Creating Instagram Ads Campaign
You have a number of different options when it comes to advertising on Instagram. Depending on the route that you choose there will be specific tools and options available to you. There are two different ways that you can create an ad on Instagram:
1. Instagram
2. Facebook Ads Manager
Using Facebook Ads Manager
So why should you use the Facebook Ads Manager? Well you can use it to create ads that will appear on both Facebook and Instagram. You can also create customized audiences and use other features as well as monitor how well your ads are performing.
If you don’t have a Facebook account then go and create one and also create a Facebook page. If you already have a Facebook account and page then ignore this. You will need to add some details about your business and ensure that you complete all of the required fields. If you haven’t done this already then you should link your Instagram account to your Facebook account.
Just go to the Business Manager in Facebook, select “Business Settings” and you will see a menu on the left hand side where you can select “Instagram Accounts”. A new page will appear where you can add your Instagram account.
Create a Campaign
Now you can go to the “Ads Manager” and then start a new campaign by clicking the +Create button. A new page appears and you can choose from either “Guided Creation” or “Quick Creation”. If you are new to setting up ad campaigns on Facebook then we recommend that you choose “Guided Creation”. With this you will be guided through all of the steps that you need to perform to set up a campaign.
If you are experienced with setting up Facebook Ads then it will be better if you use the “Quick Creation” option. You will have more control over your ad campaign by choosing this option. For this guide we will use “Guided Creation”. The first thing you need to do is to choose your ad campaign objective. For your Instagram Ads you can choose from the following:
• Brand Awareness
• Reach
• Traffic
• App Installs
• Engagement
• Video Views
• Lead Generation
• Messages
• Conversions
• Catalog Sales
• Store Visits
Choose the objective that fits with your ad campaign goal. After selecting your objective you will be asked to give your ad campaign a name. Create a name that makes sense so that you will easily remember it because you will probably set up many campaigns.
Now it is time to identify your audience. We discussed this in detail in a previous chapter. Choose the right options for your target audience and then check how broad or specific your audience is. Once you are happy with your target audience, you can move on to the next step.
Ad Placements
Now it is time to select your ad placements. You have the choice here of where you want your ad to appear on Facebook and Instagram. Here you have the choice of “Automatic Placements” or “Edit Placements”. With Automatic Placements your ads are displayed wherever they are likely to perform in the best
way. We recommend that you run your ads on both Facebook and Instagram. The Edit Placements option enables you to make the choice of where your ad appears. For example if you only wanted your ads to appear in Instagram Stories or just in Instagram feeds then you can make decisions like this using Edit Placements. When you are creating Instagram Ads you can only select “Mobile Devices”.
Your next step is to set your budget and your ad schedule. We discussed budget considerations in the last chapter so you should have a firm idea of how much you want to spend and how long you want your campaign to run. Please be aware that ads shown on Sundays are more expensive than other days of the week.
After you have set your budget options you will now be setting up your ad. The first step is to select the Facebook page to link your ad to. Then you have to decide which of the 5 formats for your ads. Next you need to select the videos or images you want to use in your ad. Then you need to create some copy for your ad.
When you do this you want to grab the attention of users and persuade them to check out your ad. Take your time with this as it is very important. The next steps are to choose a payment option, review your ad and then confirm it when you are happy with everything. Facebook has a guide to the ad formats available on Instagram where you will find the specifications and the elements of design you need to take into consideration. You can find the page here.
Finally choose the most appropriate call to action button for your ad and your desired website link where users will be diverted to when they click on the button. There are advanced options here where you can set up a Facebook pixel for tracking or an app event. These are very important as they will show you how users interact after clicking your ad.
Using Instagram
To use the Instagram app to create an ad campaign you need to have already promoted a post that you have made on the platform. Just find a post that has performed well and receive a good level of engagement and then promote it to reach more Instagram users.
If your Instagram account is not set up for business then you will need to change this first. To promote your post just follow these steps:
• Go to the post that you want to promote
• Select a goal for your promotion – do you want to drive traffic to your website or increase the number of Instagram users that see the post?
• Choose an appropriate call to action button for your post
• Setup your audience to receive the post by selecting the right demographics. Alternatively you can ask Instagram to choose a default audience for you.
• Enter your budget and the duration of the ad
• Create Promotion
Using the Facebook Ads Manager you can track the results of your promotion and all other Instagram Ads.
Tips for creating Successful Instagram Ads
Now that you know how to set up ads on Instagram we want to share some tips with you so that your ads have the maximum chance of success. There are a number of things that you need to take into consideration when creating Instagram Ads:
You need to know your Audience
The more that you know your audience the more likely it is that your ads will be successful. You should plan your ad even before you decide on the content and the copy that you will write. Make it your business to find out everything that you can about your audience so that you can create a message that really resonates well with them.
Your aim is to create an ad that grabs their attention and creates engagement. So you need to ask yourself:
• What do my audience need?
• What do my audience want?
• What problems do my audience have?
• What are the goals and desires of my audience?
When you can answer these questions you can create ads that answer them. This will be really appreciated and you will get a lot of ad views and a high level of engagement. So do your homework here.
What Text should you use?
You already know that Instagram is a visual medium and that you can only use a small amount of text in your Instagram Ads. With the caption there is a character limit of 2,200 and we do not recommend that you use all of this limit.
Tell users what you want them to do by including a persuasive call to action. Remember that it is all about “what’s in it for them”. If they see a real benefit in taking the action then they will click on your ad.
Hashtags
We have already discussed the benefits of using hashtags in a previous chapter. A lot of Instagram advertisers treat hashtags as an afterthought and we recommend that you think carefully about them because they can be very powerful.
Statistics show that adding a hashtag to an ad provides an engagement boost of over 12% on average. For each post that you make you can add up to 30 hashtags. It is all about quality and not quantity here so only choose hashtags that are relevant to your niche.
Drive Engagement
There are two types of engagement with social media platforms:
1. Reactive engagement – this is where you respond to direct messages, mentions and comments
2. Proactive engagement – you make the first move here to engage with others. This is the best way to create a buzz about your ad and your business.
You need to do both of these things. When users respond to your ad with comments for example then you need to respond quickly. Users will be keen to see that there is a real human being behind the business.
Consistency
Keep all of your advertising messages consistent. Make sure that the tone of the message is consistent as well as the visuals that you use. If your ads are all very different then you will not build the same level of trust.
Keeping it Fresh
If one of your Instagram Ads is particularly successful then it is tempting to stick with this but we recommend that you mix it up a bit because ads lose their flavor after a while. Every week or fortnight switch the ads that you are displaying. This will help to prevent your audience from tuning out. When you use different ads you can test which are the best performers. You can easily change an ad by using a different caption for example. In fact we strongly encourage you to use different ad copy and visuals with a campaign.
Take a look at the call to action buttons and see which ones perform the best. For example, does “Shop Now” perform better than “Learn More”? How do different captions perform? What about different hashtags? Be prepared to test everything and tweak as necessary.