18 strategies to exploit Instagram’s ads
Taking advantage of the potential of Instagram’s ads is a must for any brand today. One of the essential factors of the audiovisual era is to share everything. Social networks are here to stay and they have a very successful future.
On the other hand, an image has much more impact than a word. In fact, some studies have shown that an image’s influence and power is infinitely superior to that any text. In the Postcron blog, Elizabet Parera states that a user is left with 80% of what he sees compared to 20% of what he reads.
Additionally, our brain processes an image 60,000 times faster than a text. Therefore, it seems obvious that images work so well. That is one of the reasons for Instagram’s success.
Therefore, there is no doubt that it is advisable to have an Instagram account if you want to succeed with your advertising strategy for Instagram ads. More and more users join this social network every day. Since its beginnings in 2010, it has achieved more than 700 million faithful and active followers.
Advantages of Instagram ads
Besides the previously mentioned figures, some of the advantages of creating appropriate ads strategies on Instagram are:
- How easy it is to create an Instagram ad.
- They stand out for the low investment Some sources point out that the average investment in Instagram ads ranges from 00.1 to 0.015 cents.
- The power of attraction that images have.
- The naturalness used to introduce advertising in Instagram, as if it were part of the posts the user usually sees, so they have a greater impact.
Here is a list of some of the best 18 strategies to maximize your Instagram ads:
1.- Focus on a single target
As with any social ad campaign, it is essential that you focus on the people you are interested in. If you wish to get their attention, you need to segment your audience on Instagram. Doing so, you will reach your target more easily, and this will allow your campaigns to be more effective and successful.
Therefore, do not try to reach everyone with the same ad. Try to adapt your creations to each specific audience.
2.- Think twice before writing your post
You may not consider your posts important. However, what you write will also have an influence over your users to help them make a decision to buy, download, install, or whatever the purpose it is.
Therefore, it is advisable that you think your message well and be clear. Instagram allows a maximum of 300 characters, but it is advisable to use 150. In the image above, we show you some of the advantages and disadvantages of choosing a short or a long post. Briefly:
- Short posts are more visual and superficial. They are also ideal to be read on mobile devices, and the reading percentage is higher.
- On the other hand, long posts are deeper and more convincing, so they attract more links.
Without doubt, Instagram is mostly used from mobile devices. Hence, the use of short posts is better to generate impact on your audience.
3.- Choose carefully the type of ad for your campaign
A single ad where you show your product is not the same as a carousel where several images are displayed, where you can show, for example, a collection of your new creations or play several images.
Another option offered by this social network is to include a video, which cannot last more than 60 seconds. During that time, everyone is free to show what they want.
These are different ways to reach your audience. Therefore, you should think carefully before launching and try several of them to decide later which one is the one that works best.
4.- Make good use of space
Many times, people tend to fill all the available space with things, believing they will be more attractive to the audience. This is a serious mistake, even more when it comes to Instagram, as it is a network that leaves very little space to tell what is really important.
Also think about this, where do your users look at the content? They do it more and more from their mobile devices. So, when it comes to exposing your ideas, do not lengthen your texts or people will stop reading you. Sometimes, less is more.
5.- Image size to choose
Instagram is a visual social network. This means it has images as its basis. Therefore, you must consider the ideal measures for your images to be of quality and not small and blurry.
Recommended measures for horizontal ads is a minimum of 600×315 pixels, while for square ads it is 600×600 pixels. The ideal size to use is the square format with 1080×1080 pixels.
6.- Use #hashstags
#hashtags are one of the most interesting digital marketing tools to attract your audience. Therefore, it is important that you include them in your posts. Of course, you must not include any hashtag. As Jenn Herman points out, “hashtags are the secret ingredient of Instagram. They are the ones driving interaction and ensuring long-term results.”
Also, it is advisable that you use between 10 and 35 hashtags per post, with a maximum of 30, but these numbers change all the time.
7.- Avoid hashjacking
It is fashionable to tag a publication with all kind of hashtags simply because they are popular. The only thing you will achieve doing this is to have an effect that is contrary to what you were looking for in your publications, as many hashtags are irrelevant and do not help your business grow.
Therefore, you must choose hashtags carefully for your publications. The best selection must consider the following aspects:
- Most popular hashtags: Those that appear on a million or more posts.
- Moderately popular hashtags: Those with hundreds of thousands of posts.
- Unusual hashtags: Those with tens of thousands of posts.
- Your brand hashtags.
Popular hashtags guarantee you quick results, but the less popular ones promote more lasting results and traffic to your web.
8.- It is essential to include calls to action
It basically is to tell your audience, in an obvious way, what you want them to do. With this button, you can be clear about what you want to achieve from your audience, something that is essential for your business to work. So think about it and ask yourself: “What do you want from your audience?”
9.- Include a good quality image
If you understand that if Instagram is an audiovisual network par excellence, you will understand that is mandatory to upload good quality images. Avoid blurry photos or they will ruin your entire campaign.
Also, you must be careful with the images you use, as images on Instagram must also be unique and belong to you, a requirement of the platform. Taking images from Google, sharing memes or using another person’s image is not authorized.
10.- The image must be related to your business
Each business has a specific style and image patterns. You must be faithful to the type of image you have defined. For example, if your brand uses a lot of black and white images, here you will also have to use them.
On the other hand, if you have a fashion business, you should not include images of sunsets among your Instagram images. The same happens with colors. Based on the colors you use, your images might have a positive or negative connotation. Therefore, it is a good idea to be careful when selecting the ideal color for your Instagram ads.
11.- Be creative but true to your brand
Nobody wants to be exactly the same as someone else, right? Each person is unique, and the same applies to business. Your brand does not have to be the same as the competition, and the images do not have to be similar.
It is important that you differentiate yourself and create original campaigns that are, at the same time, authentic and people can tell they are yours.
12.- Interact with your audience
It is important to be grateful through comments, offering extra advice, inviting them to visit your page, etc. This will make the audience happy and they come back to you. Also, through these small actions, you will increase your audience loyalty and add activity to your page, which helps increase your exposure and reach.
13.- A responsive design is essential
The popularity and use of mobile is undeniable today. But if you also consider that Instagram is a mobile application, then it is only logical, if you are planning to add a link on your Instagram ad to direct the user to a website, that the website is properly displayed on those devices.
This prevents the user to get frustrated and leave the page. Everyone likes to see contents comfortably on their mobile. Respect it.
14.- Add links to get them to buy
On Instagram, the expression “see link in bio” is common. This link was a way to send users directly to your page for them to make purchases. Today, some of the most powerful brands, such as Victoria’s secret, Abercrombie&Fitch or Hollister have stopped using this resource.
They have chosen to use a new tag that is added to the image and allows accessing the link directly. Thus, users will see a button that says “Tap to view products,” and they can choose the one they like the most by clicking on it.
Thus, Instagram shows the user some kind of product file where it shows the price, product description, photos and a purchase button to continue the process on the brand’s website.
15.- Use animations and give your brand a fun touch
Why not sell using a little humor? Streaming works among all users, something that can be seen in the success of Facebook live. Instagram also offers an option to record live videos and use animations to take selfies with them (animal faces or animated objects) that make your videos more fun.
There is also the option to record videos in reverse or to select the boomerang effect, among others. There is no excuse not to try them and see how they work for your business.
16.- Instagram Stories, the new advertising tool
This new option that Instagram offers can increase your reach. It is an ad that works the branding of your company up to 100%. The importance of size in Stories is significant because it is not the same as in regular Instagram posts. The images are published on a vertical format and must have a size of 1080px x 1920px.
Make sure you do not exceed the amount of text and calculate the spaces well in order for it to look good and not be overlapped with the rest of your users’ images. Also, in the case that you use a video, remember that the maximum time allowed by this application is 15 seconds, so you must be very creative to generate an impact on users.
17.- Send direct messages, there is no time to lose!
Indeed, when time is short, it is the perfect moment to send an urgent message to your users saying something like “Either you hurry up or you will not receive it.” This kind of messages can be very useful for businesses that send quick discounts or VIP codes to be used by a user, etc.
18.- Track your advertising campaigns
This last strategy for Instagram ads is, perhaps, the most important one. However, many brands do not give it due importance. In fact, it is here where you must start when creating Instagram ads, as you can measure their effectiveness, whether you received the number of visits you expected, clicks per minute, comments, likes, etc.
This is the key moment to see whether your campaign succeeds or not. Therefore, the more types of campaigns you carry out, the better you can know what works and what does not. So do not forget to analyze and track their success. And of course, never stop watching your competition. They can guide you and give you ideas for your Instagram ads.
A well-known tool for monitoring and analyzing Instagram is Hootsuite. But it is not the only tool to measure how social networks works.
With these 18 strategies you will be ready to launch your advertising campaign in this social network. As you can see, it is very simple. You can reach millions of users simply by having a clear objective and showing exactly who you are. Take advantage of the fact that now, as many experts have pointed out, the digital and technology market is so changeable.
Are you still unsure about how to take advantage of ads in a different social network? At Antevenio Go! we can help you. We are a strategic marketing performance agency and we specialize in optimizing your social ad campaigns. Discover how we do it.
