Clinch launches tool to dynamically generate ads for Instagram Stories

Clinch, which provides a platform for generating data-driven variations of interactive media, today said it has added functionality that lets advertisers dynamically create a variety of video/carousel ads for Instagram Stories, which it says is the first tool of its kind.

The New York City-headquartered company offers marketers tools for developing dynamic creative for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and programmatic channels like exchanges or over-the-top (OTT) television. It recently released software called Clinch for Facebook that dynamically creates video/carousel ads for that platform.

To use the Instagram Stories tool, a brand first works with the Clinch team to create an interactive template for the 6-to-15-second ad, to which are attached sources for content assets like photos, videos or previously created graphics.

The tool then generates dozens or even hundreds of ads that run between Instagram Stories, and it conducts A/B tests to determine which ones receive the most engagement — such as swiping — or other feedback that indicates positive responses.

The ads’ content can be personalized by the tool, such as showing top travel destinations based on your location. Or the tool can deliver ads that serve a specific role in the buyer’s journey. For instance, the first ads a user sees might offer travel destinations, but if the brand knows the user has already purchased an airplane ticket to Rio de Janeiro, the ad can show hotels in that city.

Based on data from user interaction, the tool’s machine learning guides the creation of new generation of ads, a continual Darwinian process of optimization that CEO Oz Etzioni told me led to a 28 times increase in return on ad spend (ROAS) in a recent pilot campaign for Latin American online travel company Despegar.

About The Author

Barry Levine

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.