Instagram has come a long way from being a social media platform adorned with selfies, images of sumptuous meals, and breathtaking places. These days, it has become an avenue to empower many brands, deliver powerful messages, and encourage customer engagement. Meaningful customer connections have also been possible through Instagram Ads.
Instagram is a social media powerhouse built with a large following today. It now boasts of about 1 billion users worldwide and has become a very influential platform. Users browse this social media platform for an average of 53 minutes per day, which is a reliable indicator of being an excellent avenue to promote your brand.
As the mobile photo-sharing network, Instagram, continue to soar popularity and dominate the social network scene, companies have started leaning on it to do promotional activities. Because of how promising the platform has become, businesses are now spending money to boost their brands through Instagram Ads. In 2019, roughly $20 billion was spent by companies to do advertising on Instagram.
However, as the photo-sharing network gains popularity and more businesses begin to move toward Instagram ads to promote their business, the competition gets fierce. It has become hard to stand out among the sea of images, and videos users scroll every day.
As a marketer or business owner, you need several techniques to master Instagram Ads to make it big in the social media powerhouse. Here are some ways you can do to master Instagram Ads and help you achieve your business and marketing objectives.
Ways To Master Instagram Ads
- Be Careful With The Photos You Use
Using Instagram to promote your business means you have to have a large image bank. Since this is mainly an image-sharing network, your image material matters a lot. While it is expensive to conduct a photoshoot, hire a model and photographer and do the post edit process, you can lean on stock photos available on the internet.
However, using it directly on your Instagram Ads is somehow prohibited. People have a way of finding out if you are using stock photos in your Ads. To make it work, use a stock photo in the background and add a text overlay. Just make sure that the stock photo you use is relevant to your message.
- Leverage on Micro-Influencers and UGC
Unless you have been under the rock for ages, you have probably heard about influencers on Instagram. Influencer marketing has been many brand's best friend for so many years until it began to dwindle. Users are now looking for more authentic and relatable content.
As influencers with a large following seemed to become more and more irrelevant these days, a new breed is slowly making waves. They are called Micro-influencers that only have 1k-10k followings. Since their followers are small, they are more intimate with their little community. As you collaborate with them, they can create content that you can use for your Instagram Ads.
As per the study, user-generated contents (UGC) are more effective than in-house curated materials. They create better engagement when compared to other materials made by professionals. Although you tap a lesser audience when working with Micro-influencers compared to popular influencers, you get to connect with a more target consumer group.
- Work On Your Video Ads
Instagram rose to fame as a photo-sharing platform that everyone loved. However, as users start to get pictured out with the platform, they seemed to thirst for video sharing capabilities the mobile app can offer. To quench this thirst and as the role of videos in capturing consumers' attention become notable, Instagram launched its video-sharing features way back in 2013. Surprisingly, within 24 hours of making the functionality available to users, there already about 5 million videos uploaded on the social media platform.
As you leverage on Instagram Ads to boost your brand and grow your awareness, note how video materials are considered to be one of the most effective ways to capture your target audience.
To make the most of your video ads in promoting your business through Instagram Ads, make sure that you hook your audience in less than 3 seconds from the start of your video. If you fail to get your customers' attention in those seconds, you lose the opportunity as most won't stick around to watch it.
You can create several tactics to grab your followers' attention. Use humor to present a funny situation, work with attention-seeking fonts, or incorporate motion in your video like a woman running or walking in a particular direction. You can also use a great soundtrack in your video as a way to hook your audience. Do not forget to add a compelling caption to help your audience understand your ad campaign better.
- Do Not Forget Your CTA
Either you use a captivating image or a mesmerizing video on your Instagram Ads, include a compelling and convincing call-to-action (CTA). This tactic will urge your audience to take action.
If you include it inside the video, make it appear midway. Should you have a longer video material, add at least two (2) CTAs. Place one in the middle and the other CTA at the end of your video.
Ensure that the CTA you will use will have relevance with your image, your video material, or your brand as a whole. If you are using a photo in your Instagram Ads campaign, you cannot add a CTA on the image. What you can do is to place a strong statement on your first sentence. This strategy will lead your audience to the CTA placed in your ad copy.
- Do The Carousel Ad Format
The dynamics for Instagram use is to scroll down, and users have known this by heart. To help break the monotony and help get your follower's attention, you can incorporate the carousel format in your Instagram Ads.
Instead of browsing down, a carousel ad format compels users to do a side to side browsing. Doing this allows you to interrupt the pattern, get your audiences’ attention, and spark interest.
To make this effective, break your idea or your concept into several images. Your first image should be strong enough to capture attention, yet not enough to give your whole approach. It should leave your followers a curiosity gap, which will make them want to browse in the next photo.
- Make Your Design Work For Stories
Instagram Stories are not just added features – it has evolved to be a star feature of the sharing platform. With only a 24-hour timeframe before it disappears, it became an instant hit among Instagram users.
To maximize this fantastic feature and help your Instagram Ads campaign, make sure that your design format for your images and videos should also work for this. Go vertical to make sure that your design would fit. Otherwise, it will look like a pillar boxing and will make your brand appear unprepared and unprofessional.
Make your IG stories fun by adding stickers, gifts, and the most important "Swipe Up" CTA.
Bonus Pro Tip: Do Not Forget To Make An Established Business Profile
To build your brand image, know your analytics and sales funnel, and launch Instagram Ads, you need to establish a business profile. This thing is the first and crucial step in using Instagram to boost your brand.
Do not forget as well to optimize your Instagram bio to make it appeal to users. Use your bio to promote a campaign, giveaways, sales promotions, product launches, and more. Doing this will also help you earn the Instagram verified badge. It will also help secure your followers' trust and help to make your Instagram Ads a success.
Final Thoughts
As you master your Instagram Ads, do not forget the critical measures in doing any advertisement campaign. Make sure you have a goal, know your target customers, engage with your audience, and measure your promotional efforts.
Competition may be fierce these days, but as long as you understand your niche market and provide a valuable service, you can always ensure success with your any of your promotional activities.