Almost 1.5 billion users.
That is the size of Instagram’s audience base in 2022. And in 2020 it was announced that 40% of all Danes have an Instagram profile.
Whether the number has increased or decreased since then does not change a fundamental truth: Instagram as a marketing platform is essential. And your business is guaranteed already there.
But so are the other companies. So, if you want to stand out from the crowd and be seen by as many people as possible, it’s all about understanding the Instagram game – and the forms of advertising that Instagram offers to businesses.
Private as well as professional
Instagram started, as with all other social media, as a platform for everyday users. A place where you could share photos with friends and family. But the reality today is different.
The platform is constantly being optimized more and more for professional use. New functions are added that promote marketing potential and provide companies with useful data for their strategies. And now you can even create an entire store section on Instagram. With product pages and all.
To that extent, Instagram has established itself as a platform that is for both private and professional use.
All the technical
The way to expand your Instagram audience – and thus your customer base – is by advertising..
Fortunately, Instagram advertising is easy to set up thanks to the Meta Business Suite (or Facebook Business Manager). Here you can create precisely targeted advertising campaigns, right down to the details. And you have access to a handful of different ad formats.
Both in-feed ads, stories ads and reels ads appear among the content that the user’s followed profiles are posting. It lets your ads appear somewhere the recipients are sure to be. But it makes demands. For the quality, authenticity, and ease of the content.
And it is important that the material is scaled according to the ad format. Square for the feed, portrait format for stories, etc. It all contributes to your ads catching the user’s attention – and not feeling like out-of-place advertising.
Turn down the sales pitch
Of course, the ultimate purpose of your ads is to drive sales. Undoubtedly. But the suitcase and the pointer will probably have to be packed away first.
Instagram is a relaxed, entertaining, and inspiring channel. You must keep that in mind when creating your ads. If you do that, you will create ads that don’t make users scroll away immediately (also known as Native Advertising, which you can read more about here).
When you understand these fundamental rules of the game, you can proceed strategically with your ads – and of course we have a few tips for that.
4 steps to an effective Instagram campaign
1. Set your goals
This is perhaps the most important factor in your ad campaign. Different campaigns want different things. Would you like more people to enter your website – or would you just like to be seen? It is important. And that’s why Meta Business Suite lets you choose between different goals:
- More profile visits
- More website visits
- More messages
In other words: reach, traffic, and engagement.
2. Know your target audience
Instagram lets you target your ads very precisely. It is an advantage when you are addressing an audience that has not come across your business, as here you will be able to target the optimal age group, place of residence, etc. And you can carefully design your ads according to the customer journey by targeting them to users who have already visited your website.
3. Choose the right formats
The different Instagram formats can do something different. Also, when it comes to your ads.
Stories and reels are perfect for creating awareness. They fill the user’s screen with a high-quality video ad (when done properly) and are thus both engaging and memorable.
In contrast, the in-feed ads are good for showing the latest products in a carousel of carefully selected images. Here, the user has time to delve a little deeper into the details, so there is room for the slightly longer messages here.
4. Follow up – and set the development in motion
When the “Publish” button is pressed, you must keep your hand on the mouse.
The successful advertising campaign is based on you avoiding the things that don’t work. So, there’s no reason to waste advertising dollars on ads that simply don’t work. Therefore, keep an eye on your campaign regularly so that you can focus your money on the effective ads.
Meta Business Suite also has functions that can help you get the most effective ads out to as many people as possible, so that your advertising strategy can be as effective as possible.