Recently, a small survey pushed out by Communicate in a effort to get a pulse on the MENA region’s PR industry showed that the region’s PR professionals believe that Instagram is the social media platform with the greatest potential. The platform seems rather self-aware of its potential, as recent news is saturated with details of Instagram’s latest offerings from new formats to sponsored advertising content, to include 30-second videos.

The most recent announcement by the company is that ads will be available to company’s both large and small and the offering is open to 30 new countries, including those in MENA. Companies in the region that are already jumping on the Instagram “brand-wagon” include, Souq.com, Starbucks, American Eagle and Saudi Telecom Company (STC). Advertising will be open to all countries in MENA starting on September 30.

In the months leading up to the launch, Instagram has been working with companies to test the platform for advertisements and claim to be seeing a lot from brands in industries like e-commerce, retail, travel and entertainment. According to the Instagram, 97 percent of measured campaigns on the platform have generated significant increases in ad recall.

New capabilities have also been announced recently, such as:

• Landscape photo and video
• 30-second videos
• Marquee, a premium product helping to drive awareness and reach quickly
• Delivery and optimization tools to manage and drive campaigns on Facebook and Instagram.

The new changes could pose the question: what makes it Instagram anymore? To which one could argue with the wise words of American writer, Flannery O’Connor: “Everything that rises must converge.”