A Step-by-Step Guide to Instagram Advertising

A Step-by-Step Guide to Instagram Advertising

Go where your audience spends most of their time. If you are a small business owner and want to draw your audience’s attention, Instagram advertising can do the bit for you. As the consumption of online content has increased, you should be prepared with something that comes to notice.

Advertising on Instagram reaches potential customers, boosts brand awareness, and is cost-effective for you to prepare a marketing strategy. Instagram ad campaigns could be the best possible way to reach people whom you consider your target audience.

What are Instagram ads and how much do ads cost on Instagram?

Instagram ads are posts that a brand/business will pay to promote their products and services. These ads may seem just like an organic post labeled as Sponsored to indicate it as an ad.

The Instagram ad cost varies depending on various elements. This can include your target audience, competition, etc.

Instagram ad cost in 2024, you can expect to pay -

- $0.70–$1.00 per click

- $6.70–$7.50 per thousand impressions

- $0.01–$0.05 per engagement

There are different types of Instagram ads you can choose the ad format. Choose one of these ad types that perfectly matches your specific business goal. These formats are given below.

Image ads - You’ll usually see such ads while scrolling through your Instagram feed. These ad images are placed in between the posts you see from the accounts you follow. This type of ad can drive attention and catch someone’s eye to check on the product and services you’ve showcased in the ad. Also, don’t forget to check out the carousel option where you can put multiple images.

Video ads - This is the best way to showcase your product or service in an eye-catching way for people to engage. These video ads can be useful in demonstrating how your product works, highlighting its unique features, and showcasing how services can be done while you work on it, or you can also tell them your brand story. Videos can be the most effective technique to engage your audience through Instagram ads.

Story ads - Instagram stories show up between the user’s stories as it is seen by millions of users worldwide. Engagement is usually higher as the format of this ad covers the mobile screen and makes it look captivating. When designing an Instagram ad, you can use organic features such as GIFs, polls, quizzes, stickers, filters, etc.. to make it more eye-catching. Stories can be anything i.e. photos, video, carousels, etc. You can put a CTA (call to action) button by putting a link where you want your audience to land.

Explore ads - Explore tab is full of new content where people can see the posts according to their taste. When someone clicks on any post from Explore, that’s where the Explore ad appears. The Explore tab allows businesses to show trending and relevant content.

Shopping ads - Shopping ads take users to a product description page where they can shop for a product on Instagram through a mobile website. This new feature of Instagram will help businesses reach potential customers.

Reel ads - As Instagram launched this new feature a while ago, this can be an additional benefit to running Instagram ads. Ads shown in between the reels have the same specifications as Story ads. Below the account name, the Sponderod label will be seen in the reel ads.

After knowing the format of different types of ads on Instagram, let us check how to create an ad on Instagram.

There are two ways you can create an Instagram ad. Promote an existing post and create a brand new ad from Meta Ads Manager.

Using the Boost Post method

The simplest way to start your Instagram advertising is to promote your existing post which is performing well. This post’s success can be useful to show it to new people who aren’t following you. It's the best use of a post that is already doing good.

For this, you’ll need a Facebook business page connected with an Instagram business or creator account. After having all this at your disposal, just click Boost Post, and your post will turn into an ad. Instagram post promotion is the best way to target your audience.

Meta Ad Manager

Create an ad campaign through Meta Ad Manager by choosing your objective, naming your ad campaign and budget, and choosing where you want your ads to appear. Here, you can also choose the audience whether you want to choose the previously saved audience or want to create a new audience.

Saved audience i.e. past audience from previous ad campaigns or creating a new audience based on demographics - location, age, gender, interests, etc.

Steps to creating Instagram ads
  • Set a budget
  • Choose an objective
  • Target your audience
  • Create an ad creative
  • Track your ad
Instagram ad tips
Mobile-friendly ads

There are more than 4.08 billion people who use social media via mobile devices. So, it’s crucial to design your creatives accordingly. Remember to capture videos in vertical format as it is easier to crop, use large font sizes that can easily be readable, use animation, etc. These characteristics can help engage your audience.

Keep your message to the point

Start your ad with the most vital information or message you want to deliver to your audience. As the first impression is the last, make sure your message conveys your brand value.

Use a variety of ads

As we’ve seen different types of Instagram ads, you can try out designing different ads that have the right combination of brand message and creativity. An ad that perfectly resonates with your audience will capture their attention in the blink of an eye. Consider including Explore ads, Story ads, Reel ads, Carousels, Shopping ads, etc. Remember, your Instagram ad should be considered to keep your audience engaged.

Check analytics to see how your ads perform

The best way to find out how your ads perform is to look into insights. Check out impressions, clicks, reach, engagement, and ROI to measure the effectiveness of the ad you’ve run.

How to use Instagram ads? Well, Instagram has an ocean of audiences who visit this platform at least once daily and visit business profiles. Many of them also find new products through this app. Instagram ads may seem costlier than Facebook but worth it when you explore engagement possibilities.

Get inspired by some of the most successful Instagram ad campaigns. Check these Instagram ad examples and see how businesses use their brand message and creativity to deliver the best to target their audience.

Check this link to get an idea about the best ad examples

https://www.socialpilot.co/instagram-marketing/instagram-ads-examples

We at Liveblack - a full-stack digital marketing agency have designed the best Instagram advertising campaigns. Connect with us for your brand advertising requirements as we have a team of experts who plan the best Instagram ad campaigns for your brand.

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