The Instagram Advertising Landscape, Part 3
Creating Your Ad Campaign
In Part 1, we introduced the features of Instagram advertising. In Part 2, we started walking through the basic steps to setting up an Instagram ad campaign, through setting the ad budget. Now, in Part 3, we’ll wrap up the campaign creation process, and talk more about the types of ads available through Instagram.
The Final Steps
We finished last time by setting an ad budget, and today we’re finally getting to the meat of the matter – We’re ready to make creative decisions on the format and image content of our Instagram advertisements.
As we mentioned in Part 1, you can choose one image or several, a single-image format or a carousel format, or you can even substitute videos for images – it all depends on how interactive you want the ad to be, and the nature of the message you are sending. If you choose a format that includes multiple images or videos, you can include up to five in one advertisement.
Wrapping Up
Now we’re at the final steps. They’re basically a quick set of last-minute tweaks, to make sure that everything you’ve done so far is in line with Facebook/Instagram’s ad creation process. You’ll make sure that your ad set is created through your Instagram account – and you’ll be prompted to create an account if you have somehow gotten this far without one! With that out of the way, you’ll set the final details: the ad Headline, the Call-to-Action text, and the Call-to-Action button. It may be tempting to skimp on these last few steps, but don’t! A headline is the first information any viewer will read of your ad, and the Call-to-Action (CTA) is the last vital piece – what you want your viewers to do. A good CTA is eye catching without overwhelming, and should always rest “above the fold.”
Once you’ve made these decisions, you’ll see an ad preview. Review it closely, because this is your change – before finalizing anything – to spot any problems and go back to correct them.
If the preview looks good to you, take a look at the “ad placement” choices – you’ll see that they are all selected by default. If you only want your ad to run on Instagram, make sure you un-check all of the other choices. Remember – the default is everything, so to advertise on Instagram only you have to purposely deselect the other options.
At the bottom of the page, click ‘Place Order.’ And that’s it; you’ve successfully created an Instagram Ad! Trust us, the process only sounds intimidating; it gets easier as you use it more often.
