Instagram Ads: A Guide for Beginners

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While Instagram is the hub for selfies and pictures of food, that’s not all it’s good for. Like all other social media platforms, Instagram can promote your business with ads. According to SproutSocial:

“Since its launch in 2010, Instagram has racked up more than 400 million users, and more than half (59%) of them are on the platform daily—including 35% who visit several times a day. With so many people using the photo-sharing app, there’s a great chance that some of them are interested in your business. If you’re not happy with your current reach, Instagram ads might be your strategy’s missing link.”

Instagram… Dog Selfie Central….

If Instagram ads are something you’ll want to try, here’s how to advertise on Instagram: A beginner’s guide.

There are three kinds of Instagram ads you can create, according to business.instagram.com.

1. Photo Ads: You always want to use storytelling when marketing your brand, so tell your story through pictures. Though simple, it catches your audience’s eye.

2. Video Ads: If just pictures don’t do it for you, put together a video ad and combine pictures and words to sell your brand. “You can share videos up to 30 seconds long and in landscape format.”

3. Carousel Ads: According to business.instagram.com, “Carousel ads bring an additional layer of depth to photo ads. People can swipe to see additional images and a call to action button takes them to a website to learn more.”

To create and post ads on Instagram, according to an article in Facebook for Business, you need to have a Facebook page. You can create your ads using two different methods, Ad Creation or Power Editor.

Here’s how to create your ad with Ad Creation. Once you’re in ad creation, choose one of the following objectives for your ad, such as:

  • “Promote your Page (Page Post Engagement)”
  • “Send people to your website (Clicks to Website)”
  • “Increase conversions on your website (Website Conversions)”
  • “Get Installs of your app (Mobile App Installs)”
  • “Increase engagement in your app (Mobile App Engagement)”
  • “Get video views”

Once you’ve chosen an objective, type the name of your campaign, then set your ad’s audience. “You can choose audience characteristics such as age, gender, interests and more.” Next, set a budget for your ad and schedule how often it will go out to your audience. For more information on how to budget, check out Facebook Help this link.

Once your budget and schedule are set, fill in your ad set name, then format your ad. This is when you upload the pictures and/or videos you want for your ad. Then, do the following:

  • “In the Creative section, choose a Facebook Page to represent your business on Facebook’s News Feed.”
  • Choose an Instagram account to display your ad on. “If you don’t have an Instagram account, your Facebook Page can be used to represent your business on Instagram.”
  • Fill in the following fields: “Headline, Text and Call-to-Action Button. Click Show Advanced Options for additional creative options.”
  • Preview your ad and make changes if needed.
  • “Once you’ve completed your ad, click Place Order in the bottom-right corner.”

Creating ads through Power Editor follows a similar process. To learn more about it, visit this Facebook Help link here.

Contact us to learn more about Instagram ads.