The online advertising landscape is rich with
options from traditional platforms like Facebook to essential players such as
Google. What many may overlook when spending precious advertising dollars is
the younger, more visually focused option: Instagram.
With various ad formats to choose from, this popular social media channel can yield a higher return on investment than its more well-known counterparts. In this post, we’ll examine the ins and outs of the platform, how to determine if the Instagram audience is right for your brand and how to get started if you’d like to advertise on the channel.
What is Instagram?
The platform is a free photo and video sharing
app, which is available to users with Apple, Android and Windows phones. People
can upload and edit photos or videos to share them in one of two ways: to a
select group of friends with privacy protection or with all of their followers
publicly. They can create stories from them as well. Users may also choose to
like or comment on photos or videos posted to the accounts they follow.
Instagram by the Numbers
One of the fastest growing social networks,
Statista reported that Instagram had reached 1 billion active monthly users as of June 2018. Since its inception in 2010, its number of users and followers has only increased.
According to
Sprout Social, Instagram is made up of at least 38% women and skews young—the majority of users are in the 18 – 29 age range. There are also more users that live in cities vs. suburbs and more college-educated users than not.
Does my brand fit?
The common assumption is that Instagram is a platform only for fashion or food brands, but that’s simply not true. Traditionally male-dominant industries like gaming are seeing large returns from using the platform. For example, when Zeptolab advertised on Instagram, they saw an
increase of 40% compared to previous installs of their games; Blizzard Entertainment enjoyed
23 million views on their Instagram video promoting their game Overwatch.
Truthfully, there are several examples of Instagram advertising
success in a variety of different industries that target vastly different
audiences. The key to success on the platform is good imagery paired with good
storytelling.
What kind of ad formats can I use on Instagram?
The good news is that there are several different ways to experiment with ads on Instagram.
- The most basic are traditional Photo Ads, which focus on the power of simplicity. With one single image and a link, you can capture the attention of your audience and drive them directly to a page to shop.
- To provide an enhanced experience, Video Ads offer the complexity of sight, sound and motion working together to wow your audience. Choices include landscape or square formats and up to 60 seconds of playback time.
- Carousel Ads allow you to showcase several different items with a slideshow-type experience that drives viewers to one specific page.
- Collections Ads take the carousel concept one step further by integrating videos with multiple images, which gives you the freedom to mix a lifestyle message with a product.
- With Stories Ads, you can craft an elegant narrative for your followers, which will be seen in ‘full screen’ mode with no visual distractions. The stories can be product-based, animated, or lifestyle focused. What’s more, when you’re building your brand story, Instagram makes it easy by offering both a Guided Creation or a Quick creation guide.
How do I get started?
To begin, make sure your brand accounts for Facebook and Instagram are
linked. Next, access the
Instagram Advertising page. From here, it’s a simple step-by-step process from concept to creation.
- Choose the type of ad you’d like to create.
- Click on the corresponding ‘Create Your Own’ button.
- Declare your objective. There are nearly a dozen objectives to choose from and a helpful sidebar of information if you need assistance selecting the best one for your brand.
- Narrow your target and specify your audience by gender, location, age, etc.
- Select placements (automatic or custom).
- Declare your budget. This is where you can determine your maximum spend per week.
- Build your ad using your high quality images (and/or video) and captivating text.
After you’ve deployed your masterpiece, keep an eye on the
statistics to measure your success. In addition to the numbers provided by
Instagram, monitor your Instagram page for comments and likes, and interact as
much (and as soon) as possible with your followers. Social media is at its best
when the engagement is a two-way street, so be sure not to ignore or delay a
response to any customers who took the time to offer their feedback.
When you see something that’s working, find inventive ways to
repeat it in a fresh way and
test out different Instagram ad formats to see
what works best for your brand.
In Conclusion
Though the channel’s advertising may be best-known for its posts in image-friendly industries such as fashion, any organization can achieve success with Instagram advertising. The key is to mix high-quality imagery and video with well-crafted storytelling that provides a positive experience for your followers. Once you have that, test the ad formats that your audience best responds to and establish a regular cadence of content to promote your products and services. You’re sure to see results in no time!
If you would like to learn more about how Fujisan Marketing can help you with your Instagram advertising, contact us at (844) FUJISAN or at contact@fujisanmarketing.com.
