Getting in front of your audience is important to the success of your business. Having and using a business Instagram account is a great way to reach and connect with your audience. We’ve talked before about how important it is to have a solid content strategy. Now, we’re going to talk a bit about how to boost and enhance your content strategy by using Instagram ads. Instagram ads are a fantastic way to supplement your ongoing business marketing strategy. It’s a relatively low cost way to connect with your audience and it shows up right in your followers’ feeds. Instagram makes using their ads easy, but here are some tips to make sure you’re using the ads to your benefit and making the most out of your investment.

Define your audience

Instagram lets you select specific demographic parameters for who will see your ads. It is important to narrow down your target demographics as specifically as possible to ensure that you’re reaching customers and potential customers who will be interested in your brand.

Before you place your ad, take some time to consider who your target audience is and which demographics are most likely to connect with your brand. Think of age, gender, income, location, education, family style, networks, careers, etc. The key is to find a good balance of being as specific as possible and not limiting yourself too much. When it comes time to run your ad, Instagram allows you to select your audience. It gives you a detailed set of parameters that goes beyond even basic demographics such as gender, age, and income. Here are some options that Instagram will let you select when choosing who will see your ads:

• Interests – This lets you select an audience based on interests, likes, accounts they follow, and even other apps that they use.
• Custom audience – You can run ads based on your existing customers. This feature lets you market to people based on email addresses or phone numbers that they have already used with you. This is a great way to find and target people who have interacted with your brand at other venues, such as your website or in-person connections. This is also a good feature to use in testing out a marketing campaign or to run special promotions for loyal customers.
• Lookalike audiences – This is a great way to look find new audiences and expand your base. Instagram will actually find audiences that share similarities to your current followers and fans that you may not have considered before.
• Automated targeting – If you’re in a hurry, Instagram can also automatically set your parameters based on information already in your profile such as location and interests.

When setting out to place your ads, make sure you’re taking full advantage of the unique and specific parameters Instagram provides to help you find identify new and existing fans.

Choose your ad format

Once you’ve decided on who your ads are targeted towards, decide how your ad will look. Keep in mind that Instagram audiences value aesthetic, so make sure that whatever format you choose includes crisp, clear, compelling images and video.

Before posting each ad, it’s a good idea to decide what your goal is. Are you trying to boost sales, promote foot traffic to your store, increase audience engagement? Or perhaps you’re trying to increase likes and followers? Your specific goals will dictate which format is best for your particular ad. Remember that ads on Instagram don’t only have to be promoting a particular product to boost sales. You can include a variety of calls to action and you can get creative and have fun with your ads to encourage people to engage with your brand.

• Photo ads – If you choose an image ad, make sure it’s compelling. Avoid text on images if possible and let the image stand for itself. You can put any relevant information in the caption. This is a great option for stunning photos showing off your product or employees.
• Video ads – Video ads can be up to 60 seconds long and are a great way to engage your audience using compelling sound and movement.
• Carousel ads – Carousel ads can be photos, videos, or even a combination of both. It promotes audience interaction because users can swipe to see multiple photos or videos in a single ad. This is great for showing off products and different options you have available.
• Stories ads – Stories are a great way to get out time-sensitive information and mix up your feeds. Keep in mind that stories will disappear after 24 hours, so it’s a great way to boost last minute sales or promote events. You can still track performance on stories ads and see how well they performed. There’s definitely a trick to making sure that using your Instagram stories and stories ads to your benefit. Instagram’s business blog has a great article on how to navigate and use stories ads.

The most successful Instagram ad campaigns use a variety of the formats and ad types. Audiences respond well to interactive posts and ads. Depending on your goal for each ad, you can create interactive features such as asking users to tag themselves or a friend, or to comment with their favorite option of a product featured in a carousel ad.

Using Instagram ads is a great way to boost your brand and engage with your audience. Instagram makes creating your ads intuitive and easy to use. And following these tips will help you make sure that you’re getting the most out of your ads. By defining your audience, creating stunning visual ads, and creating engaging ad content, you’ll be able to boost your brand’s presence and Instagram and create lasting growth and engagement with your audience.