Instagram is crowned as one of the most powerful social platforms at the moment. It has two essential things in its favor: it is an application designed entirely for the mobile, the device where users spend the most time; and its content is purely visual, the aspect that most attracts attention.

This platform, which we are already beginning to value as essential in our Social Media actions with many possibilities for the tourism, leisure and catering sector, is a new user-brand connection window that gives us the possibility of enhancing the relationship through the enormous power that visual elements have over our decisions and desires.

The data of Instagram

 

Since its birth in 2010, Instagram has not stopped growing. The latest data shown by this social network is spectacular, reaching the figure of 400 million active users, thus surpassing Twitter. More than 40 billion photos shared, 3.5 billion likes per day and more than 80 million photos per day.

In Spain there are 7.4 million active users every month. These figures are growing all over the world. It is not surprising that in 2014 it finally took the leap to officially monetize the social network through ads. And now, finally, advertising on this network has arrived in Spain.

Instagram user profile

 

This great channel can be very useful to you as long as your company’s target audience is an active user. You must take into account that:

 

  • 26% of all social network users are Instagram users.
  • Of these, there are more women than men: 29% versus 23%.
  • The highest percentage of users is between 18 and 30 years old.

How advertising is carried out on Instagram.

 

  • Where? Ads can be made from the Instagram Ad API or through the Facebook Power Editor.
  • Who can do it? Anyone who wants to advertise on Instagram.
  • How? The only requirement is to create a Facebook advertising account
  • Requirements? Follow the Facebook posting guidelines. All ads are reviewed within approximately 24 hours.

How are Instagram ads?

 

Instagram announcements appear in the user’s news section, along with images shared by friends, family, and other Instagram accounts that follow. The creatives may be in a square or horizontal format, depending on what the advertiser has previously selected. The difference with native posts is that the ads are labeled with the word Advertisement at the top for identification.

The ads users see will depend on their Instagram and Facebook activity data, as well as information derived from third-party websites and applications they use. For example, they may see ads based on the people they follow, the content they like on Instagram, their information and interests on Facebook, and the websites and apps they visit.

The ads are composed of four sections:

  • The brand profile image.
  • The image or video you have chosen for the promotion.
  • The Call To Action that will depend on the target selected.
  • The text that should be as encouraging as possible in 300 characters maximum.

 

Types of advertising on Instagram

 

Instagram Marquees (Brand Day). A format that gives more awareness and impact to a large audience. It is a single day campaign of maximum reach and frequency with a very high impact. It offers guaranteed impressions and positioning and top position in the Instagram feed. Ads are inserted 3 times per day, making your story part of the platform experience. The formats that can be used are image, carousel or video and have a fixed CPM.

Power Editor format. This second type works like the ads that are made on Facebook and created from the Power Editor. Here we explain all the aspects that must be taken into account when we will create a ad:

Objectives of advertising on Instagram

 

It works like an Instagram ad and a Facebook ad, and the ads are created with the power editor of Facebook. There are currently 3 types available:

 

  • Clicks to the web: Send users to relevant sections of your website or to a landing page.
  • Application Installations: Get people to download your app on Google Play or the App Store.
  • Video Views: Tell a story or advertise a product using a video.

 

Advertising Formats

 

Depending on the objective you have selected, the following formats are available:

 

  • Image Ads: Impact the user with impressive images and with an aesthetic similar to the type of photographs that are uploaded to the platform.
  • Video Ads: Through moving image and quality sound it will be easier to impact the user and be able to tell more about your product or brand.
  • Carousel Ads: Until now users could only view one image or video, now brands can add up to 4 photos in a sponsored post. The slide is a trend, and users will be able to slide the content to see more pictures.  A good idea to show a product better or even tell a little story.

 

Segmentation options

 

The same targeting is available for Instagram ads as for Facebook ads. Targeting options include location, demographics, interests, actions and more. Please note that you do not need to use all of the targeting options, the only ones required are country, age and gender.

The rest of the targeting options will help you if you want to gain more influence over the types of people who see your ads. Finally, remember that you can target your Instagram ads for a personalized or similar audience.

 

Ad Requirements

 

  • The recommended image size for an Instagram advertisement in square or landscape format is 1080 × 1080 pixels. The image should not include more than 20% text.
  • The aspect ratio for an Instagram square ad is 1:1. If you use the horizontal format, the image or video should have an aspect ratio of 1.9:1.
  • Your video ad should be no larger than 30 MB and the maximum length should be 30 seconds.
  • Footer text length: text only, 300 characters maximum.
  • Call to Action: A button that tells users what you want them to do. The text options for the CTA depend on the target:
  • Clicks on the website: Book, Contact us, Download, More information, Buy, Register, See more.
  • App installation: Install, Use the application, Book, Download, More information, Listen, Play, Buy, Register, See more.
  • See video: See more, Book, Contact us, Download, Buy, Register.
  • Website URLs in Captions: Do not use URLs in your Instagram ad text as it is not yet possible to click on the links.

This new phase of Instagram will change and offer new possibilities for businesses, but how will users accept the new ads? Will Instagram advertising really benefit businesses?

Francesc es el responsable de Content Marketing de Sinapsis. Con más de diez años de dedicación al copywriting ha acumulado una gran experiencia en diversos temas aunque su mayor pasión sigue siendo el marketing online. Friky de corazón, ha encontrado en el SEO una nueva forma de seguir "jugando".