Make your brand INSTA famous and help your target market FIND YOU online with this social media platform’s features! [Thursdays: FYO!]
Instagram has grown to be as big of an advertising platform as its parent company, Facebook.
In fact, according to a report published by database company Statista, Instagram is likely to exceed one billion users by 2023.
As a business owner or marketer, what’s one of your best bets for marketing success using this social media platform?
Sharing stunning visuals and high quality photos!
Here are some reasons why you should use Instagram to promote your brand:
- Anyone can advertise on the platform.
- You can also connect with Facebook users since Facebook owns Instagram.
- You can easily interact with Instagram users through the comments section of your posts.
- Instagram ads are less conspicuous because they look just like any other ordinary post.
- You can advertise on the platform through stories, photos, videos, IGTV, and shopping ads.
In a previous “Find You Optimization” article, we wrote about how setting up an Instagram Business Account can help your target audience easily find you online.
Today, we’ll be focusing on Instagram Ads, another feature you should use to further increase your posts’ reach!
Below are a few Instagram Ad formats you can use to advertise your brand:
- Photo Ads
These ads look like an ordinary post from any account you’re following on Instagram. The only difference is that these posts include the word “Sponsored” on the upper left corner under an Instagram handle to let users know they’re looking at an ad.
[Instagram Handle: A unique username that a person uses on the social media platform. If you have an Instagram account, your handle is your chosen nickname after the “@” sign.]
Photo Ads include a call-to-action (CTA) button at the bottom of the image to direct consumers to a specific page or your brand’s Instagram account.
- Carousel Ads
These ads take Photo Ads to the next level! With this format, you may create a series of up to 10 photos in a single ad.
Carousel Ads also appear on the Instagram news feed and each photo can have a different URL link. This allows you to showcase your brand’s collection or group of products!
- Video Ads
From the name itself, this type of ad appears in the form of videos. You may post an ad as short as 5 seconds, as long as one minute, or anywhere in between.
You may use Video Ads to provide information or as a teaser to get people to click and learn more about your brand.
- Instagram Shopping
These ads are an interactive option for showcasing your products or services either on the news feed or Explore section of Instagram.
With Instagram Shopping, you can add shopping links on your photos for viewers to click, learn more about your products, and even purchase directly from the social media platform.
- Reel Ads
These ads are up to 30 seconds long and play in a loop. Think of Reel Ads as the TikTok format of Instagram!
- Stories
These ads are placed within the Stories section so users see your content as they scroll through the stories of the accounts they follow.
- IGTV
This is one of the newest models of Instagram Ads. IGTV Ads can be up to 15 seconds long and usually play at the start of some ads an Instagram user clicks on.
Let’s take a look at one company that used Instagram Ads to launch its campaign…
In 2016, Australian airline company Qantas launched AWOL, a youth content channel aimed at inspiring 18- to 35-year-old Australians with all things travel.
AWOL consisted of an assembly of some of the leading young writers who created daily travel news, features, and destination guides that combine photography, video, and in-depth travel journalism to showcase unique places in Australia and around the world.
Qantas’ goal in launching the campaign?
To reach more millennials, particularly young men, and encourage them to travel and explore beautiful places across the globe!
Qantas partnered with digital media company Junkee Media to run the AWOL website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. These platforms were used to increase brand awareness, ad recall, and recommendations among young travelers.
One of the things the companies used to spread word about the campaign?
Instagram Stories!
Qantas posted sponsored stories on its Instagram account for a month so users could view the ads as they scroll through the stories of the people they follow.
These ads included snippets of young travelers exploring different places in Australia and a little information about AWOL.
After the duration of the campaign, Junkee Media’s data showed the AWOL stories were viewed by 1.95 million Instagram users.
Market measurement firm Nielsen‘s data also reported that the campaign garnered a 5-point lift in ad recall among males aged 25 to 34 and a 4-point lift in brand awareness among the same age group.
Additionally, AWOL achieved a 3-point lift in brand awareness among millennials and a 4-point lift in ad recall among females aged 18 to 24.
Thanks to AWOL’s creative and impactful visual stories and Instagram’s wide millennial reach, Qantas was able to achieve its goal!
See? Instagram Ads help you level up your social media marketing game by expanding the number of people you reach through your posts.
So, whether you want to increase awareness about your brand, drive more traffic to your website, or generate sales, this social media platform helps you reach a huge audience online.
Besides, if a large percentage of your target market is hanging out on Instagram, then that’s a good reason to promote your brand on the platform.
Try Instagram Ads and choose the ad format that shares your brand’s narrative and reaches your target market best!
You’ll see, there’s no stopping how many online users you can reach!
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Thursdays: FYO! Find You Optimization”
Why should you stop thinking SEO and start thinking FYO?
We’re not saying that you should abandon Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Don’t get us wrong, of course, we know this is something very important, especially in today’s digital marketing age.
The internet landscape is vast, and a world of its own. You really need to distinguish yourself and make your brand/company/website known and easily searchable.
Better yet, get to the top of page one for Top Results on Google or any other search engine.
However, what is the purpose of SEO? It’s that customers Find You!
That’s what matters. So, while SEO is one factor of FYO… it really is only one, and we ought not to abandon all the myriad of ways digitally and offline for improving your FYO.
How can we look at this from a different and better perspective?
Let’s say you have it in the bag! You and your team are experts in SEO. Awesome. But did you ever wonder what else you could do to push it further and give your SEO skills a boost?
FYO! Find You Optimization!
You need your target audience to FIND YOU—your brand, product, service, or offer. This is SEO plus other tools that increase visibility online (and offline).
Every Thursday, we publish content on how you can get your target market to find you, beyond the typical “type and search.” There are other things you can do along with your SEO to give your online advertising process a boost.
Try considering other tactics beyond it—WOMO (Word Of Mouth Optimization), RO (Referral Optimization), and “All-Other-Means-Of-Getting-Your-Target-Market-To-Find-You” Optimization (AOMOGYTMTFY, if you’d like a long acronym).
Part of a great marketing strategy is knowing how to adapt new methods and make use of different types of marketing and promotion that best fit your business goals and which give you the results you want.
Hope you’ve found this week’s insights interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Thursday’s FYO!
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
Powered by Valens Research
www.valens-research.com
