If you’re someone with an eye for business, running Instagram ads must have crossed your mind. More than 30% of Instagram users find new brands and products through paid social ads. Meanwhile, Instagram ads can reach at least one billion active users.
However, although Instagram’s ads can provide huge profits for its many advertisers, they can also be quite expensive. Hence, finding ways to either effectively spend your buck, or lower your Instagram advertising cost becomes essential.
In this article, we’ll give you an overview of how to advertise on Instagram, including easy methods to spend your dollar effectively on ads.
What You Should Know About Instagram Ads?
There are several ways to create ad campaigns on Instagram. However, launching one requires you to have a Facebook advertising account or an Instagram business account.
Ads on Instagram are often similar to regular posts. The major difference is that they always have a “sponsored” label to show that they are adverts. Instagram ads are also more sophisticated than regular posts as they come with links, CTA buttons, and product catalogues.
How Much Do Instagram Ads Cost?
There is no actual benchmark or average price for putting up Instagram ads. The price of Instagram ads depends on various factors. Some of these factor include:
- Targeting demands.
- The competition in your industry or niche. The higher the competition, the more you’ll have to spend to reach people
- Period of the year.
- Placement area (areas like Story, Feeds, Explore pages, etc.)
The most effective way to manage the funds for your Instagram ads is to create an ad campaign in your ads manager. Afterward, you would need to research daily estimated result modules and audience definitions. These will tell you if your current funds will be enough to reach your target audience within the period of ad placement.
Like we said, there’s no “iron-clad practice” for the right amount to spend. However, you can start by spending even a few dollars a day, and gradually increase it based on success. To further manage the cost, you can create daily budgets or spending limits.
Types of Instagram Ads
There are various types of adverts on Instagram. They include:
- Image ads
Image ads are more suited for campaigns that require engaging visual content and images that can convey several messages at once. These pictures are often created with high-quality photographs or design.
- Stories ads
Story Ads are full-screen images or video ads that are placed between Stories. With over 500 million Instagram users viewing stories each day, engagement is usually high with Stories ads.
The best Instagram Stories ads are the ones that are indistinguishable from normal Stories. When creating Stories ads, brands use organic Instagram Stories features to mimic actual stories.
- Video ads
Like picture ads, video ads on Instagram help businesses capture attention. They help brands convey more in-depth information about their brand, products, and services to their audience. Video ads can be hour-long, but shorter videos are often more impactful.
- Carousel ads
Carousel ads use a collection of pictures or videos that users can look through. They can appear within Instagram posts and on Stories. Carousel ads come with a call-to-action button that points users directly to a website.
- Collection ads
Collection ads explains the combination of different ad types. For instance, a mix of carousel ads and shopping ads is a collection ad. They are best for eCommerce brands because they help users buy products directly from the ad.
- Explore ads
Explore ads appear inside the Explore tab, a popular location where users find new content or accounts. The Instagram Algorithm smartly positions content on a person’s explore page based on their Instagram usage habits. Up to 50% of Instagram users go through the explore page every month, so explore ads are a good opportunity to gain exposure.
- IGTV ads
IGTV ads are video ads that play when a user opens an IGTV video from their feed. These ads can be 15 seconds long and are designed for vertical full-screen viewing.
- Shopping ads
With over 100 million accounts viewing shopping posts every month, it’s no surprise that a large amount of money is invested in Instagram shopping ads. With Instagram’s shopping features, users can buy products without leaving the app.
- Reels ads
Reel Ads are displayed between Reels and can be up to 30 seconds. They often include music and some other features so they’ll be identical to organic Reels.
How to Spend Effectively on Instagram Ads
With so many ad types available, it can be challenging to choose one to use for your campaign. And if you end up selecting the wrong one, your ads may go to waste. To spend effectively on Instagram ads, you need to follow the following tips.
- Understand Your Goals
where ads are concerned, you need to understand your marketing goals before taking any business step. Do you want to drive traffic to your website, get video views for a new product? Do you wish to improve brand awareness or drive purchases and registrations?
After understanding your goal, you can effectively decide the formats and call-to-action options for your ad campaign. This way, you’ll get the most out of your ads.
- Know Your Target Audience
Depending on your brand and target audience, some ad types may be better than others. You would have to know your audience’s habits and behaviours, by answering questions like:
- Do they watch lots of videos?
- Do they watch Stories and Reels instead of looking through their feed?
- Are they good online shoppers?
Knowing your audience will help you pick ad types that match your audience’s preferences. As such, you chances of making an impact will increase.
- Know Your Budget and Schedule
It’s important to decide how much you want to spend and how long your ad campaign will run. You can either have a daily budget or an entire campaign budget. For ad scheduling, you can decide to run ads continuously, or at certain periods of the day when you feel your audience is most active. This can help maximise the returns you get from your ad placements.
- Use Content That Works Well With Your Organic Followers
Most times, your organic followers have many similarities to the audience you’ll target with your Instagram ads. So, you can examine your organic feed to see the different types of content that have performed well. This can give a good pointer towards what content might be popular with your audience.
- Choose your Ad Placements
In the placements section of your Ad manager, you can choose between:
- Automatic Placements: Displays your ads wherever they’re likely to get more engagement.
- Manual Placements: You can pick exactly where your ad will appear and not appear.
If you’re entirely confident in your research process and understand where your ads will thrive, the manual option is recommended. But if you’re still in doubt, it’s best to stick with the automatic placement option.
- Keep Your Brand Logo and Messaging Upfront
The first few seconds of your ad are the most important. You want to ensure that your logo and brand’s message is right up there with your visuals. This can determine whether a viewer will continue watching or start scrolling.
- Design Your Ads For Sound-Off Consumption
About 40% of social media users consume content with the sound off. As such, it’s necessary to tailor your ads to sound-off specifications. Also, use engaging sounds to delight users who have their sound on.
Bottom Line
With proper planning, testing, and execution, you can boost your Instagram ad campaigns, and reduce overall costs while maximising your return on investment.
With the cost of advertising on Instagram continually rising, you’ll be better off if you use these tips. They’ll help you cut your ad spend while getting impressive results.
