Instagram is probably one of the most targeted and focused social media apps available. Focusing solely on letting users share images and short videos, it has been really protective of its audience. And this is the reason that it took so much time for this popular social platform to open the floodgates for businesses to advertise.

An Introduction to Instagram Ads

Instagram ads are the sponsored ads which appear in the natural newsfeed of the app users. Businesses can use these ads for different Call-to-Action (CTA) purposes.

There are different CTA options available, including:

• Install Now
• Use App
• Play Game
• Watch Video
• Shop Now
• Learn More
• Book Now
• Apply Now
• Download
• Contact Us

Choose the right CTA that appeals to your audience and defines the purpose of your business.

The Look of Instagram Ads

You will find 3 different styles of ads on Instagram:

• Image Ads using the traditional original images that describe the business
• Carousel Ads are also image ads, but here a business can add a series of images that user can swipe
• Video Ads use sound, motion and sight to tell users about business in 60 seconds

These ads appear in the same space and in the same size as the images of the users. The only differentiation for an ad is the ?Sponsored? tag and a CTA button that is highlighted to the Instagram users.

 

Why Advertise on Instagram?

Instagram is one platform which has active targeted users and that can be really beneficial for your business to approach the right users. And there is a list of some other benefits too:

Highly Engaged Users: The fact that Instagram is mostly used by people on their smartphones only (as oppose to other platforms which are accessed on desktop in the equal proportion) can prove to be really beneficial when you are advertising your app as it will result in instant CTA.

Young, Tech-Savvy Audience: The majority of users on Instagram are between the age group of 18-30 years and these are the people who use mobile the most and are enthusiast about trying out new apps and installing them.

Focused User Attention: Since there are no other elements streaming on Instagram at left or right, the user will be viewing one image at a time on his screen, thus ensuring that he will be giving attention to your ad when it will in his feed.

Access to Targeting Options: Just like Facebook, you can choose the filters to set your target audience while posting a particular ad in order to ensure that it appears in the feed of the right audience. It will increase your conversion rate.

How to Get Started?

It?s actually quite simple, especially if you have already created Facebook ads. You can get done with it in just 5 steps:

1. Create a Facebook Business Manager account by visiting business.facebook.com.
2. Connect your Facebook business account to your Instagram account. If you don?t already have an Instagram ad, then create one.
3. It will be necessary for you to register the app you want to advertise on Facebook
4. Set up a budget for your ads and select the targeting options in order to ensure that they reach the right audience.
5. Start creating attractive ads and posting them with the right CTA button.

How to Create Amazing Image Ads?

After developing mobile app, now that you are ready to get started with promoting your business app on Instagram, have a few tips for you to ensure that your image ads look appealing to your audience and get your maximum conversion rates.

Visuals are the Main Attraction

You want your ad to blend in with the other posts on a user?s feed and not look like a typical advertising post. Thus, focus more on using the original and high quality images and as less content as possible. It is best to follow the 20{a0065375a7e2d1c093abc1aba7894b1ad713a40df7f413d8a34d916c8e570350} rule when it comes deciding how much text should be included in the image, that is, your image should mainly be a pictorial representation of your message with only 20{a0065375a7e2d1c093abc1aba7894b1ad713a40df7f413d8a34d916c8e570350} area used for text (if required).

 

• Understand Your Audience

 

Do some research and imagine how the images in the feed of your target audience would look like. Once you are done getting the right look and feel, create a design which will blend perfectly with his other images as that is what will attract your customers and get them to click on the call-to-action button. The basic idea behind keeping the Instagram ads within the traditional stream is that the users should not know that they are being advertised. So, don?t make your image appear as an in-the-face ad.

 

• Be Expressive

 

Try writing the captions in different lengths for your ads to see what length and what type of content fits best with your audience. However, do not write long and boring captions by explaining everything in the caption area. And since Instagram is known for the hashtags used with the images, you can certainly use that feature to your advantage as the Generation Z is quite well acquainted with the language of hashtags. Just be careful that you use them in limit.

 

• Keep It Focused

 

Your app could be providing lots of features/products/services to the customers, but it would look really clustered if you would try to accommodate every information in a single image. Rather than focusing on multiple elements at once, choose one that you think will grab the attention of your audience the most and focus on illustrating the same in your image ad. Once they click on the CTA button through that ad, they will get to know about the other features too from the app.

 

• Get Engaged

 

Make sure that you just do not leave the ad after posting it and move on to decide the strategy for your next ad. Once you have posted one image ad, analyze the response that you would receive on it before designing the next image. Also, use captions that initiate conversation among your audience and have a person dedicatedly ensuring that those comments and queries are being replied to regularly in order to keep the users interested.

Do you have any other tips to make the Instagram image ads more appealing? Whether you are a designer, an entrepreneur, a marketer or a user, share your opinion and suggestions with us about what can make an ad click with the users and get install.

About the Author:

Ashish Sharma is a Key Account Manager, looking after Marketing Strategies and building new business tie ups at WeDigTech – A Mobile App Development Company India. Focused on helping enterprises StartUps from domestic to MNCs.