Setting Goals and the Best Instagram Ad Format for Your Business
Before we get into choosing the best format of Instagram Ad for your business it is important that you understand the objectives that Instagram publishes about their advertising solutions. At the time of writing this guide they could be summarized as follows:
- To increase the number of clicks to the customer’s website – you can decide what section of your website you want the Instagram user to be directed to Instagram Ads should lead to a higher number of conversions
- The Ads can persuade people to take specific actions on your website
- If you have a mobile app then you can use Instagram Ads to drive up the number of installs
- You can use Instagram Ads to increase activity with your mobile phone app
- You can use Instagram Ads to drive up video views
- With Instagram Ads you can achieve predictable reach and have a greater level of control over message frequency
- You can use Instagram Ads to drive page post engagement
- You can use Instagram Ads to create mass awareness to a broad audience with guaranteed impressions
It is very important that you decide on the best Instagram Ad format for your marketing campaigns. In order to make this decision the starting point is always the goal that you have in mind. You need a social media goal.
Determine and Setting Goals
This will act as your guiding light when it comes to Instagram Ads. Your goal will help you to decide what you should pursue, and almost as importantly, what you shouldn’t pursue. We highly recommend that every Instagram ad campaign that you run has its own goal. There are 3 main goal options when using Instagram Ads which are:
- Raising the awareness of your brand
- Finding potential customers
- Increasing sales or conversions
Question to Ask About Your Marketing Strategy
When you are looking to increase your brand awareness ask yourself this question “what is your brand all about and why should anybody care?” You need to create Instagram Ads that will grab the attention of users.
Increasing brand awareness is the most popular ad campaign goal on Instagram so you need to be prepared for a fair amount of competition. It is really important that you focus on creating a memorable ad which stands out.
If your goal is to find more potential customers through lead generation to get them on your email marketing list for example you can do this by creating a lead centric ad. The aim here is to drive Instagram users to your website. You can also use this kind of ad to collect more potential customer details and to increase engagement through the use of messages.
What about if you want to increase sales or conversions with your Instagram Ads? An example of a conversion could be the downloading of your mobile app. You could also offer an incentive with your ad such as a discount coupon.
So as an example if increasing the awareness of your brand was one of your social goals then it would be better for you to choose a Photo Ad or a Video Ad rather than a Collections Ad. A Photo Ad or Video Ad allows you to drive traffic to your website whereas a Collections Ad is all about selling directly from the ad.
With a brand awareness campaign your aim is to provide the most captivating content to your audience as you can. If you have already established your brand and you just want to sell more products then a Collections Ad would be a good choice as Instagram users can make a purchase directly.
Maybe you want to showcase a number of new products that you are launching. In this case it is best to go for a Carousel Ad so that you can present your products with different images and videos to your audience.
So the advice with choosing the right Instagram Ad format is simple – which ad formats align closely to your goals?