We are contacted regularly regarding Facebook campaigns, and when I speak to business owners during strategy sessions, I’m often recommending the additional use of the Instagram platform. For some businesses it’s a perfect fit because their audience is younger than typical Facebook users. And that’s when Instagram is a strong contender for your social media advertising strategy.
If you already have a Facebook campaign, and want to try marketing on Instagram as well, it’s important to modify your ads because it is a completely different platform. Instagram promoted posts are laid out using these specific customizations:
- No headlines: your headlines will not appear on instagram, so your lead-in “text” is essentially your headline
- Image size: the images on Instagram are square instead of rectangular on Facebook. It’s important to be native to the platform and use square images to maximize your exposure.
- Image filters: whether you use Adobe Creative Suite or Canva, I’d recommend using a filter on your images and test different filters to see what performs the best. Have fun with it because that’s what Instagram users are there to do.
- Instagram video ads on Instagram are currently limited to under 60 seconds, so if you’re creating video for Facebook, be mindful of this limit if you’re planning to utilize it on Instagram as well.
- Hashtags are a great addition to the end of your ads even if they don’t show up in the preview. The hashtags enable you to be a part of ongoing conversations on topics relevant to your business.
- The conversations on Instagram are interestingly different than Facebook. There is a staccato or short rhythm to them that is almost like shorthand that combines the use of emojis. It’s almost like it’s own language for millenials. Try writing your ads more succinctly, and review current conversations about your topic by searching the hashtags to determine the language they’re using, so you can enter the conversation more naturally.
Best Instagram Ads
Interested in seeing some Instagram ad creative? Here are some examples of ads on Instagram to help get you started:
If you’re targeting millenials, and are looking for some help getting started on the Instagram platform, contact us. We provide coaching sessions if you want to do it yourself, or ‘done for you’ services if you’re looking for an Instagram expert to take care of it all.
