Why only advertise on Facebook if you now can take advantage of Instagram capabilities as well? Marketers witnessed the power of Instagram for years, so when advertising features finally rolled out, they were very welcome. So how do you create Instagram ads using Power Editor to get maximum exposure?
Native-like visuals
We’ve witnessed an evolution of the platform going from a simple photo-editing app with wacky pseudo-vintage filters for hipsters to one of the leading platforms for artists. Instagram has become less about in-the-moment images and more about perfectly-orchestrated flatlays.
Are you interested in advertising on Instagram? If you are, the first thing you absolutely must take is consider your visuals and how native they look to the platform. In a sense, your promoted content should “blend in” and look like an organic part of the native feed.
The first two lines of your copy
While images are the most important element on Instagram, don’t forget that great copywriting can make your ad that much more effective. Keep in mind, though, that Instagram shows only the first two lines of copy. Everything else is hidden under the “Read More” link. So, you want to make sure you get your message across as quickly as possible, and that the core message is conveyed in those first two lines.
Entice your audience
It is crucial that you know your audience. Not only does it help to target the right people on Instagram, it is also one of the determinants of the success of your ads. When you know your audience members, and correctly target them online, your costs per click will be extremely low. Plus, when you know whom you’re talking to, you’ll know what to say to them. What are their needs and struggles? Their interests? How can you entice them to click on your ad?
It is crucial that you know your audience.
Finally, if you know something about the people you’re talking to, you’ll know what kind of imagery they like and what their Instagram feed looks like. Is its tone inspirational and pretty? Or casual and silly?
Be aware of the context of your ad
One thing advertisers often overlook is the context in which their ads are being served. Context is essential not only because it makes your ads look organic and unforced in the feed. It’s also a key detail because the same ad can perform completely different in two different situations.
What if visitors are casually scrolling through their feed in the grocery store lane on a Tuesday night? They probably will forget all about your fancy nightclub that has a free cover on Saturdays. But what if they’re out on a Saturday night with some friends and the ad for your bar, which is 15 minutes away, comes up? They’ll be likely to check it out.
Creating ads
Right now you create Instagram ads in Facebook. See, those skills in ad creation and Power Editor came in really handy. To get started, you’ll need to have a Business Manager account. Sign up for it at business.facebook.com if you don’t have one already. Now claim your Instagram account by going to Business Settings > Instagram Accounts and clicking on Claim New Instagram Account, which will walk you through the prompts.
Create ads for Instagram in the same way you did for Facebook using one of two advertising options. One thing you need to know is that you can run the same or different ads on both Facebook and Instagram, or, you can choose to advertise on either one of the platforms. If you want to create an ad strictly for Instagram, uncheck all other placements, including Facebook Desktop and Mobile Feeds and Network placement.
Be advised that, at this point, ad objectives for Instagram are limited to page post engagement, clicks to website, website conversions, mobile app installs, mobile app engagement, and video views. Plus, sizes for graphics are different on Instagram and Facebook, so pay attention to dimensions to create a pleasing user experience.
Create Instagram Ads Using Ad Creation
Creating Instagram ads in ads creation is pretty straight-forward if you have some experience with Facebook promotion. First, you choose a specific objective that is supported by Instagram; then, define your audience by targeting people based on location, age, gender, interests and titles. Then, select the budget specifications, including the pricing model and the daily or lifetime setup. Finally, create Instagram ads by adding copy, images and call to action.
Create Instagram Ads Using Power Editor
Now, creating Instagram ads using Power Editor is a bit more complicated, but nothing to be afraid of! First, go to Power Editor and click “Create Campaign.” Name your campaign, choose Auction for Buying Type and select an objective, which, again, is supported in Instagram. (Remember that not all objectives are supported by Instagram placement.)
Moving on to Ad Sets, define your budget and schedule, and don’t forget to take advantage of advanced scheduling options. Now, specify your audience and placement. Targeting options stay the same. You can even create custom audiences and lookalike audiences. If you want to create ads strictly for Instagram, uncheck all of the available placement options except Instagram. Go a step further and define mobile device types, if needed. Now, take care of optimization, pricing and advanced delivery (standard or accelerated).
Moving on to Ads, you can now play around with your creative. Test copy, a few different images and calls to action to see what drives the most engagement. Recommended image size for Instagram is 1080 by 1080 pixels. And don’t forget that the same “image may not include more than 20% text” rule applies to Instagram ads as well. The limit on the copy is 300 characters, but if you don’t want it to cut out under “more,” keep it around 100 characters.
When you are happy with the look of your ad, hit Upload Changes and wait for approval.
Be aware of what advanced capabilities are possible
To set the time frames when your ad will be shown and to to precisely pinpoint your audience, you need to employ Facebook Power Editor. This tool has amazing tools and features, like targeting people based on the technology they use, determining whether they’re connected to wi-fi, recognizing the language they speak at home, etc.
For example, if you’re advertising an app that’s available on only one of the two major platforms (Android and iOS), you probably want to target the right devices. You might also want to target people only when they’re connected to wi-fi, because your chances of a download will be much lower otherwise.
One of the great things available to you is the ability to track conversions using Facebook pixel. Why is it important you ask? Google Analytics and other website analytics tools count a lot of social traffic as “Direct.” The reason for that being that when people use apps and then click on a link to open a website in new window, the referral information gets lost between the apps. So, once they land on your website, the snippet that would tell Google Analytics that Instagram is referrer here is lost.
It might not be such a huge issue with Facebook and Twitter that have a desktop version, but for mobile-first network like Instagram, it’s crucial.
So, long story short, use Facebook pixel to be able to quantify Instagram traffic on your site. Another way to do so is to use URL shorteners, like Bitly and Ow.ly, or Google Analytics Tag Manager.
Instagram will prove itself really effective in reaching a variety of audiences. You can’t ignore this network especially if your audience consists of young adults. To see how effective your Instagram campaigns are, visit Ads Manager for insights.
Instagram will prove itself really effective in reaching a variety of audiences.
To get even more bang for your buck, you can create your unique hashtag and ask users to use it to continue the conversation. As Scotiabank example proves, it is a great way to increase the longevity of your ads and get even more organic exposure that will come from this.
Overall, Instagram advertising is very exciting. It provides you with an opportunity to reach a huge young audience that actually pays attention to your messages.
What do you think of creating Instagram ads? Have you tried either one of two creation tools to create your first Instagram ad? Share in the comment section below or head over to Instagram @lesyaliu to continue the conversation.