What is Instagram?
Instagram is a photo sharing app that allows users to take photos, add a funky filter and then share it on their feeds with their friends. Their friends can then comment, like or “regram” (share) the photo. Hashtags are also popular on in Instagram and can be used to search for images and find relevant or interesting people to follow.
As a marketer, why should you care about Instagram?
Besides the fact that it has a huge market to tap into, Instagram has been labelled the fastest growing social media site in the world.
On average, the app acquires 500 million users every month meaning that it is very, very likely that your target demographic are on there and are waiting to hear about your products and services.
Another benefit of Instagram is that it attracts a wide age range
Instagram only allows the sharing of images it makes it a highly visual and creative environment, which is perfect for sharing your brand’s story and mission. Hints why you should ALWAYS have crisp clear images.
Instagram Ads
Just because you create a beautiful ad to post on a social media, doesn’t necessarily mean it is going to be seen by everyone.
Generally, ads are only shown to certain people and the rate of visibility will either increase or decrease depending on the level of engagement. The more engagement your post gets, the more you will be shown to others. Even though it may seem unfair.
While using Facebook ads, if only 50 percent of your ad is in a viewable area and is skimmed over even if just for a second, it will still count as an impression that you will have to pay for.
On Instagram however, the issue of invisibility is removed as users are used to and will happily scroll through their photo feed in order to access their images, meaning that your ad will be given 100 percent visibility as they scroll.
Many times users have a hard time identifying that a sponsored image is actually an ad, leading to improved engagement rates which is good for us as marketers.
Instagram allows advertisers to target their demographic by selecting their location, interests, behaviors and more in order to ensure that the images are seen by the right people.
Nielsen Norman Group also found that ads on Instagram performed 2.9 times better than the average online ad.
This is believed to be due to the fact that Instagram ads integrate into the platform rather than sticking out like a banner ad would.
Advertising on Instagram definitely has numerous benefits for marketers and brands alike, but being successful with advertising on the platform can be a tricky game to master.
Users are drawn to Instagram because of the beautiful photos that are shared and if your ad doesn’t tell a story or provide some creative aesthetic, chances are it is not going to perform as well.
Why is Instagram IMPORTANT for marketing?
It can be hard to keep track of the amazing benefits of advertising on Instagram, but here are the top 5 that we think stand out the most-
1. Instagram is one of the only social media platforms that doesn’t allow ad blocking and gives your ad full visibility.
2. Instagram has highly sophisticated and detailed targeting options helping your ads to be seen by the right people.
3. Instagram users are more engaged and more likely to take action compared to other social networks like Facebook or Twitter.
4. Your ads have the ability to reach over 500 million highly engaged users every month.
5. First mover advantage: because advertising on Instagram is relatively new, adoption is low and supply is high, resulting in low advertising costs.
How to get the most out of Instagram
Step 1
Use bold, crisp, clear images!
A picture is worth a thousand words so stock-photos are just not going to cut it here (unless they are exceptionally beautiful).
Your Instagram ad image needs to be a high quality, original and beautiful image that helps your brand to stand out and paints a visual story.
This means that as a marketer and a brand, you need to dig a little deeper into the hearts of your demographic in order to understand what type of imagery, colors and objects are going to evoke an emotional response.
Instagram also comes with their own filters that have become popular with users.
Remember when you choose a filter, you need to stay consistent. Your making a brand for youself. Your images need to be your brand.
When your first starting out:
Use creative ideas in your Instagram account such as:
• Giving your customers a behind the scenes look at how your product is made or how your company goes about achieving their services.
• Snap a photo of a new product or new interface to get feedback from your customers.
• Show creative ways to utilize your products and services.
• Run competitions and contests.
• Offer a discount to customers who snap a selfie at your storefront or post a photo using your products or services.
Engagement
Creating beautiful images that stand out and get your brand noticed is one thing, but actually getting users to click through and complete your desired action is another thing altogether.
Most marketers use Instagram to get:
• Clicks to a Website
• Mobile App Installs
• Video Views
• Mass Awareness
• More Followers
The goal of running an ad on Instagram is to eventually convert your clicks into leads and then sales, and this can be achieved through an inspiring image and direct sales copy.
When it comes to writing effective sales copy on Instagram, the trick is to blend inspirational, emotional driven content with product focused content.
Telling a story and promoting user-generated content is the best way to boost engagement and will help your Instagram account to build a solid reputation.
Example: Would you rather see a stock photo of a nice handbag or would you rather see a person holding the nice handbag in their everyday life with a good quality photo?Emotion is a huge role in gaining someone's attention. Its human nature. People need to feel connected.
Target your audience
While your targeting options will depend on your brand and audience, a good way to get started is to narrow down -
• The location of your audience
• The interests of your audience The actions your audience are likely to take
• The behaviors of your audience
• The needs and wants of your audience
Once you have been able to determine these factors about your audience, you can then experiment with Instagram’s targeting options.
Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way for users to find your images and engage with your ads. Certain popular or trending hashtags are also a great way to increase visibility.
One study found that the most lucrative tags to include on your Instagram photo ad descriptions included:
• Self love
• Inspiration
• Makeup
• Entrepreneur
• Positive vibes
• Hair
• Travel
Images that used these tags resulted in higher revenue per impression when featured in an e-commerce environment according to the study.
Hashtags help to reach more people but it also helps to establish your brand and gets fans interested in your products and services.
Recap
Instagram recap
1. Having a solid account name that reflects your brand and business (company name usually works best).
2. An awesome profile photo that is either your company logo or is simple and effective. Keep in mind that your logo will be cropped into a circle and will appear as 150x150 pixels.
3. Sharing images that convey not only the quality of your products and services but also the feeling that the experience will give you when you receive it.
4. Experimenting with different caption lengths and call to actions. Some audiences respond to long image captions and others short. Learn what works for your demographic by experimenting with different sales copy and hashtags.
5. Playing an active role in your community by liking, commenting and regramming (sharing) others posts.
6. Editing your ad images using filters and other creative tools like Hyperlapse, Layout and Boomerang (available on the Instagram app).
7. Avoid poor quality images and sales copy that is irrelevant to your call to action.
8. Making sure your images give your brand an identity and share your brand’s point of view without being pushy or salesy.
9. Trying to keep a strong consistency across campaigns in order to establish your brand’s overall look and feel.
10. Keeping your ad images authentic and ‘immediate’ in order to give them a fresh and original feel.
11. Maintaining a consistent posting frequency in order to better track growth and engagement.
12. Cross promoting your Instagram ads with other social platforms and emails.
13. Following people in your industry to see what they are posting and how your brand may compare or do things differently.
14. Marketing your ads to a variety of different target audiences in order to reach the right audience that is relevant to your brand.
15. Aiming to get your audience actively participating in your brand by asking them to share user generated content, hashtags or participate in competitions.
So, what are you waiting for?
Share with me your Instagram! Be sure to put #FlBossBabe so I will see it.
Your success begins today!!!
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