With over 400 million users in total and uploading, Instagram is still on the rise. The social network of photography par excellence is, then, the ideal place for our business to be present, but how to take advantage of all its visual potential to create the best ads on Instagram?
The figures speak for themselves: of those more than 400 million users, 100 million have registered on the network during the last year. And in Spain, Instagram has reached a total of 8 million active users. Each day, approximately 80 million photographs and videos are uploaded to this platform. It gives vertigo, right? Not in vain we have talked about how useful Instagram is for companies, because a good strategy for this network can greatly benefit our business. But once the account of our company is created, once the steps are followed … What do I upload? How do I upload it? How do I post buy intagram comments?
You have to take into account not only the figures, but what they imply. And it is that in Instagram not only the user number is high, but also the time of permanence and the level of participation. Instragram users easily follow the profiles of those brands that interest them, because with a photo they can inform you in a more impactful way than with a text. That’s how we are, after all, we all like the visual, the direct, and we like to see more than to read. All this makes Instagram an ideal network for our business, and that’s why ads on Instagram can be very effective and beneficial, more so now that Instagram does not stop being a “newborn” network and CPC costs are very low , so we would achieve a lot by investing little.
This step is of vital importance, since you will not be able to make an announcement on Instagram if you do not first link your account to your Facebook Fan Page. So yes, you need a Fan Page of your business so that all this will be useful. You will not be able to make Instagram ads without a Fan Page, just as, if it has a name and / or a logo that does not match the name and / or logo of your Instagram account, this will be reflected in the ad.
To do this, on your Facebook Fan Page, go to the settings. There you will see a section called “Instagram Ads”, or “Instagram Ads”.
Here you will have to click on “add account” and you can either link your existing account or create a new one.
Do not forget to check that you can access Instagram Ads from the Facebook Power Editor. Only then you can know if you have activated the advertising on Instagram. Go to Facebook Ads and select the Power Editor. When the data is downloaded, click on “create campaign”, give it a name and decide what type it will be. Keep in mind that you must choose a type of campaign compatible with ads on Instagram. You can also choose if you want to create an ad set or create a new one. Of course, if you want your ad to appear on Instagram, you should have marked the location option on Instagram.
Choose the type of campaign
Instagram ads can be of five different types, depending on the goals you have and what you want to achieve with them.
You can promote publications to increase the visibility of your posts. This option comes in handy if you’re looking to increase user participation with your brand. In this type of campaign it is convenient not to use a very commercial tone, but a creative and funny tone that invites users to talk to you. Keep in mind that it is not an information campaign, but what you are looking for is interaction.
The campaigns aimed at getting web traffic aim to direct visits to a particular web page, or your website in general, so the ad incorporates a button that redirects you to the page of your choice.
If we want to get conversions on the website, we will do the same as the campaign to get web traffic. The only difference is that this campaign incorporates a follow-up of the conversions, so the goal is not only the user’s visit, but also to fill in some type of subscription forms or make some kind of download.
Another type of campaign is the one that pretends the installation of applications, with which you will urge the user to download a mobile application of your authorship. This type of ads on Instagram tend to be very effective since the vast majority of users, if not all, use Instagram from their mobile phone despite the existence of a web version.
Finally, there are campaigns aimed at video reproductions, the most used format in networks, and rightly so. A video will always be attractive and eye-catching, and this campaign will help you get reproductions in those spots of your brand that you want to viralize.
Choose your audience and go to him
As with any other campaign, ads on Instagram will shine with their entire splendor if you target your target audience. Apart from the basic segmentation options (language, location, age, gender) you can also use advanced segmentation options to reach personalized audiences. You can create lists using, for example, a database; you can also segment your audience for their education or work. There is also an option to reach your audience based on their interests depending on the pages you visit and in which you actively participate. Finally, you can filter your target audience based on their behaviors and also their connections (You can add similar users to those who follow your page, for example or to people who have ever interacted with you).
Choose the right format
Instagram is a world full of possibilities when it comes to generating content. Therefore, not only do you have to know how to choose the type of campaign, but also the format of the ad on Instagram. The network offers four types of different formats with which to exploit your creativity to the fullest:
Carousel: This format gives you the option of including up to five images in your Instagram ad. The carousel gives much play to creativity, so do not hesitate to be as imaginative as you can. Some people use this format to even tell a story in five photos to convey values and emotion.
Unique image
It is convenient to include an action call with this image. Do not forget that it has to be of good quality and to attract attention. Do not upload pixelated or simple images. Take advantage of the visual impact of this network.
Player of images
A gallop between the video and the carousel, this format allows you to include five images but, while in the carousel was the user who passed them, here they reproduce themselves. It’s like a kind of presentation. You get the impression that it is a video even if you only include images.
Video
Instagram decided to dispense with his fifteen-second videos and has increased the duration, so now you have up to a minute of margin. You can publish a small video clip or a spot of a campaign.
And do not forget to preview your ad before publishing it officially to see how it really looks!
Finally, make your Instagram ads invite them to look
After following all these tricks, you just have to be creative. There is a formula for almost everything, but creativity does not have an instruction manual … But no limit either! Therefore, these last tips will help you to make that creativity also profitable:
If your ads consist of one or more photographs, that stand out for their quality. And we not only talk about image quality, but also professional quality: light, framing, style … Succeeding with your images is easy, if you know how. And try to make your photos 100% original and tell a story, and do not limit yourself to archival photographs. This will give personality to your Instagram ads, and it will give you brand value.
An Instagram ad is better seen in a square format than in a rectangular format.
Do not limit yourself to creating a single ad for a campaign. Create several to be able to alternate them and find out what kind of content best fits your audience.
Do not hesitate to include action calls. These can even double your results.
Do not stretch too much with the caption. Remember that the strong point of Instagram is the visual, so use it to say only what is necessary. Of course, it uses hashtags (especially the most popular) to increase your visibility and get more participation, but do not include URLs, since it is impossible to click on them and affects the visual appearance of the caption.