Advertising on Instagram is finally available for all businesses. Instagram has over 400 Million Users and it is the perfect platform to host mobile ads. Now big and small businesses can take advantage in advertising through this social platform to target young demographics!
Targeting
Image via The SEM Post
You can now set up your Instagram Ads through Facebook. The first step is to go to your Facebook page then click settings and you will see an option on the left column that says “Instagram Ads.” Here, you can add your existing Instagram account by typing in the Username and Password. If you do not have an Instagram account, Facebook has the option for you to create a new account. Once you have connected your Instagram account to your Facebook you are ready to create your ads. You must create your ad through Facebook’s “Power Editor.” When you begin setting up your campaign you will realize you have the same targeting options as Facebook ads. You can target by location, demographics, interests, and behaviors. The only targeting that is required is location, age, and gender.
To learn more about targeting, please visit our blog on Facebook Ad Targeting 101. It is very important to understand that the majority of Instagram users are under the age of 35. When you begin to create your Instagram campaign you must keep this target audience in mind.
Ad Creation
When you begin thinking about your Instagram Ad campaign you must keep in mind the three objectives to choose from. The objectives are clicks to your website, mobile app installs and video views. You can have a video that lasts up to 30 seconds. Once you choose your objective, you have three ad units to choose from: image, video, or carousel ads. Carousel ads let you browse through multiple images.
Image Video Carousel
(https://business.instagram.com/advertising/)
It is very important that you use visuals that will grab your audience’s attention. Because you are creating ads through Facebook, you must follow their ads policy.
You cannot have over 20% text in images, before and after images, and more. You can view the entire Facebook ads policy here.
If you choose the ‘clicks to website’ as your objective you have a few different calls to actions to choose from. The calls to actions are Shop Now, Book Now, Learn More, Sign Up, Download, Watch More, Apply Now, Donate Now, and Contact Us.
Since Instagram mostly consists of young demographics (ages 18-30) it is smart for companies to target that audience to spread brand awareness. If a company is looking to grow their internship program, Instagram ads maybe the perfect solution to recruit prospective college students.
Successful Case Studies
A lot of businesses have had success advertising on Instagram to spread brand awareness. Mercedes-Benz Canada used Instagram to target current and potential luxury car owners. They did three different Instagram ads to showcase three different products and the results were outstanding! They saw a lift in ad recall up to 34% across all 3 campaigns with their key demographic being males ages 24-35.
Image via Instagram
Taco Bell was the first restaurant to advertise on Instagram. They announced their new breakfast menu and reached 12.5 Million people ages 18-44! They saw a 29% ad recall and reach amongst younger males. Chris Brandt, Chief Marketing Officer of Taco Bell said “We let the concept drive creative production and paired that with what we knew about how people engage on Instagram. What resulted was a powerful visual narrative for our new breakfast menu that was a perfect fit within the Instagram environment.”
Image via Instagram
Has your business started using ads for Instagram? Have you had any success? Let us know in the comments below!