How to Advertise on Instagram: A 6-Step Guide to Using Instagram Ads (1/2)

Last Updated on May 2nd, 2019 at 3:39 pm

Leveraging Instagram ads for your brand is a no brainer.

Not only do more than one billion people use Instagram every month, but engagement numbers for the app are higher than both Fb and Twitter.

That’s why we want to walk you through the science of Instagram advertising, which provides you with the opportunities to hyper-target your content to the Instagram users who count.

Read on to find:

  • How to arrange any kind of Instagram advert
  • How much you need to expect to pay for Instagram ads
  • The most expensive day and time of year for advertising on Instagram
  • Expert tips for creating powerful Instagram ads

Let’s get began.

What are Instagram ads?

Instagram first started providing limited advert services in 2013 after being bought by Fb.

However, it was not until 2015 that they opened the floodgates and allowed advertising for brands and companies of all shapes and sizes. These brands found Instagram to be an enormous boon for business.

And since Instagram is integrated with Facebook Advert Manager, brands could leverage Fb’s massive wealth of user info to promote directly to their target audience.

If that isn’t enough to convince you that Instagram ads are good, here are a few numbers:

  • 75% of users take action on Instagram ads (e.g., buying a product or going to a site)
  • 35% of American adults use Instagram (see below)

Majority of Americans now use Facebook, YouTube chart

Bottom line: When you aren’t utilizing Instagram adverts, you are potentially leaving lots of money on the table.

How much do Instagram ads cost?

Although the price of your particular Instagram advert will be unique to you (after all, not all adverts are the same), the average cost-per-click for Instagram ads is around $0.70 – $0.80. This figure comes from an analysis of more than $300 million of advert spend.

Remember, that is just the average cost-per-click. Your Instagram advert may end up costing less or more relying on a variety of factors. For instance, check out how much costs fluctuate based on the ages you select to target.

Instagram CPC by age range

Here’s how cost-per-click looks based on advert placement.

Instagram CPC by placement

Notice something with these graphs? The time of year is the most important factor in terms of cost. Overall, as the year goes on, cost-per-click becomes more expensive—with the last quarter of the year sometimes showing the highest cost-per-click.

Kinds of Instagram ads

Stories adverts

instagram story ad by Louis Vuitton

Call-to-Action Buttons

  • Apply Now
  • Book Now
  • Contact Us
  • Call Now (video only)
  • Download

Instagram Stories Adverts are full-screen adverts that seem between users’ Stories.

With 500 million Instagram users viewing Stories every day, you have the potential to achieve a massive audience with your advert!

With Stories adverts, you could target your audience and select how often they see your advert. Because Stories expire after 24 hours, they are the ideal format for sharing limited-time offers and promotions.

Brands could benefit from all Instagram Stories functions, including face filters, video effects, and text to create fun and creative promotions.

This permits you to make Instagram Stories adverts that look and feel like your normal posts—making a seamless experience for your followers. The call-to-action takes the form of a swipe-up function that takes audiences directly to your site from your Stories advert.

Photo adverts

Instagram photo ad by Stitch Fix Mex

Call-to-action buttons

  • Apply Now
  • Book Now
  • Call Now
  • Contact Us
  • Get Directions
  • Learn More
  • Get Showtimes
  • Download

Photo adverts permit brands to showcase services and products through compelling pictures.

When you are already crafting top-notch visual content, Instagram photo adverts provide the platform to share it with even more people.

One great instance of this comes from Parachute Home, a home linens business. They used photo adverts to great success once they promoted a 60-night trial of their bedding with a “Shop Now” call-to-action button.

Parachute’s Instagram posts also have a distinctive look and feel, usually displaying their goods in authentic, beautiful bedroom spaces—and their photo adverts were consistent with this style.

The adverts were targeted to women and men aged 18 to 54, with audience profiles based on their core clients’ profiles.

The result? A 3.7x return on advertising spend, and a click-through-rate that was twice as high as their adverts on other platforms.

Companies could borrow Parachute Homes’ strategy by creating Custom and Lookalike Audiences on Facebook Ads Manager.

Video adverts

Call-to-Action Buttons

  • Apply Now
  • Book Now
  • Call Now
  • Contact Us
  • Download

Instagram users love video.

Actually, time spent watching videos on Instagram was up more than 80% year-over-year in 2017.

And Instagram has taken note. That’s why they have made it simpler than ever before for advertisers to leverage video for their brands.

One great instance of a successful video advert marketing campaign comes from Lionsgate UK for their film “La La Land.”

View this post on Instagram

? We’re thinking movie night…

A post shared by Lionsgate UK (@lionsgateuk) on

To successfully promote one of the best films of the year, Lionsgate UK team knew that they had to target younger viewers (age 18 to 24). However, younger people are mostly unfamiliar with huge Hollywood musicals.

Fortunately, the team knew that Instagram users were drawn towards themes such as romance, travel, and fashion. They used these themes to make 10 short, bite-sized videos. Then they targeted their exact viewers.

The outcomes were astounding:

  • 24 point enhance in advert recall
  • 8 point enhance in brand awareness
  • 4 point increase in movie viewing intent
  • 12 point increase in movie viewing intent among females

Carousel adverts

Call-to-action buttons

  • Apply Now
  • Book Now
  • Contact Us
  • Call Now
  • Download

Carousel adverts let users swipe through a series of pictures or videos (like a carousel) with a call-to-action button to connect them directly to your site.

They do a number of cool things:

  • Highlight multiple goods
  • Share a multi-part story
  • Dive deep into a single service in up to 10 pictures or videos

Kayla Itsines, the founder of fitness empire Bikini Body Guide, used a series of video carousel adverts to drive awareness and downloads of the workout app Sweat: Kayla Itsines Fitness.

The carousel format permitted her to showcase short fitness sequences demonstrating how users can exercise anywhere (and anytime) with the app.

The marketing campaign was targeted to women aged 18 to 42, reaching 6.4 million people and resulting in an incredible 21-point lift in brand awareness.

Carousel adverts were excellent for a brand that wanted to show the versatility of its content and would be a great fit for other brands with diverse creative assets, like food and fashion firms.

Collection adverts

https://www.fb.com/1319742961447503/movies/1796434313778363/

Call-to-action buttons

  • Learn more
  • Purchase

Launched in early-2018, Instagram Collection adverts are a relatively new addition.

The way they work is easy: When users see an advert from your brand, they will have the option to buy products directly from the advert.

They mix the power of images, videos, and direct-response marketing all in one highly effective advertisement.

One brand that used Instagram Collection adverts to great success was Zattini, a clothing e-commerce store.

instagram ads

Utilizing Collections, they showcased their goods and discounts with the purpose of increasing sales. The result was a 6.3% enhance in conversions. Their Collections advert also came at a 41.9% lower cost compared to other advert formats.

How to choose the best Instagram advert type

Now that you understand what Instagram advert formats are out there, let’s dive into how to choose the best format for you.

It’s essential to be intentional about your advert format. To help, there’s one big query you should answer that will assist you to decide:

What’s my goal?

Your social media goal is the North Star for all decisions in terms of your Instagram advert campaign. It’ll help you decide what to pursue and, more importantly, what not to pursue.

For instance, when you re attempting to extend brand awareness, you may want to keep away from something like Collection adverts, as they directly sell products. Instead, you need to opt for an image or video advert with a CTA that directs to your site. Doing so will assist you to elevate your brand through captivating content.

However, when you are simply attempting to sell products, you may want to use a Collections advert that will permit users to buy products directly from the advert itself.

Or let’s say you have multiple products that you are launching and you want to show them off. A Carousel advert will be excellent for this as you could show users several captivating photos of your products.

No matter what advert format you select to go with, ensure that it’s in line with your goals.

Share this post