Instagram has become the go-to social media platform for millions around the world. With the might of Meta and Facebook behind it, it’s become a behemoth in the social media realm.
So why learn how to run Instagram ads? There are many, many reasons why your business or brand can benefit from advertising on Instagram, so if you aren’t already, it’s worth considering if it could prove profitable for you.
Below, we have outlined some of the main reasons you should at least consider why you should use Instagram for advertising and what the benefits of paid social media ads on Instagram are.
Facebook and Instagram advertising integration
As Instagram is a part of Meta, Facebook and Instagram share the same advertising back-end. Essentially, advertising on either platform allows you to simply advertise on the other.
So, if you are already running ads on Facebook, it is a very straightforward process to begin advertising on Instagram – you can even use the same ads with minimal tweaks.
The benefit of this is that Facebook’s advertising platform has lots of options and formats to choose from in order to put together the most appealing possible ad for your business.
If you’re already set up on the Meta business suite and the ads manager
A huge audience
Instagram is one of the most popular social media networks on the planet, and with that comes the opportunity to advertise to a huge new audience which may otherwise have never heard of your brand before.
In fact, Instagram boasts 1 billion monthly users, which is only second to its elder brother, Facebook, in terms of active users on the platform.
In fact, Instagram is the 7th most visited website in the world. Instagram is behind Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp in terms of the most used social media platforms. Considering that YouTube and WhatsApp are not considered true social media platforms, you could argue that they are only second to their own older brother, Facebook.
Build a following
If you’re advertising on Instagram, this can help your organic social media following substantially. While Facebook offers adverts for your page, it’s less likely that people will see your ad, click on your brand, and then follow or like your page. With Instagram, it’s a lot more natural to stumble across a page, view the images on the page and then give the account a follow.
Different formats and placements
Instagram is a visual platform but still offers a variety of ways to showcase what your brand has to offer.
The most common format will be a static image appearing in a user’s feed. However, you can implement multiple images or videos that appear in users’ feeds.
Aside from that, you can also make use of advertising within Instagram Stories – whereby your brand can appear as users flick between different Instagram Stories. In this way, your advertisement can take up the whole screen of a user, which can work effectively.
The format of Instagram ads means they are less intrusive than ads on other platforms, which means your audience is less likely to be annoyed with seeing your brand on their feeds.
Engagement rates
Instagram also has much higher engagement rates than other platforms, with many advertisers seeing engagement rates of up to 5%. Hootsuite found that it had engagement rates of 4.59% – whereas engagement rates on other platforms, such as Facebook, can fall under 1%.
Yotpo found that ad recall is 2.8x higher on average than the recall from other social networks, meaning people are more likely to remember your ad and brand.
Instagram is an established platform that continues to be part of the zeitgeist and remains a “cooler” alternative to Facebook for younger audiences but still boasts huge mainstream appeal to a wider audience.
People check Instagram and engage with personal and branded posts on a daily basis, so by not using Instagram advertising as part of your digital marketing strategy, you could be missing out on potential business. Whether you’re selling products or services, it’s likely you can generate more sales and leads via Instagram.
If you need a hand in getting started with Instagram ads or paid social media in general, get in touch with the team at Xanthos, which would love to help you grow your business.
