Top Tips for how to use Instagram Story Advertising for your Business
With over 500 million Instagram Story users, Instagram stories are the fastest growing Advertising placement.
Here are my Top Tips for using Instagram Story Ads for your business.
Stories are a different ad experience to Feed Ads.
They are a full screen experience so make sure you’re using all of the real estate.
Stories will automatically run through so keep in mind - this type of Ad is fast moving so make sure you tell the story minimally - use big readable text.
Be creative and less polished
Use native tools so it looks natural - beautiful imagery sticks out like a sore thumb.
The more native - the better it’ll perform. Have fun with filters, stickers, drawing tools etc. Build them into your creative to give it that Insta look and feel and then upload as a completed files.
Show or tell your audience about the hook first
Those first few seconds really count - why they should care?
If you captivate your watchers immediately they are less likely to skip.
Think about the specific placement when developing Ad Creative
As Instagram is such a visual platform, make a visually appealing graphic or innovative video.
Humour and attention-grabbing images that make you stop and think are also powerful ways to get that all-important swipe up from your customer/client.
Something like a GIF-style looping image can showcase a lot of product in one Story, which is really engaging to an interested audience
Use text sparingly
There’s not much room for text so even though the usual 20% rule does not apply to Stories, make sure your message is punchy and straight to the point.
To leverage some extra time and impact, choose video or carousel ads.
Put text over an opaque background if possible, choose legible fonts and place your main graphic away from the ‘sponsored’ tag at the top of the screen to reduce the chances your audience will skip ahead because its an ad.
Try placing text near or drawing attention to the swipe up function to see whether it’s an effective strategy for your brand.
Don’t always trust Facebook with your budget
Instagram stories is quite small for them so it won’t always distribute your ad budget in the fairest way.
Break it out into its own Ad Set so it give you better control. If it does do well you can maximise its budget and if not, you can pull it easily.
Be clear on who this ad is from
If you’re targeting new audiences make sure they know who you are.
The people seeing your ads may not be followers so this is really important if you want them to notice you.
Keep your logo visible, with no design elements obstructing it, and if you have products with your brand name or logo on them put them front and centre.
Add Music to your Stories
While many people listen with the sound off, the majority of Stories (around 60%) are viewed with sound on.
I’d recommend creating an engaging ad that assumes people are watching on mute, but adding sound to give it even more impact for anyone listening. This is something that’s worth testing to see whether it improves your click-through rate.
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