If you know anything about me, it’s that I love Instagram. I mean I love all social media because it entertains me, but Instagram…Instagram is that one area that I particularly love because I can sit and scroll through snapshots of people’s lives and not boring status updates.
Most of the time Jace is the one writing these blog posts, but today must be my lucky day. Or maybe it is the fact that I love Instagram. Either way I am excited to start running Instagram ads for all our amazing clients. My name is Nicole and I am the VP of marketing over here at Yinc.
Below We Put Together A short guide on How To Run Instagram Ads But First…More On Instagram
Instagram allows me to search tags (which I know you can do on any platform now) but I feel like you get so much more substance with Instagram tags than you do Twitter or Facebook. And I can immediately tell if something is relevant to the tag I’m searching because I don’t have to sit and read the caption, I can take .01 seconds processing an image to determine it’s something I’m interested in or not. Basically, I love Instagram, and I waste more time than I will ever admit to scrolling through it.
But now, things are getting real in this relationship, because not only can I use Instagram for fun, but they’ve opened up Instagram ads. You’ve probably seen them as you scroll through your feed. About every 20 posts or so is an Instagram ad. (sponsored) But before now, you had to be some big huge conglomerate that had to apply in order to use Instagram ads. But as of this week, everyone can hop on the Instagram advertising bandwagon.
The fact that Instagram has opened up advertising isn’t all that surprising, since Facebook is its parent company. And we all know how much Facebook loves ads. We also know how easy Facebook advertising is, so can we expect the same ease, simplicity, and effectiveness for Instagram? Let’s see.
According to Kenshoo, a marketing software company, cost-per-thousand views on Instagram has been averaging $6.70, but now that number will be dropping as more advertisers will be posting more relevant ads. I mean, I’ve been getting hit like crazy with McDonalds ads, and I haven’t touched McDonalds since I was about 8 years old.
But according to Instagram’s ad tab, you’ll be shown ads they deem relevant to your interests based off of your Instagram and Facebook feeds as well as other third-party sites and apps that you use. I like food, so maybe that was good enough reason to show me McDonalds.
The click-through rates are pretty great according to Kenshoo. They say users are two and a half times more likely to click on Instagram ads than other media platform ads.
Instagram allows still image ads as well as video, just like you were doing a normal Instagram post. However, instead of being limited to 15-second videos like you are on a personal post, you’re able to use a 30-second video as an advertisement.
The great thing about the ads you’re seeing on Instagram is that you’re able to hide what you don’t want to see and what isn’t relevant to you. Just tap the “sponsored” in the top right hand corner and you can choose to hide this image or hide this account.
Now let’s get to the good stuff. How to actually set up ads on Instagram. First up, link your Instagram to your Facebook account. Now you are able to create your ads in Power Editor. Head over to your page, and then click Settings.
Then Instagram Ads and then Add an Account.
Here’s where you can sign into your current Instagram account or you can create a new one for your business.
Once you’ve done this, you’re able to use the same ads you run on Facebook as Instagram ads, or create new ones specific to Instagram.
Instagram is allowing three different ad objectives: clicks to your site, mobile app installs, and video views. Remember you are able to run 30-second videos.
Now, once you’ve chosen your objective you’re able to choose your set up. You’re given three options, image, video, and carousel ads. Images and video are similar, a standard post with a button that encourages viewers to click. Carousel ads work similar to website sliders, allowing users to swipe through a series of images, again with a button encouraging clicks.
Targeting is pretty similar to Facebook and allows for most of the same options. Set your target audience in the same way you would Facebook, and remember that you only have to choose location, age, and gender, but you should probably get a bit more targeting so your ads are being shown to the right audience and you’re not wasting money.
The rest is marketing 101. Use a great image, a strong call to action, and don’t forget your hashtags, this is an Instagram ad after all.
Quick Update on Instagram Ads.
It has been about 8 hours and I wanted to show you some of the results we are getting from our ads.
So far we have spent $11.28 we have 68 website clicks and 100 likes.
Instagram Ads Questions and Answers.
Who should be running Instagram ads?
We think all business owners should at least give it a shot and test it. The numbers could surprise you.
Great example…
If you are a Dentist or a Orthodontist who is spending a lot of money on Print ads, why not take some of the budget and run some Instagram ads to Mothers in your geographic location. You would get a better bang for you buck.
Step by step instructions.
How can you create an Instagram ad in Power Editor?
The following directions apply to people who’ve already connected their Instagram account to a Business Manager or through their Page’s settings. If you don’t have an Instagram account, you better get one pretty quickly.
To create an Instagram ad in Power Editor:
- In Power Editor, click the Manage Ads tab at the top of the page.
- Click
on the left side of the page and then click Create Ad. - On the Create Ad page, choose whether to use an existing campaign or create a new campaign. Your campaign must use an ad objective that supports Instagram ads. Similarly, choose whether to use an existing ad set or create a new one. Your ad set must have the Instagram placement checked in order for your ad to be eligible to show on Instagram.
- Enter a name for the ad and click Create.
- Complete the details for the ad, including the creative. Keep in mind that details such as audience targeting and bidding are managed at the ad set level for the ad.
- When you’re ready, click Upload Changes to complete your new ad.
You can create new ads in Power Editor either individually or by uploading them from a spreadsheet.
To create an ad in Power Editor:
- Go to Power Editor and click the Manage Ads tab at the top of the page.
- Click on the left side of the page and then click Create Ad.
- On the Create Ad page, choose whether to use an existing campaign or create a new campaign. Similarly, choose whether to use an existing ad set or create a new one.
- Enter a name for the ad and click Create.
- Complete the details for the ad, including the creative. Keep in mind that details such as audience targeting and bidding are managed at the ad set level for the ad.
- When you are ready, click Upload Changes to upload your new ad.
To import new ads from a spreadsheet:
- Go to Power Editor and click the Manage Ads tab at the top of the page.
- Click on the left side of the page.
-
If you are creating an ad in an existing ad set, select another ad in the same ad set. Click
and select Export selected. -
If you are creating a new ad in a new campaign, click and select Download Template.
-
- Edit the downloaded spreadsheet to create your new ads and save it to your computer.
- In Power Editor, click and choose Import Ads in Bulk. Select the saved spreadsheet to import it back into Power Editor.
- Click Upload Changes to upload your new ads.
Should I be skeptical about Instagram Ads?
While plenty of marketers and businesses have jumped on board and started running Instagram Ads the second they could, many more are just as skeptical. Instagram is a new system and will have its problems.
Example. I am noticing that I am getting a lot young teenage girls looking at my ads and liking them. Even though I told Instagram to only market to people 30 years and older. Obviously there are some issues.
There’s a lot of benefits to advertising with Instagram Ads, and while it’s normal to think “I’ll let them work out the kinks in the system before I start putting my money in,” Instagram Ads isn’t all that new of a system. Not only have they been doing extensive testing for quite a while with select businesses (Instagram Ads have been live for a while, but they’re just now rolling out to almost everyone else), Instagram Ads is piggy-backing off of Facebook’s Ad system—and we all know how powerful that is.
Just keep your eyes open.
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