Introduction
Did you know that Instagram’s 300 million monthly users share an average of 70 million posts per day? Wow right! Since 2010 when Instagram started, there has been over 30 billion photos posted on the platform – Just think; that is four times the amount of people on the entire planet.
Just like Facebook, Instagram is becoming a necessity for many businesses looking to reach their target market through social media. The frequency and the popularity of content on this platform is what makes Instagram such a great place to advertise your business.
So, if you have been wondering lately, how to advertise on Instagram, read on and you’ll be an expert in no time.
Using Instagram to Promote Your Business
Statistics show that on average, one fourth of all internet users are using Instagram as a social tool, with each of these users spending around 21 minutes per day on the app. That is quite a long attention span.
If you want to target an audience who you can hook right away with a nice call-to-action advertisement then there really is no better place.
The average engagement of a post on Instagram is amongst the highest of all social media platforms. If you compare Instagram with twitter for example; the former has an engagement rate of 3.31%, while the latter is only 0.07% on average.
Another thing to remember is now that Instagram is backed by Facebook, businesses can benefit from many of the features that Facebook provides for their advertising, such as reaching very specific target audiences.
Creating an Ad
If you are completely new to Instagram advertising then there is a small amount of housekeeping you will need to undertake first.
Because Instagram uses the Facebook advertising platform, you will need to connect your Instagram account to your Facebook Page in order to create an advertisement in Instagram.
Once you have done this you will need to hook up your Facebook page to your Facebook business manager and also add your Instagram page to your business manager account. You can do this just by entering your Instagram username and password. Don’t let the number of steps intimidate you, it can all be done in just a few clicks.
Once you have everything set up, you will create you ads in Facebook’s Power Editor. You will start by selecting “create campaign” in the same way you would when creating a Facebook ad. There are a few options to choose from when creating your campaign: Clicks to website, video views, and mobile app installs etc.
You will also be required to choose the type of ad you want: photo, video (30 seconds max) or carousel (a photo gallery). Once you are happy with your choice and click the create button, you will be redirected back to the power editor page where you can set your spend limits and target audience.
Instagram Video Ads
The Instagram platform is about capturing moments, however, these moments will sometimes need more than a single image to come to life. This is where video can come into play. Not only are videos more unique than plain, still ads, they also drive very good results. Are you aware that consumers are 27 times more likely to click on a video advertisement than they are on a standard still ad?
Not only is the consumer more likely to click on a video ad, they are more likely to stay – in fact 65% of video viewers will watch ¾ of a video or longer. This is why 93% of marketers are using video in their ad campaigns!
So how do you give your video ad the wow factor? Remember, your video ad can only be up to 30 seconds long. Firstly, it is important to note that all videos on Instagram will play automatically without audio. To activate the sound a user must click on the video. When creating your video ad, try to craft it so that it is not totally reliable on sound – you want it to get the point across, even when it plays on silent.
Keep pacing in mind too. Though you have only 30 seconds, this is still long enough to tell a story and impart emotions on viewers. It is also important to have motion in the first few frames of the video to capture the viewers’ attention. People’s attention spans are relatively short and viewers will tend to ignore a video if something is not happening immediately.
Video advertising doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. You don’t need a camera crew and thousands of $$$ worth of camera equipment. There are a number of cost-effective ways you can make top quality and professional looking videos for cheap. You can find freelancers on sites like Upwork or Fiverr who are willing to work for a very small fee.
How Much Does it Cost to Advertise on Instagram?
So how much will the advertising cost? This is totally up to you and your budget.
Now that Instagram is attuned to Facebooks advertising platform, it is really easy to set up and control your budget. You can choose between a daily, monthly or lifetime budget.
It is always best to set up a test ad and run it for a while so that you can gather some data on how well the ad is performing. If you are seeing that there is a lot of engagement and you feel the results are worth the cost-per-click, you can then increase your budget further. If it is not doing so well, you may want to consider changing the ad.
How to Advertise on Instagram
Instagram is just one of many ways that small businesses can advertise on social media, yet it is becoming a preferred choice for many.
There are lots of ways to make your business stand out and build brand recognition. Almost all of the functions of Instagram can be used for commercial purposes such as; using hashtags, tagging other users and posting comments to start conversations.
Below are some tips for using Instagram to market your small business;
Brand Engagement
Don’t just ask for engagement, make sure you give it back as well. Take a bit of time out each day to interact with your followers. Check out their own pages and comment on their posts. You can use Instagram’s search feature and use hashtags to find people who have an interest in what your business offers. Follow these people and they should follow you back, giving you some traction on your page.
Contests and Giveaways
Contests and giveaways are a great way to keep your audience engaged and also for attracting new followers. It is also a good way to advertise your product or service for a relatively small cost.
Hashtag Marketing
All savvy small businesses need to jump on the hashtag bandwagon when advertising their business. When you create a post, make sure that you tag it with something related. As you start typing the tag it will bring up a list and you can choose the most popular one. Try not to go over the top, 3 or 4 hashtags will be sufficient.
That's all for now:
Hopefully you now have enough information to start creating great ads on Instagram. Go get em tiger!
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