If you have used social media to post something as a small business, you understand how often it seems like you’re speaking to an empty room because no one reacts all too often. That is not the case with Instagram. Even if your following is small, your posts are likely to acquire a few views and comments if you employ relevant Instagram strategies.
But, with several people active on social media at all times of the day and night, how can your business stand out? Instagram advertisements are a strong tool for focusing on the right audience, at the right moment, with the perfect message and graphics.
What are Instagram Ads?
Instagram advertising is a means of investing for paid posts to be displayed on the Instagram app in order to reach a wider, more specific audience. While a brand or individual may choose to advertise for a variety of reasons, Instagram ads are frequently used to increase brand awareness and traffic, reach new audiences, and push current leads to make sales.
You can see Instagram ads in all parts of the app, including stories, explore and feed. They appear to be regular postings, but they always have a “paid promotion” label to highlight that they are advertisements. They also frequently include more elements than a standard post, including links, call-to-action links, and product listings.
Various Types of Instagram Advertisements
Because Instagram is a visual channel, you’ll need to include a multimedia component to promote your brand. The majority of posts on Instagram will have one picture or video with a call-to-action to know more or buy now. There are various types of Instagram ads, and the most common four are explained below.
Stories Ads
Your ad will appear when users are scrolling through stories, which are short updates that visitors may touch or swipe through. Unlike ordinary Instagram posts, which are best viewed in a square layout, Instagram Stories are best viewed in a vertical way.
You can use Stories advertisements to share relevant photographs and videos, but don’t forget that something filmed horizontally may not function well as a Story. Make sure that you include a call-to-action in your ad so that the viewers can engage with your ad. To make your post more appealing to new visitors on your profile, you can get free Instagram likes.
Carousel Ads
Instead of displaying a single picture, this style allows you to display a number of scrollable pictures. This ad style is ideal for highly visual brands such as restaurants, furniture stores, apparel stores, holiday destinations, auto dealers, and so on. However, they aren’t only for high-end enterprises; you can use them to personalize your business as well.
Shopping Ads
The statistics of millions of monthly users clicking on the Instagram shopping ads are proof that this social media giant has made progress in leaps and bounds in the e-commerce space.
With the addition of Instagram’s Shopping functionality, visitors are saved from the hassle of leaving the app. All the browsing and shopping can be done from the Instagram app itself!
Clicking on the Shopping ad basically redirects the user to a detailed page for that product. All the specifications of the product are listed on this details page. For this feature to work, the owners first need to create an Instagram Shopping Catalog. This can then be used for Shopping advertising.
Ads on Explore Page
You can find Explore ads in the Instagram app where users go for new material and profiles that are interesting to them. Explore is used by users at least once a week to stay updated on their interests, so it’s a worthwhile platform to invest in advertising your company. Explore advertisements allow brands to be displayed alongside relevant and popular material in the app.
How Does Instagram Ads Work?
For a few years now, everyone can use Facebook’s advertising platform to figure out how to build Instagram ads. You have total power over your ads, including how they look and who views them. Your adverts are placed directly from the Instagram account, unlike paid articles and partnerships. The following are some of the benefits of using Instagram advertising in this way:
- Pricing that can be scaled.
- Quick and self-serve.
- Targeting a very specific audience.
- Comprehensive reporting puts you in charge.
Furthermore, since Instagram switched from a sequential to a customized feed, you cannot know whether any of your followers will be seeing your photos.
What Are the Instagram Ad Objectives?
1.Brand Recognition
As a company, you want to be sure that every marketing platform you engage in is producing results. While Instagram may appear to be an unexpected choice, it provides great chances to assist your company in growing brand awareness. Companies may use Instagram to get their image in front of new viewers with the use of Stories, Reels, Videos, and Images.
2. Audience Reach
You can also use a Reach goal to raise awareness of your company. Reach differs from Brand Recognition in that it helps you to reach a broader audience, but it is primarily focused on users who are more likely to remember your advertisement.
3.Increase Traffic
Increasing traffic on your profile is one of the most important ad objectives that you must achieve to generate more leads. You can use it to provide an offer for your users, and that will lead them to engage with your account.
What Are the Costs of Instagram Ads?
There is no typical or standard price for Instagram advertising because they are based on a range of factors. The following are some cost considerations:
- The target audience of your business
- Where you decide to place the ad
- Your industry’s competitiveness
- Prices are often high when there is a holiday such as Christmas
It’s important to note that there aren’t any “best practices” for determining how much to invest. To avoid investing a large amount, you can set a budget in the beginning and then gradually increase your budget if you see scope for success. You can keep a budget limitation to control the prices of your Instagram advertising.
Conclusion
On Instagram, there are more than 100 million corporate profiles, and that figure isn’t going down any time soon. It’s all for a valid reason that the platform has exploded in popularity. Instagram’s advertising revenue has increased a lot in the last few years, which makes it a worthy platform to advertise on.
Even though you’re not a multinational company, you should still use Instagram ads because it is well worth it.
