4 Things You Need to Know About Instagram Ads
Instagram is the hottest social media platform for marketers. This year, 69% of businesses plan to use Instagram for marketing and that number is only expected to grow.
Instagram’s ever-increasing popularity makes it a smart choice for ecommerce businesses, especially those targeting millennials and Gen Z shoppers. In fact, research shows that 67% of millennial smartphone users are on Instagram and 32% are on Instagram Stories — the platform’s ephemeral video feature.
As with many other aspects of social media marketing, when it comes to First Page Instagram advertising, quality matters more than quantity. Even if you have a large following on Instagram, you’re probably not going to see much success if your content quality is low or your posts aren’t relevant.
- Why Run Ads on Instagram?
Instagram has more than 200 million active monthly users, and half of those users follow their favorite businesses.
Advertising on Instagram is an easy way to engage potential customers. You can find new followers, increase your brand awareness, and show off products in a fun, visual way.
Instagram ads run through the Facebook ad platform. This means that if you already have a Facebook Page for your business, you can use the same profile for both platforms.
- Determine Your Campaign Strategy
The first step before jumping into any campaign is to make sure it aligns with your overall business goals.
So, when considering your campaign strategy for Instagram ads, ask yourself these questions:
What are you trying to accomplish? Boost brand awareness? Generate leads? Increase sales? Once you know what you’re trying to accomplish, you can determine which ad format will help you achieve that goal.
Which audience do you want to reach? With more than 400 million active users on Instagram every month, narrowing down who you want to target is important. You can choose from a variety of targeting options including age, gender, location, interests and behaviors.
- Advertise a product in the feed
Instagram has impressive engagement rates, so if you want to use it for advertising, make it part of your content strategy. Take attractive photos of your products and post them in the feed. Include a clear call-to-action (CTA) in the caption, such as “Shop Now” or “Find Out More,” and link to your website using a URL shortener like Bitly.
- Instagram Advertising is Relatively New
Instagram advertising has only been around since October 2013. However, it’s popular because it’s an excellent way to get your brand in front of a highly targeted audience.
Instagram users come to the platform to see pictures and videos, which is why Instagram ads showcase photos and videos. The ads can show up as carousels or single images. You can also choose from different calls-to-action, so you can point people to your website or have them directly engage with your products or services.
You can create Instagram ads using the Facebook ad interface, which you may already be familiar with if you’re running Facebook ads. The Facebook Ads Manager allows you to easily set up different campaigns, choose the right targeting parameters, limit your budget, and track the results of your campaigns.