How to Create Instagram Ads That Convert Your Followers
With over 500 million daily active users, Instagram has taken the marketing industry by storm. Companies and organizations of all sizes can use the app to reach all kinds of consumers, especially consumers ages 18 and 34. If you’re looking to market your business on Instagram, you can target users based on a range of identifying factors including their age, interests, geographic location, gender, and browsing history, just like Facebook.
You have lots of different options when it comes to advertising on Instagram. From quick updates to lasting original content, every type of ad comes with its own best practices.
Learn how to optimize different types of ads for a younger, mobile audience, so you can turn your followers into paying customers.
Creating Story-Based Ads
By now you should know that Instagram stories are short pieces of original content that only exist on the platform for 24 hours. You can upload short 15-second videos or images that run for up to 15 seconds. The platform offers sponsored stories, which means your clips will be seamlessly integrated into the user’s experience as they swipe through photos and videos of their friends and loved ones. To blend your ads with the rest of this content, make sure your story ads are fun and engaging.
Stories are temporary, which means they don’t need to be as professional as your profile posts. Use these ads to keep your followers up to date on what’s happening at your company, promote temporary discounts and giveaways, or to experiment with different types of content or messages.
You can add text to your images, stickers, emojis, buttons, and memes right in the app, so you can get creative with your story ads. This is a place to have fun and get users excited about your products and services.
You only have 15 seconds or less to convert your followers, so keep your story ads short. Avoid adding too much text and use compelling CTAs with a large font to ask more of your followers. You can add links to story ads, giving users a chance to “Swipe up to learn more,” which will send them to a page on your website.
Creating Feed-Based Ads
You can also create ads that appear in the user’s feed just like a regular post. The app lets you create a unique ad or promote one of the posts on your profile. You can encourage them to watch your videos, visit your website, buy your products or services, or simply follow your Instagram account.
Feed-based posts tend to be more professional than story-based ads. They tend to feature high-quality imagery with lots of contrast to get the user’s attention. Users scroll through their feeds at their own pace, so if your content isn’t appealing, users will quickly scroll down to the next post. You can also add a caption, but users will only see the first few words. They have to click on the “See more” option to read the whole thing, so use a few choice words at the top to hook them in.
Save your best-looking imagery for these kinds of ads to help them blend in. Focus on what you’re trying to get the user to do. Promote existing posts to redirect users to your profile, so they can watch your videos and follow you. Or, add a link to your website to send them to your homepage, landing pages, product pages, or longer videos on your website.
Tips and Tricks for Creating Instagram Ads
- Keep It Mobile-Friendly
Instagram differs from most marketing channels as a mobile-first platform, which means everyone will be on their smartphones when viewing your ads. Marketing on Instagram is all about getting straight to the point. Your users simply don’t have enough time to read large chunks of text or watch a 10-minute video.
Avoiding using large chunks of text in story ads. Limit yourself to catchy taglines and CTAs. You can’t use large chunks of text in your post captions, especially if you’re trying to get users interested in a longer article or video.
Like a TV commercial, your ads should also be clear and straightforward. Avoid using complex language or unrelated content, as it might confuse your target audience.
Every aspect of the user’s experience should be made for mobile, including any links you add to your content. Your website, video library, and product pages should be mobile-friendly with fast load times.
- Audio Captioning
Videos are becoming the medium of choice on Instagram, especially when it comes to stories. Video posts receive 38% more engagement than image posts.
But remember that users will be on-the-go or in public, which means they probably won’t have a chance to listen to the audio on your videos. Some users may even be listening to music as they scroll through your ads, so focus on the visuals. You can still add audio to your videos, but use captions to keep viewers engaged. Otherwise, there’s a good chance they won’t hear what anyone is saying.
You can also use the “Sound On” sticker to tell users to listen to the audio, but there’s a good chance they won’t, so add captions just to be safe.
- Use Built-in Image-Making Tools
Instagram is full of free image-making tools, helping you elevate your original content, at least when it comes to stories. When uploading a photo or video to your story, you’ll see a range of icons at the top of the screen. You can add different kinds of text, stickers, buttons, CTAs, emojis and memes in just a few seconds. You can even conduct polls to learn more about your target audience.
This feature is connected to Giphy, which allows you to search for unique memes and emojis. Insert these fun characters and images on top of your content. This also lets you turn a static image into a 15-second video.
Instagram users have access to these tools as well, so using them will make your stories appear more authentic and approachable.
The options are endless when it comes to marketing on Instagram. Keep these tips in mind when creating your ads to make the right impression on your target audience. If you’re looking for more Instagram marketing tips, sign up for a digital marketing convention to learn more.
