Billions of people flock over Instagram and spend an average of 53 minutes daily. It is safe to say that this social media platform will continue to grow in future. When it comes to advertising nothing can be better than this platform. From stories to carousel ads, Instagram gives you a plethora of options to choose from. Instagram is one of the best platforms you can utilize for advertising and this post will give you an overview of how to use Instagram for reaching larger masses.
What are Instagram Ads?
Instagram ads are ads camouflaged in the form of Instagram posts or stories. Advertisers need to pay for these ads. They are labelled by ‘Sponsored’ word. You can click on these ads and they will either take you to the brands’ online store or Instagram shops.
How much do they cost?
Well, there is no clear answer to that. These ads don’t have a set cost but instead depend on several factors like the audience you are targeting, time of targeting, major events etc. This is when your Instagram demographics come in handy. Another significant influencing is your ad placement.
To keep your cost minimum while increasing traffic or brand awareness you have to decide your goals and key objectives. This involves running a lot of tests, analyzing data to know what performed well and what didn’t and take notes of organically performing posts and why they are performing well.
So where do you start? Do you pay $5 a day or $5 a week? The answer is – it depends. Again, everything boils down to what your ultimate goal is. You can set your daily budget and bids. This allows you to take charge of how much you want to spend on a particular campaign.
How and Where do I Start?
You can advertise on Instagram through 2 ways- one is through Instagram app and the other is through Facebook Ads Manager.
Through Instagram App
You have the option of promoting a well performing [post if you have a business or creator account. All what you need to do is click on Promote Post button and select who sees your ad, when and how much you want to spend on it, click on create promotion. Voila, now you can see how well your post is performing after spending on it.
Through Facebook Ads Manager
Step 1
Go to Ads Manager and click on ‘+Create’ and select Guided Creation
Step 2
Select your ad campaign objective.
Step 3
Select your audience. You have the option of choosing a very fine set of audience with specific interests. You can target them by location, age, gender etc.
Step 4
You get to decide where your ads are going to appear through Placements section. You can either manually set where you want your ads to show up or leave it to Facebook to figure out the optimal place for your ad placement.
Step 5
Now you need to set a budget for your campaign. You can set weekly, daily or lifetime budget according to your requirements. You can also schedule budget to spend on a particular day.
Step 6
Finally, you need to create ads. Select pictures and videos you want to show in your ads.
What Type of Ads can be shown on Instagram?
Instagram allows you to choose from a large variety of ads.
1) Stories ads – These ads appear in users’ stories. They are mostly used for brand awareness and traffic, but you can use them for conversions too.
2) Photo Ads – These are ads in the form of posts. They use photographs to showcase your product.
3) Video ads – Video ads allow your customers to engage with your brand for a minute long. Yes, with video ads you can post a minute-long video and can tell your brand’s story through these ads.
4) Carousel ads – Carousel ads allow you to post a series of pictures in a single ad. Users can swipe through the ad to move to the next picture. This way you can display multiple products in a single ad.
Brands have a perception that Instagram advertising is all about posting pictures and interacting with customers. Yes, all of this is important for Instagram Advertising but not limited to this. You need to have an understanding of your brand’s story and goals to drive a successful Instagram campaign. It involves money, energy, time and failures. But the success you get through it is unquestionable.