Since the launching of Instagram ads in 2015, businesses of all sizes have been able to reach target audiences and advertise directly to consumers. But like all digital marketing, creating an Instagram advertising campaign requires a lot of research and strategy in order to bring in clicks, impressions, and overall traffic.
Below, our social media management experts at Kiopi break down everything you need to know before creating your first Instagram ad. Not only that, but we’ll also explain how having Kiopi’s social media posting services on your side can help make Instagram advertising a breeze.
Since the Instagram app launched over a decade ago, the app has transformed significantly. It started as a way to post pictures of your daily life and connect with your friends. But now, the app is often used as a business and marketing tool for influencers, brands, and major corporations.
The implementation of Instagram ads played a huge role in the app’s gradual transformation into a marketing tool over the years. These ads look just like any other Instagram post, but they usually include extra features such as a “sponsored” label, call-to-action (CTA) buttons, brand links, and so much more. These ads can show up almost anywhere on the app: on your Instagram feed, the explore page, and even Instagram stories.
Instagram is a huge platform with billions of users. With the right Instagram advertising campaign, you can reach your target audience and generate more brand awareness in no time.
If you don’t want to invest in an Instagram marketing service, you’ll need to learn how to advertise on Instagram effectively.
It’s important to remember that, like all forms of digital marketing, using your Instagram account for business purposes and creating Instagram ads requires a bit of strategy, especially if your end goal is making money with Instagram, specifically.
Don’t worry; we’ll teach you how to get started with Instagram marketing.
You can also organically grow Instagram channels to get more views on Instagram if you aren’t ready for Instagram advertising.
Before you even create an Instagram ad campaign, you need to switch your personal account to a business account. To do that, go to settings and then tap “account.” Tap “switch to professional account,” and then select “business.” Lastly, select the category that best describes your business.
If you also have a Facebook page for your business, you should follow the steps to connect it to your Instagram page. That’s because the Instagram app is owned by Facebook. So you can use both Instagram ads and Facebook ads to your advantage.
Once you’ve done that, you can begin your Instagram ad campaign to start monetizing Instagram efforts. You don’t have to worry about creating all new content for advertisement. The good thing about social media advertising is that you can use content that has already done well with your audience. Using Instagram ads, you can easily turn existing Instagram posts into ads for your business.
Sponsored posts are just another way to advertise on Instagram. These types of posts are a bit different than regular Instagram ads because instead of a brand creating and posting their own ad, they’re paying someone else on Instagram – usually an influencer with a large following – to use or promote their product. The goal of Instagram ads and sponsored posts are the same: to reach a larger target audience and create more brand awareness.
You may think that sponsored posts are specifically reserved for big brands and influencers, but that’s not the case. Even “ordinary” people with a few hundred to a few thousand followers can get a sponsor on Instagram. However, getting one or more sponsors does require some strategizing.
First off, you need to create a specific brand for yourself. Branding is all about the type of content you post, as well as the style and messaging of your posts. Do you want to focus on health and wellness content? Fashion content? Gym and exercise-related content? There’s a niche for literally everything on social media, so make sure to establish what your niche is going to be. That way, you can attract specific sponsors and easily integrate their products into your posts.
You also need to focus on creating an Instagram feed that’s cohesive and pleasing to the eye. You could do this by creating a specific style of posts and ensuring all your posts have a similar color palette. Additionally, it’s important to make your posts as unique as possible. Remember, there are literally billions of Instagram users, and many of them are posting similar content. You want your content to stand out in some way, not only to your custom audience but to sponsors, as well.
To create posts that are aesthetically pleasing and effective for promoting your brand, you need to know your audience.
How old are they? Where in the country or world are they? When do they usually get on Instagram and see your posts? What kind of accounts do they follow? What kind of content do they like?
You can use all this information to create content that your audience will enjoy. Plus, you can gather much of this information by looking at your social media analytics on Kiopi.
Knowing your audience is also important for bringing in sponsors. Sponsors will be more willing to work with you if you can tell them exactly what types of people will be seeing their product on your page.
The algorithm on most social media apps favors daily posts. In other words, to grow your brand, your audience, and attract sponsors, you need to post as frequently as possible. The best way to do this is to post daily on Instagram stories, reels, or regular home feed posts.
You also need to figure out the best times to post your content. That way, it can be seen by as many people as possible.
If you’re trying to grow your audience and your brand, it’s crucial to use relevant hashtags. When people search or tap on specific hashtags, they can find your posts and your Instagram account. Over time, this can create much more engagement for your page.
When we say use hashtags, we don’t mean using random hashtags that have nothing to do with your content. We mean use relevant business hashtags.
For example, if your content is mostly health and wellness-related, you may want to use hashtags like #HealthAndWellness, #HealthyLiving, #HolisticLifestyle, and #HealthyLifestyle. Hashtags like these will make your content more discoverable to your target audience.
It’s also important to remember, though, that some hashtags have millions of posts under them. Using hashtags like this could make it more difficult for you and your content to be discovered. So, you have to balance using popular hashtags (with millions of posts) and very specific hashtags (with hundreds or thousands of posts) to grow your brand.
If you’re wearing a cute outfit or holding a drink from a local coffee shop in one of your posts, don’t be afraid to tag the brand! Not only does this make your Instagram account more discoverable by these brands (AKA: potential sponsors), but it can also create a larger audience for you. That’s because brands love interacting with happy customers. Many of them will share your post to their Instagram stories which will further promote their product – and, therefore – promote you.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to reach out to potential sponsors. The best way to be successful in almost any career or hobby is to just put yourself out there. Just like you’re looking for sponsors, brands are looking for people to promote their products.
It’s best to reach out to smaller brands and businesses first. Send them an email or a DM and explain:
You may be surprised by how many smaller brands are ready to work with you. Once you get a few smaller sponsorships under your belt, you can begin reaching out to larger brands.
Yes, Instagram ads work. In fact, Instagram even says that 70% of shoppers are scrolling through the app for their next purchase. Not only that, but at least 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business. That makes Instagram ads worth it for every single brand or business.
Instagram ad costs vary greatly depending on a variety of factors, including what you’re targeting, how competitive your niche is, the time of year, and whether or not your ads appear on Instagram, Facebook, or both.
Instagram ad cost also varies for CPC (cost-per-click) and CPM (cost-per-impressions). Generally, advertisers will pay between $0.20 to $2.00 for Instagram ad CPC. For CPM, on the other hand, advertisers generally pay $6.70 per 1,000 impressions.
The cost of Facebook ads are fairly similar to the cost of Instagram ads. For CPC, advertisers will generally spend $0.94. Meanwhile, for CPM, advertisers will generally spend $12.07.
There is no “right amount” when it comes to how much you should spend on an Instagram ads campaign. It truly depends on your individual platform. To get a good idea of how much you should spend initially, check out Facebook ads manager. There, you can create a draft campaign and do some personal research with these modules: Audience Definition and Estimated Daily Results. Basically, these modules can tell you how many people will see your ad and how long they will see your ad with your daily or lifetime budget.
If you want to start advertising on Instagram, it’s best to start small. Spend a few dollars a day on Instagram stories ads, for example, and then gradually increase your budget as you catch the eyes of more viewers.
There are many types of Instagram ad formats that you can choose from, all of which can target different audiences. For example, while some users only look at pictures and stories, other users may prefer IGTV and Instagram Reels. This is something to keep in mind when you create Instagram ads.
Additionally, each ad format has its own set of CTA buttons. So it’s important to pick the ad format that will help you meet your business goals.
Photo ads can be found on someone’s Instagram feed or in between Instagram stories. These types of ads are best for brands whose products are visually appealing. You really have to be able to catch the viewer’s eye through one or more compelling pictures. If not, users will scroll past it in less than a second. Professional photography, graphic design, and illustrations would make a great photo ad. Some advertisers choose to ad text on top of their photo ads, but Instagram encourages as few words on images as possible. Most users are scrolling through Instagram to see pretty pictures and videos, not to read.
Image ads are great for creating brand awareness, engagement, and more traffic. Examples of CTA buttons that you could use are:
Maybe you want to create Instagram stories ads because you’ve heard that user engagement is higher there than in the feed. This is true; Instagram claims that at least 500 million users view Instagram stories daily.
Stories ads can be pictures, videos, or even carousel ads. The best part is an Instagram story ad looks more like a regular story than an ad, so people are less likely to scroll past them as quickly.
Running Instagram ads on stories can be great for app installs, video views, traffic, messages, etc.
A relatively new feature on Instagram is IGTV. On this section of the Instagram app, users can upload several minute-long vertical videos. Similarly to YouTube ads, 15-second-long IGTV ads appear in the middle of a video. Viewers may or may not have the option to skip the ad. In order to run ads on IGTV, you must have an Instagram Creator account, which is currently only available for users in the U.S., U.K., and Australia.
A video ad on Instagram can be up to a minute long. However, because social media has drastically shortened our attention spans, the shorter the video, the better. Again, video ads can appear either in feed or on stories. These types of ads are best for brands who feel they can’t capture the benefits of their product in just one picture.
With a carousel ad, you can basically “tell a story” about your product or brand in 10 pictures or less. They can appear in feeds and on stories. A carousel ad is best for businesses that want to advertise more than just one product or, as previously stated, tell a story.
You can advertise on Instagram’s Explore page. This is the part of the app where people go to discover new people, new content, new products, and new brands. Naturally, the Explore page is great for advertising. These Instagram ads pop up after a user taps on a picture or video on the Explore page. So, your picture or video ad could pop up after someone taps on something that’s trending or relevant to your product.
One of the newest features on Instagram over the last few years is the shopping tab. This tab allows users to shop from brands without switching apps. To create ads in the shopping section of the app, though, you need to create a shopping catalog for your brand.
When thinking of Instagram Reels and Reels advertising, think of TikTok. Reels are short, TikTok-style videos. Ads can appear in between Reels and run for up to 30 seconds, just like on TikTok.
These types of Instagram ads can be great for post engagement, link clicks, reach, and so much more.
Learn how to make an Instagram Reel now!
If you’re planning on creating ads for Instagram, then you need the latest and greatest social media posting management service in order to get started. That tool is Kiopi. Kiopi can help you monitor Instagram analytics, schedule your Instagram posts, manage your Instagram ad campaigns, and so much more.
It’s crucial to study your current analytics before creating your first Instagram ad campaign. Kiopi can give you specific data on:
Having a successful Instagram account and ad campaign is a full-time job. Kiopi can take some of that responsibility off your shoulders by scheduling and posting your content so you don’t have to. In the long-run, this will save you plenty of time, money, and energy, especially while you’re creating eye-catching Instagram ads.
As you’ve probably gathered, effective digital marketing on Instagram requires lots of strategizing. If you’re new to the world of advertising on Instagram, you may not know where to begin. Luckily for you, Kiopi can help you prepare and strategize your campaign objective. Allow our social media campaign management feature to take more responsibility off your plate while you focus on growing your business.
Building a well-known and successful brand on Instagram requires daily postings. Some brands may have to post more than once a day to get their name out there. With such a large amount of content, you must stay organized. Kiopi’s content calendar allows you to plan your Instagram posts, keep track of what has already been posted, and coordinate with your social media team.
Advertising on Instagram can be made easy with Kiopi’s social media management tools. If you’re not fully convinced that we can help you grow your brand within the massive online universe that is social media, sign up for a 14-day free trial today and see for yourself.
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