world. As a result, we now have more than 200,000 advertisers reaching customers on Instagram with adverts that spark the various interests of our community, whether they're selling concert tickets, increasing downloads of a mobile gaming app or building awareness of a small business for book lovers.

People come to Instagram to be inspired and discover things they care about, and that includes content from businesses. In fact, 60% of Instagrammers say that they learn about products and services on Instagram, and 75% say that they take action after being inspired by an Instagram post, such as visiting a website, searching, shopping or telling a friend.¹ Not only does our community value content from businesses on the platform, but advertisers can get the results they care about, from brand awareness to increased sales.

With a diverse global community, advertisers are combining relevant targeting with visual storytelling to capture new customers worldwide. Seventy-five per cent of our advertisers are outside the US, operating in more than 200 countries, and are seeing meaningful results from their campaigns.

In Germany, supermarket REWE ran adverts on Instagram to show young mothers how to make simple meals using its products. The combination of tasty photos and inspiring copy generated a massive 37-point lift in advert recall – 6.1-times higher than Nielsen's norms.

And e-commerce watch company, Shore Projects, grew from its small London base into a global business with the help of Instagram. With the success of its campaigns targeted to people in key regions, it now ships to more than 100 countries, with retailers around the world selling their watches in store.

It's not just major brands that are seeing success on Instagram. PetLove, an online store for pet products based in Brazil, wanted to increase downloads of its mobile app. After seeing success with Facebook adverts, it ran a Mobile App Installs advert on Instagram using the same targeting as its Facebook campaigns. After the campaign ended, PetLove saw a 30% lower cost per install compared to other digital channels.

And US-based Framebridge, a company on a mission to make custom framing easy for you and your wallet, worked with Instagram Partner Ampush to attract new customers with the potential to be repeat or lifetime customers. It also targeted people who had visited its site in last 30 days, and those who had added a frame to their basket but didn't check out in the last 60 days, with its campaign. Through a series of photo adverts that included a "Shop Now" button, Framebridge saw its cost to acquire a new customers decrease by 71%.

This is just the beginning of what advertisers can do on Instagram. As we continue to expand our advertising formats and offerings, we're looking forward to seeing how businesses around the world connect with consumers on Instagram to grow their companies.