Instagram Paid Advertising – Is It Worth It?

Is Instagram the right platform to advertise on?

At the end of 2019, Instagram was the second most popular mobile social media app in the United States. 63% of Americans use it daily for an average of 28 minutes a day (for more Instagram stats, check out our blog here). That is a lot of eyes spending a lot of time scrolling that your company could be taking advantage of. The platform started offering paid ads at the end of 2013 and has been expanding its advertising capabilities ever since. This is by no means a new development in the world of social media marketing. However, you may be wondering if it is worth it for your company to jump into the world of Instagram paid advertising. We believe that Instagram is a fantastic advertising platform that can help you expand brand reach and increase conversions.

There are two main types of paid advertising on Instagram that companies can choose to implement: traditional paid advertising and working with influencers. Let’s break down each of these types of Instagram paid advertising.

Traditional Ads

This is likely the type of advertising that your marketing team is used to producing for other platforms, such as Facebook. These ads will show up in users’ newsfeeds and Instagram stories, flowing seamlessly with other posts. This smooth flow between organic and paid content is visually appealing to users and makes them more amenable to interacting with your ads. Instagram has a potential ad reach of 849.3 million users, so you better believe that your ads are going to be seen by your audience.

Because Instagram is an image-based platform, you will want to make sure that the graphics and imagery for your ads are impeccable. You should have an aesthetic for your Instagram feed, and your ads should fit the same theme to help with brand recognition. Show lifestyle imagery with your product in use, or artistically stage it with other products. You might also want to try advertising with video to catch people’s attention while they are scrolling through static images. Maintain the same visual features to fit with Instagram’s style, of course.

Setting up your paid advertising on Instagram is relatively easy, especially if you already run Facebook ads! Facebook owns Instagram, so when you go to run an ad on Instagram, you will be creating and monitoring it through Facebook Ads Manager. This simplifies the process, especially if you are planning on putting the same ad out on Facebook as Instagram! Make sure to research and then define your target audience for your ad, including interests, physical location, and age. Then get ready for all the great results from your ad!

Influencers

The other way for your company to implement paid advertising on Instagram is to work with an influencer. Influencers are individuals who are paid to promote a company’s products and services on their social media accounts. Companies take advantage of influencers’ huge number of followers to display their product to users from a more authentic point of view, as an influencer is giving their personal (although sponsored) opinion of the product. Their followers have been exposed to the company and its products and are likely to research the brand further.

When picking an influencer to promote your product, there are several things that you want to consider. First, there are different levels of influencers. Some influencers are celebrities and athletes who have millions of followers, while others are micro influencers who may only have a few thousand. Depending on how big an influencer is will depend on how much they charge per post, so figure out what will be best for your budget. While you might want to throw all your

money at the biggest name you can get, that might not give you the best ROI. Sometimes, smaller influencers are more relatable and have a better relationship with their followers, making it more likely that users will convert and buy your product.

Another thing to consider is the lifestyle that the influencer promotes. If your company sells high end shoes, you’ll want to partner with a fashion blogger – not an outdoor enthusiast. Unless of course your shoes are hiking boots! It’s important that your influencer would be part of your target audience sine their followers likely have similar interests and will fall into the same audience. You want to make sure you are paying to reach the people that are most likely to convert over and become customers!

The takeaway from all of this is that we do indeed think that Instagram paid advertising is worth it. Regardless of whether you choose to implement traditional paid advertising or work with an influencer, Instagram is a great place to promote your products and services. If you’re looking for other Instagram-related articles, check out our recent blog about building your brand with Instagram Stories.