Instagram Ads 101: Crafting Campaigns That Convert

With over two billion active users, Instagram marketing offers immense potential for businesses to reach and engage their target audience. One of the most effective ways to utilise this potential is through social media marketing such as  Instagram ad campaigns. Similar to Facebook advertising, These are structured marketing efforts that leverage Instagram’s visual platform to achieve goals like increasing brand awareness, driving traffic, or boosting sales. In this blog, we’ll explore how to create Instagram ad campaigns, share some compelling examples, and provide tips for crafting campaigns that convert.

What are Instagram ads?

Instagram ads are paid content that businesses create and run on Instagram to achieve specific marketing objectives, such as increasing brand awareness, driving traffic to a website, or boosting sales. These ads can take various forms, including photo ads, video ads, carousel ads, and Stories ads, each designed to engage users in different ways. When these ads are strategically organised with a specific goal in mind, they form an Instagram ad campaign. This structured approach allows businesses to effectively target and reach their desired audience on the platform to make their marketing efforts more cohesive and impactful.

Why Instagram ads matter

Instagram ads offer several advantages for businesses:

• Targeted Reach: With Instagram’s advanced targeting options, you can reach a specific audience based on demographics, interests, behaviours, and more. Custom Audiences and Lookalike Audiences further enhance targeting precision by leveraging existing customer data and finding users similar to your best customers.
• Visual Appeal: Instagram’s visually driven platform is perfect for showcasing products and services in a captivating way. Features like Instagram Shopping and product tags allow businesses to create seamless shopping experiences directly within the app.
• High Engagement: Instagram users are highly engaged, which means your ads have a better chance of capturing attention and driving action. Interactive features such as polls, quizzes and stickers in Stories, along with the ability to run contests and giveaways, further boost engagement.
• Continued Innovation: Instagram continually introduces new features like Reels, offering additional opportunities for brands to create engaging short-form video content and stay ahead of the curve.

How to create an Instagram ad campaign

Creating an Instagram ad campaign involves several key steps. Here’s a short overview to help you get started:

Step 1: Define your objective for running an Instagram ad campaign.

Before you start creating your ad campaign, it’s crucial to define your marketing objective. What do you want to achieve with your Instagram ad campaign? Do you want to increase brand awareness, have your audience consider your product/service, or drive conversions and sales?

Step 2: Identify and target your ideal audience.

Knowing your target audience is essential for a successful Instagram ad campaign. That is why we always recommend our community management services, as this can make or break your Instagram ads campaign! Use Instagram’s targeting options to narrow down your audience based on factors like age, gender, location, interest, and behaviours. The more specific you are, the better your chances of reaching the right people. If you already have an existing audience, consider utilising what’s previously worked or targeting similar profiles using the Lookalike feature.

Step 3: Choose the most effective Instagram ad format for your goals.

Instagram offers various ad formats, each with its own strengths:

• Photo ads: Simple yet effective, photo ads allow you to showcase your products or services with high-quality images.
• Carousel ads: Carousel ads let you include multiple images or videos in a single ad, giving you more space to highlight different features or products.
• Stories ads: Stories ads appear in users’ Instagram Stories and offer a full-screen and immersive experience.
• Reels ads: Ads that appear in the Reels feed, similar to TikTok-style short videos. Great for reaching audiences with short, engaging and creative content.

Step 4: Create compelling and engaging ad content.

Your ad content is what will capture the attention of your audience and drive them to take action. Just like TikTok Marketing, content is king! Here are some tips for creating compelling Instagram ads with content creation:

• High-quality visuals: Use high-resolution images and videos that are visually appealing and relevant to your brand.
• Clear messaging: Keep your message clear and concise. Highlight the key benefits of your product or service.
• Strong call-to-action (CTA): Include a strong CTA that tells viewers what you want them to do next, whether it’s visiting your website, making a purchase, or following your Instagram account.
• Include a hook: The opening scene is important, so make sure to capture your viewer’s attention with a creative hook.

Step 5: Set your budget and schedule for the campaign.

Determine how much you want to spend on your Instagram ad campaign and how long you want it to run. Instagram offers flexible budgeting options, allowing you to set a daily or lifetime budget.

Step 6: Monitor, analyse and optimise your campaign performance.

Once your ad campaign is live, monitor its performance using Instagram’s analytics tools. Pay attention to metrics like impressions, clicks, conversions, and engagement. Use this data to optimise your campaign and improve its effectiveness over time.

Instagram ad campaign examples: 

Looking for inspiration? Here are some successful Instagram ad campaign examples that demonstrate how brands have effectively used Instagram ads to achieve their marketing goals:

1. Oche

Oche capitalised on the end of the financial year celebrations by crafting creatives that resonated with their target audience’s interests. By combining eye-catching visuals with precise audience targeting, they successfully engaged their audience, leading to a significant return on ad spend that exceeded their expectations.

2. Tuiss Blinds Online

Tuiss Blinds Online utilised high-converting creatives that highlighted the brand’s unique selling propositions. Their ads effectively showcased the quality and style of their high-ticket products. By strategically targeting prospects who were most likely to be interested in their offerings, Tuiss Blinds Online achieved an impressive return on ad spend and maintained a low cost per acquisition.

Need Help Setting Up an Instagram Ad Campaign?

Feeling overwhelmed by the thought of setting up an Instagram ad campaign? Don’t worry — you’re not alone. At Eight Clients, we thrive on tackling these challenges and helping businesses like yours elevate their Instagram marketing. Let us handle the complexities so you can focus on what you do best. Book a call with us today and take your Instagram marketing to the next level!