Instagram has made the adage used in many languages sound true – ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’. Sometimes multiple complex ideas can be conveyed using a single picture or image. Instagram has become popular among the majority of mobile users. Therefore, more and more marketers are now using Instagram ads to target potential audiences and create brand awareness.
You need creative skills to share the appropriate image to escalate company success quickly. It is not just a great dais for social connection, but also offers a chance to conduct pay-per-click ad campaigns and supercharge your lead generation and sales.
What is so different about Instagram Pay-per-click?
Pay-per-click has caused a revolution within the marketing arena. The Scattergun approach was used in the past, where marketing campaigns were not targeted at a specific demographic. Today, pay-per-click ads target audiences, who are interested in your brand. They comment, share, or like on other profiles and upload it to their account.
Instagram has more than one billion monthly active users. So, as an online business owner, you should never ignore it. You lose out on billions of opportunities. Besides, it is a visual format that people adore watching. You can play with visuals because campaign success will depend on the branding and imagery you choose.
84% of Instagram users possibly like to buy from small businesses, according to the platform owners. Integrating this stat with a PPC campaign is not just cost-effective but a surefire way of growing your brand using interesting and engaging content.
How to start a pay-per-click Instagram ad campaign?
You can start ad campaigns on Instagram with the following options –
Choose the tool based on ad volume and business size. For large campaign management, you can choose Power Editor. Facebook Ad manager is suitable for the majority of marketers’ requirements. It offers customisation to create ads in the Instagram app itself. Facebook owns Instagram, so you can link both accounts and handle the new ad campaign.
How to start a pay-per-click Instagram ad campaign?
Facebook ads manager will offer 8 campaign objectives. The objectives are wide-ranging, so choose carefully.
- The first two options are ‘reach’ and ‘brand awareness’. Both are similar and focus on revealing your ads to interested and new audiences to engage. The difference is when reach is chosen ads are displayed even before an uninterested audience.
- Traffic allows you to direct the audience to a specific webpage on your site. Conversion focuses on getting the audience to take action after clicking. It can be signing up for a free demo or trial.
- You can opt to direct them to install the app from the app store, but it has its specific dedicated conversion sector.
- You can choose specific video promotions to get reviews. On your website, install Facebook Pixel to track traffic and conversion in one place.
- Lead generation is also an option that asks visitors to offer details and subscribe. Use this data to follow up on sales or queries.
Define your target audience
New or startup entrepreneurs may not have data from their past marketing campaigns to dig in. You can make general assessments ranging from demographic to geo-locations. Start small to test different age groups and then finalise the correct demographic.
- Location is the first criterion because if your business is local then you don’t need to target people in foreign countries. If your business is global then consider the countries you catered to and configure it to match language options.
- The next criteria are age and gender. It can be narrowed even more with a demographic section. Target people based on lifestyle, employment, and education.
- Finally, the two most vital criteria are interests and behaviour. Interests target people that liked and responded to content just like yours. Behaviour allows targeting audiences based on their device usage, browsing activities, and interaction level.
Determine your budget & schedule
Cost-per-click (CPC) is the metric used to measure Instagram ad cost. It means when someone clicks on the ad you will pay. Several variables influence the Instagram ad’s cost per click amount. In general, URL clicks range from $0.50 – $1. If metrics like shares, likes, and comments are included then the cost of clicks drops to around $0.55. You need to remember what occurs after the visitor has clicked. For example, if the CPC is $1 and out of 20 a single visitor spent $100 on your website then you earned a fair profit.
The pricing system on Instagram is clear and transparent for setting an appropriate budget. Choose the time you desire to run the ad. For gaining insight, you will need to run the ad for at least 7 days to go through the learning period.
- Next, there is the daily budget or lifetime budget to choose from. In a daily budget, the ads are set to run consistently across the day. The algorithm automatically times your cost per day. A lifetime budget allows running for a specified time and the algorithm paces the spending across that time.
- In Ad Scheduling, you can set parameters to run ads during certain hours or days in the week. To set ads for delivery, you get options like link clicks, impressions, and daily unique reach.
- Now, determine the bid amount as you will be competing with other marketers trying to reach similar audiences. Here, choose a manual or automatic option. The automatic option allows the Facebook algorithm to deliver an ad for the lowest cost. The Manual allows setting a price for clicks. You need to set a bid higher than suggested, to get displayed over competitors with lower bids.
Get creative
Instagram offers different ad formats. Image feeds ads and image story ads are for Instagram stories that appear on top of the feed. Single images and videos are easy to create. Six different ads can be created with a single image, or you can use ten images on a loop as a slideshow option. The other four formats are popular for social media advertising include:
- Video feed ads – Make quality videos and give your ad dynamic and vibration.
- Video story ads – In a video story, users expect to see a demonstration of your product or service. It is a sales pitch but without any force or pressure.
- Carousel feed ads – A series of scrollable photos are shown instead of a single image. Visual brands like furniture, beauty, car, clothing, or food sector can take advantage of carousel feed ads.
- Canvas story ads – Canvas ads are immersive. Advertisers can create a 360° VR experience within the story. It works great with video, images, and carousels.
After choosing the ad type, you will upload the image. Instagram requires the ad image file to be .jpg and .png, while the text/caption has to include 125 – 2,200 characters. You need to check out the image and video size and resolution on Instagram to avoid getting rejected.
Build page links
Add the URL of the webpage on your site you are trying to direct more traffic. Add a headline, which is not displayed on your Instagram ads. Add a caption up to 2200 characters but Facebook recommends using less than 125 characters because it is the amount displayed without clicking on “more”.
There are different CTA (call to action) options to choose including no button or Learn more, Book now, Apply now, Contact us, Sign up, Download, etc.
After uploading the image and setting the text, you need to see a preview of the ad to ensure everything feels right. If needed, you can edit using the ‘Advanced Option’. Now, it is time to click on the Confirm button to launch your ad in front of the world.
Monitoring performance
Your pay-per-click Instagram ad is now live and running, but don’t just stop there. It is essential to monitor and optimise your ads regularly. PPC management can be done from the Facebook ads manager or the 3rd party marketing software you chose. The Facebook ads manager has an advanced dashboard, where you can check every marketing campaign.
Without the need to configure, you will find data associated with reach, the amount spent, and the cost per result. The metric categories include performance, engagement, videos, websites, apps, events, clicks, and settings.
If you find it hard to get an idea of the number of metrics available for tracking on ads manager then use marketing software. Look for specific tracking codes to identify lead generation volume, which can be used to improve down the line if needed.
Creative best practices & targeting options
- Your ads need to look natural and native in feeds. Even if they carry a sponsored label, they must not look pushy or don’t belong.
- Showing a real person using your product happily in a video ad helps to evoke emotion that builds brand relationships.
- If an image is used, then choose a white background. You can even show your audience the product-making process to develop a deep relationship.
- In the early phase, do an A/B testing to identify which ad appeals more to your target.
- Choose the right images with high quality. Hire a professional because the image posted reflects your brand and tells a relevant story.
Follow these steps to start running your very first Instagram ads, and never skip the monitor and optimisation process. If these all sound too confusing to you, welcome to book a free consultation with Buzzword and see how we can help you!