Among the hundreds of social networks on the web, Instagram is undoubtedly one of the most famous. It’s the second most visited social network in the world after Facebook, with over a billion active users per month. Everyone is on the platform including individuals, animals, and businesses. Lately, many businesses are striving to enhance their presence on the platform. And for good reason! Instagram stands out with its aesthetic and creative aspect. At the heart of its success lies the power of imagery. Given such popularity and a diverse and large user base, advertising via Instagram appears highly fruitful.
What began a decade ago as a simple photo-sharing app is now a leading commercial platform, helping brands and entrepreneurs achieve their engagement, visibility, and profitability goals. Today, nearly 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business.
If Instagram were to teach a lesson, it would be about embracing change to constantly evolve in response to new trends, heightened expectations, and changing business needs. Thus, just as the platform and its users evolve, so should your Instagram marketing strategy.
Key Instagram Figures 2021:
HubSpot recently published a report detailing the evolution of various Instagram metrics during 2020 and throughout 2021. The data presented is based on an analysis of 100 million Instagram posts shared by one million users.
- The most engaging tagged Instagram accounts are in beauty and cosmetics.
- The ideal caption length for engagement is within 500-1,000 and 1,000-2,000 characters.
- Carousel posts have surpassed both single image and video posts as the most engaging type this year, with 62 likes and five comments as the norm.
- 53.6% of Instagram followers have fewer than 1,000 followers.
Some global brands have established themselves as leaders in their industries on Instagram.
From social media to automotive, entertainment, beauty, and fashion, these brands cover the entire range of audience interests across the platform.
In 2020, the business categories with the highest average followers were Home and Automobile (192K followers). Next were content creators and apps (50,000 followers), publishers (45,000 followers), government agencies (23,000 followers), and non-profit/religious organizations (17,000 followers). On the other hand, the business category with the lowest average followers was professional services (6,375 followers), followed closely by restaurants (6,430) and home services (6,683).
Why Choose Instagram Advertising?
Like other social networks, advertising on Instagram involves sponsoring content on the platform to reach a broader, more targeted audience.
There are many reasons why a business may choose to advertise, but the most common ones revolve around increasing brand exposure, driving traffic to the website, generating new leads, and converting current prospects.
Here’s the good news—Instagram advertising works! In March 2017, over 120 million Instagrammers visited a website, called, emailed, or sent a direct message to learn more about a business through an Instagram ad. According to Instagram, 60% of people discover new products on the platform, and 75% of Instagrammers take action after being inspired by a post.
Similar to Facebook ads, investing money behind a post will result in greater brand exposure and better control over who can see the content. On Instagram, ads allow clickable URLs so people can easily click to visit your website or online store.
Analogous to many other social advertising platforms, Instagram offers precise targeting options for genders, age groups, locations, interests, behaviors, etc. You can also target a custom audience or lookalike audience for ads to a direct list of prospects or those who have a similar composition.
What advertisers should really take note of is that Instagram uses Facebook’s demographic data to deliver ads to the appropriate audiences. Facebook, being older and more famous than Instagram, already has a comprehensive history and offers deep demographic targeting options, making it extremely useful for advertisers targeting a niche audience.
Instagram advertising can be particularly powerful for creative or visual industries such as food service or tourism.
How Much Does Instagram Advertising Cost?
Costs are defined by a variety of factors. The model is based on CPC (cost per click) and CPM (cost per thousand impressions). For pricing, it’s determined based on Instagram’s ad auction.
The amount invested in Instagram ad campaigns should be tied to the specific campaign goal. If you’re trying to gather more leads, consider the cost per lead and compare it with other channels to decide on effectiveness and profitability. This also applies to other goals such as increasing website traffic and sales. Of course, this varies from one business or industry to another.
Some advertisers find that Instagram ads often have higher engagement, but it can be costly. Apparently, Instagram ads are slightly more expensive than Facebook ads. On a positive note, advertisers have control over how their budgets are allocated. For example, you can choose between a daily budget to limit the amount spent per day or a lifetime budget around which you configure your ads to run for a certain period until the budget is exhausted.
Other ways to control your Instagram advertising spending include setting your ad schedule (specifying certain hours for ad delivery) and setting your bid amount (manual or automatic).
Whatever your goal, it’s important to monitor and optimize your Instagram ads to get the most out of your budget.
Successful Instagram Advertising
Given that Instagram is a platform founded on visual rather than textual content, it’s crucial to focus on images, carousels, and videos with concise captions to attract maximum attention and ensure optimal results.
- Définir ses objectifs de publicité
Heureusement, les objectifs sont nommés de manière explicite. Besoin de plus de trafic ? Sélectionnez l’objectif de trafic. Si vous voulez augmenter la notoriété de votre marque, choisissez tout simplement l’objectif de notoriété de la marque. Une chose à savoir est que les publicités Instagram ne fonctionnent qu’avec les objectifs suivants :
- Brand Awareness
- Reach (number of people viewing the content)
- Traffic (for clicks to a website or to an app)
- App Installs
- Engagement (for posts only)
- Video Views
- Conversions (for conversions on the website or app)
It is essential to remember that Instagram is primarily a mobile app. Keep this in mind when setting up your campaign. Your Instagram advertising goals should reflect the best possible experience for your audience and customers. For example, if your website or online store is not optimized for mobile users, your Instagram advertising should focus on brand awareness and reach rather than driving web traffic or increasing conversions.
Below, we detail some of the most commonly used objectives and performance indicators:
- Reach
Note that if you wish to run an Instagram Story ad, “Reach” is currently the only objective you can choose. The advantage of this objective is that you can take advantage of Facebook’s split testing feature, allowing you to split-test two ads to see which generates more installations.
NOTE: Split testing is also available for objectives such as traffic, app installs, video views, lead generation, and conversions.
- Engagement
For marketers, Instagram engagement is considered the Holy Grail KPI for brand awareness on the platform. Engagement is the tangible proof that their content achieves two key objectives: reaching the right people and resonating with them.
Engagement rate is typically calculated by adding up the average number of likes and comments per post, divided by the total number of followers. However, it’s important to keep two points in mind when measuring engagement:
– Many elements can be considered “engagement” today.
– There is no universal way to measure engagement.
Engagement rate is a relevant metric to monitor as it highlights how frequently followers interact with content and directs efforts towards meaningful actions, rather than focusing on vanity metrics (like follower count).
- Setting Up Your Target Audience
A true delight… as you will harness Facebook’s deep demographic knowledge to reach the right people. Several criteria need to be specified to refine your targeting: age, gender, languages, demographics, interests, behaviors, connections, custom audience, lookalike audience, etc.
This is a critical tool to pay attention to, as you must strike a balance—your audience shouldn’t be too broad (as it might not be focused enough) but also not too specific (where there might not be many people to reach with so many overlapping criteria).
- Choosing the Right Image
When creating an Instagram advertising campaign, you can choose between creating a carousel or a single-image ad, similar to Facebook. Carousel ads work well for telling a story or showcasing a product collection. However, if the goal is to draw attention to a specific product or boost sales, a single-image post may be more effective.
Given its strong aesthetic and visual dimension, several factors should be considered when selecting images.
- Focusing on Products
If your Instagram ad aims to showcase or sell your products, don’t hesitate to use compelling images that highlight these products. This differs from Facebook ads, which often focus more on showcasing the benefits of your business or products, even if it means less emphasis on the products themselves.
- Minimizing Text
Remember, Instagram users are there primarily for visuals. As you plan your ad, think of creative ways to tell your brand and product story without relying heavily on text.
- Opting for High-Resolution Images
High-quality, visually appealing images will help grab your audience’s attention as they scroll through their Instagram feeds.
- Analyzing Results
It is important to regularly monitor the results of your campaigns by checking the reports provided by the platform to track profitability, identify shortcomings, and understand your audience. Your Instagram advertising campaign reports generate data that can be used to enhance future campaigns. Here are some points to keep in mind:
– If your ad is not generating the expected levels of engagement, don’t hesitate to test a different approach. Consider using different images, ad formats (single image or carousel), calls to action, or targeting to see how your audience responds.
– Your ad performance can also provide insights into customer purchasing behavior. If a certain type of element or image performs particularly well in Instagram ads, consider using product content blocks to promote similar items in your emails.
– Track your new leads. Instagram advertising is a great way to grow your email list or attract new customers, but it’s just the first step. Once you start building an audience, you’ll likely want to focus on engagement and retention.
