More and more brands these days are switching to digital as their primary advertising and marketing hub. They’re using social media especially to reach out to a wider, more diverse concentration of global consumers. But aside from Facebook and Twitter; Instagram ads are gradually getting recognized more and more as one of the leading tools available to marketers.
How to Build your Brand with Instagram Ads
#HashtagAway
Hashtags are one of the most quintessential features of social media. A hashtag is a line of copy, without spaces, that is distinguished by a signature pound sign at the front (like this section’s header!). Social media users add it to posts as a way to improve click-through rates and engagement.
Just by clicking on a hashtag, you are shown every other post that uses the same one. It links a world of users together so that people everywhere can access similar content that relates to a specific hashtag.
Brands and Hashtags
Companies also use hashtags to relate to audiences and characterize their own social media campaigns. It’s wise to integrate a popular into a relevant post so that a wider audience can potentially discover you.
You can also come up with your own creative hashtags for certain campaigns and occasions. If you promote it enough and get people to engage with it, it too can potentially trend. That will increase your company’s online visibility and general recognition.
Another way to encourage interaction is by creating contests. Followers participate by sending in entries simply by adding a certain hashtag to their post. You will be able to show user-generated content on your own page as a way to put a face behind your brand and relate more to a consumer audience.
Tapping into the Right Audience
Since Facebook owns Instagram, Instagram ads use the same technology behind Facebook ads, which can target specific audiences of particular demographics. This allows you to target certain user details like:
- Geographic location
- Age
- Gender
- Language
- Interests
- Behaviors
When you tailor your ads to only appear for a targeted audience, you’re directly appealing to those whom your company specifically markets towards. You’re ensuring your content gets in the hands of those who would benefit from it most. Since your content clearly relates to that target audience, it may potentially result in a spike in the number of qualified leads and customers.
Advertisements in Disguise
The good thing about Instagram is the low level of variation between posts, meaning that Instagram ads don’t actually look like ads. You have to take advantage of this. Some marketers don’t make this distinction and create ads that look straight out of the classified section.
Use natural-seeming photos that characterize your brand, services and products without too much distraction.
How its Done
Keep the caption short and sweet. Few users are going to read lengthy paragraphs about the extensive uses and benefits of your product. Instead, think of it as typical ad copy.
- Make your point in as few words as possible. The purpose isn’t to make a sales pitch for your company; it’s to thoughtfully add to the usual social media discourse and appeal to audiences.
- When a company blends their Instagram ads to be unrecognizable from the typical user’s feed, consumers will appreciate and recognize the effort that that brand put in to stand out from the crowd.
Instagram ads can be as beneficial of a tool as there is in the marketing world, just make sure you use it wisely.
