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Instagram advertising has become an affordable, highly effective way of getting your brand and its message in front of your target audiences. One in four social media users claim to find new products and services through seeing ads on platforms like Instagram. With this Meta owned social medium having over two billion monthly active users (one fourth of the world’s population) you can bet a large portion of your audience is spending time on it. Dive into our Instagram advertising guide for a detailed look at how to advertise on Instagram:
Social spending rose by 13.1% in
2021 and is set to rise by a
further 10.1% in 2022.
No Instagram advertising guide would be complete without a bit of a backstory. Instagram gives people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. With new features constantly being added, users can build influence by creating compelling content that is uniquely theirs. Through Instagram ads, brands can do the same – building a community of loyal followers and regular customers. Here are six things every business should know about Instagram:
Instagram posts with at least one hashtag produce 12.6% more engagement
With 84% engagement, Instagram is the second-most used platform
Stories are vital
50% of Instagram’s active users are checking Stories every day
100 million users watch or broadcast live Instagram videos daily
Over a fourth of the world’s population is using Instagram
Successful Instagram advertising campaigns aren’t those with the most striking visuals. The best advert ever made in front of the completely wrong audience isn’t going to achieve much. It’s not the ad’s fault, though. It comes down to how you reach audiences, and there are a few ways to do so on Instagram:
Your ideal customers live somewhere, work somewhere, and spend their free time somewhere. Capture the interest of people in a specific geographical area, or multiple defined areas as part of a more strategic approach.
Target every South African between 18 and 65 is going to cost a fortune, so drilling down on specifics is how to get the most bang for your ad spend. Reach your future brand ambassadors based on their demographic details, filtering audiences by age (18 – 65+), gender, and language.
To further fine-tooth define the audience to which your ads will be shown, Instagram lets you target users based on their online interests and behaviours. This is all in the name of reaching the right people, at the right time and place, with the right message.
Audience targeting is vital for Instagram advertising success, and so too are visuals. But it’s also about the style in which you present your brand, products and services to the world. In other words, the format your Instagram ads will be built in. There are nine types of ads you can run on Instagram:
An Instagram Carousel ad is a collection of images or videos that users can swipe through. Appearing both in-feed and within Instagram Stories, Carousel ads can include a call-to-action button or swipe up link leading users directly to your website. You’ve got a 10-image limit to tell multi-part stories or showcase collections of your best products.
An Instagram Carousel ad is a collection of images or videos that users can swipe through. Appearing both in-feed and within Instagram Stories, Carousel ads can include a call-to-action button or swipe up link leading users directly to your website. You’ve got a 10-image limit to tell multi-part stories or showcase collections of your best products.
Instagram Image ads are ideal for campaigns with compelling visual content conveyable in one picture. Use one image to tell a thousand words about your brand, products and services. Instagram recommends limiting on-image wording as much as possible for best results, so details should go in the accompanying advert text.
Video ads on Instagram also give users an immersive look into what your business can offer them. In-feed Instagram video ads have a 60-minute limit, with shorter videos considered more effectual. Video ads take more time and effort than Image ads, but will yield substantially more engagement.
Collection ads are combine Carousel ads and Shopping ads, showcasing products directly from your Instagram product catalogue. They’re best suited to ecommerce brands, since users can buy products directly from the advert. When someone clicks, it directs them to an on-app storefront where they can learn more about the product and buy it.
Instagram users discover new content under the Explore tab, which is another chance to capture your target audience’s attention and where Explore ads pop up. Instagram Explore ads can comprise both images and video, and, with more than 50% of users accessing the Explore function every month – it’s a fantastic place to get brand exposure.
After setting up an Instagram Shopping catalogue, you’re able to advertise to the 130 million users tapping on Instagram shopping posts each month. After clicking on Instagram Shopping ads, users land on a product description page within the app, and can then complete the purchase on your ecommerce website.
Reels are all the rage, so it’s no wonder Instagram is letting brands advertise on this content format. Instagram Reels ads are short, full-screen videos (max. 30 seconds) that show up between a user’s Reels. These ads should ideally include sound so as to integrate seamlessly with the preceding and upcoming organic Reels
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