9 Pointers for High-converting Instagram Ads
Introduction
Instagram has become a go-to channel for marketers. Not only is the platform popular with brands and consumers alike, but it’s also evolved into a solid place to generate leads, sell products, and foster brand awareness. But as with any marketing channel, Instagram is constantly shifting. In fact, what worked six months ago on the visual social media platform might not be as effective today — especially when it comes to running ads. We’ve noticed a number of trends that have increased ad performance lately. Here are nine ways you can capitalize on these insights and create high-converting Instagram ads:
Pick the right format
Video. If you're selling a product or service that lends itself to video, take advantage of the opportunity to showcase your brand and tell your story. Consumers are 74% more likely to interact with an ad that contains video, according to AdRoll, so if you have something visual to show off, go for it!
Carousel ads. If the majority of your images or videos can be grouped together effectively in one advertisement, carousel ads might be right for you. These ads let users swipe through multiple images in one spot without having to exit out of the app onto a web page or close out of Instagram altogether. They also allow users who might not be sold by one image alone an opportunity see more—a win-win for both parties!
Slideshow ads. If there's plenty of text-based content on your website (think: copy about products), slideshow ads may be able to help get all those words across in an easy manner while still keeping things visually appealing enough not to bore customers into closing their screens immediately after opening them up!
Story Ads: Let's face it; when someone opens up their Instagram feed on any given day there's nothing but endless scrolling ahead until something catches their eye enough where they actually stop momentarily before continuing onward down this endless scroll path once again...and then BOOM! There goes another wasted moment because they didn't want any part whatsoever in whatever was coming next after following up on whatever got them here originally (i'm looking at YOU Facebook).
Speak the language of your audience
Once you've found your audience, it's time to speak their language. This means speaking in the same tone and voice as they use, so that they feel more connected to your brand.
It's important to consider the words you use in ads because these are the first things that grab people's attention when they see an ad—and if they don't resonate with them, they'll be gone before anything else can register.
Include a call-to-action
A call-to-action (CTA) is the place where you ask for an action from your audience. It’s what happens after they see your post, which can be as simple as a link directing them to your website or something more advanced like sending them into a conversion funnel where they can learn more about making purchases.
The purpose of CTAs is simple: They help you turn viewers into customers and/or leads. They provide the necessary steps to take in order for someone who sees an ad on Instagram or Facebook to convert and become an actual customer or lead.
Run A/B tests on creative assets
If you're looking for a quick way to boost the engagement of your ads, run an A/B test on different creative assets.
Use a tool like Facebook's Power Editor to run A/B tests and split test different headlines, images and calls-to-action.
If you're trying to increase conversions on your website (like signing up for a free trial), consider testing different audiences based on the behavioral data available in Facebook Analytics or Google Analytics.
You could also test different ad placements by expanding into new markets or targeting specific groups within existing markets.
Another factor that can help improve performance is day and time of day—you might find that some days are better than others when it comes to getting users' attention with Instagram ads!
Promote useful content that resonates with your audience
When it comes to promoting your content, you should be thinking about what your audience will find useful.
To figure out what type of content resonates with your audience, check out the comments section on each post. Is there anything a user has asked you about? Are there questions that keep coming up? If so, answer these in a video or blog post and then promote it across all platforms.
It’s also important for brands to create educational videos that help people solve problems they feel frustrated by. For example, if someone is having trouble creating an email newsletter from scratch on Mailchimp or Constant Contact (two popular email marketing platforms), they may search YouTube for “how do I create an email newsletter” and find one of your helpful tutorials!
Make an offer your audience can’t refuse
To make lightning-fast sales and generate tons of leads, you need to offer something that your audience can’t get anywhere else.
Here are some suggestions:
Offer a product or service your audience needs. If you sell makeup products, for instance, an ad offering free samples could be a hit with many of your followers.
Offer something valuable to your audience — like an educational course on how to use specific products or services effectively.
Offer something relevant (and presumably irresistible) to people who share a passion with one another — like running shoes or hiking gear if you’re selling outdoor gear.
Optimize for conversions
There are many factors that influence the performance of your Instagram ads, including:
Optimize for conversions. You want to optimize your campaigns based on what you’re trying to accomplish. If it’s a high-value product or service, you may want to optimize for reach and engagement (likelihood of users taking action). If it’s a low-cost product or service where you just need people in front of the ad, you may focus more on cost per conversion. And if it’s something cheap like an ebook or video series that doesn't have much up-front cost but could be leveraged over time (i.e., leads), then cost per lead would be a good metric to optimize for.
Optimize by audience size and interests: When looking at targeting options, consider who is likely to take action on your offer based on their interests and demographic information. For example, if they're interested in travel photography or food recipes then perhaps look into sponsoring those types of accounts in order to target similar audiences as well as ones with similar interests who are likely considering buying your product/service right now! This can help boost performance by increasing relevancy between audience members and the targeted user base with which they're interacting through visual content only available within Tinder's app itself."
Optimize for reach.
Optimize for reach.
If you optimize for reach, Instagram will show your ads to people who are more likely to be interested in your products. This is done through the targeting options discussed above and by using the Instagram algorithm to show your ads to users who are most likely to engage with them. Optimizing for conversions means optimizing the design of your ad so that users will click on it and take action (for example, purchase something or sign up for your email list). Optimizing for cost per click means finding out how much it costs you when someone clicks on your ad; then making tweaks so that this cost goes down as low as possible while still maintaining a high level of engagement among viewers.
Tell a story.
Instagram is a visual platform, and it's important that you leverage that aspect to get your message across. You can do this by creating images with text or just photos, or even video.
Telling a story with your ads will be more effective in getting people to click on them than simply posting an ad that looks like every other ad on Instagram.
If you want to use text in your ads, make sure it has personality and reflects the voice of your brand.
Instagram ads should be built for conversions by taking these steps.
Use all the tools available to you.
Choose the right format for your product.
Speak the language of your audience, and be specific!
Include a call-to-action so people know what you want them to do next after they’ve clicked on an ad.
Run A/B tests on creative assets—they can help you improve click-through rates (CTRs) and conversion rates (CVRs).
Conclusion
There you have it! Nine simple steps to easily create high-converting Instagram ads that will increase your brand visibility, reach more people, and generate more sales. I hope you found this article informative and helpful in understanding the basics steps required to create stunning Instagram ads.
