Instagram launched almost 10 years ago, and it has amassed a large user base from different countries, ages, genders, and religions. This has become the perfect photo and video sharing platform, and many are trying to get their hands on the perfect way of creating effective Instagram story ads. With the best Instagram story ads cheat sheet you can create them in no time.
What’s great about this platform is it’s completely free, and the user base is growing at a rapid pace. How many people use Instagram? A statistic was conducted this year and showed 1 billion active users as a result. Wow! That’s a lot. So what do you think this platform will do in regards to advertising?
A lot of businesses are now putting a lot of money into advertising on Instagram, and partnering with well-known Influencers to promote their brand. This has opened opportunities for Instagram influencers to earn money based on their follower count and account engagement.
There are a few ways how Influencers can promote ads, but what we noticed is working well are Instagram stories. Studies show that one-third of the most viewed Stories come from businesses and 60% of users discover new products through the platform. Below we have defined what makes an effective Instagram Story ad and shared a cheat sheet for you to follow.
What Are Instagram Story Ads and What Makes Them Effective?
Instagram Story Ads are short advertisements between users’ stories. The ads fit the format of a story, keeping the user experience consistent and the flow uninterrupted. Here is an example of an ordinary Instagram Post vs Instagram Story Ads.
There is not much of a difference aside from the “Sponsored” post sign. As you’ll also notice in the above image, Story ads give you the ability to link within your post which, in the world of organic posts, is a function reserved for accounts that are either verified or have more than 10,000 followers.
Getting 10,000 followers from scratch is not an easy task, that’s why there are a few platforms that help Influencers, Business Owners, and Regular Users to increase their follower base with a few easy steps, taking care of most of the work for you.
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The Seven Objectives of a Story Ad Campaign
There are seven known objectives for which Instagram Story ads are available (Brand Awareness was added recently), and you can add CTA links to any of them:
- Brand Awareness
- Increase awareness for your brand by finding people more likely to be interested in it.
- Reach
- Show your ad to the maximum number of people.
- Video views
- Get more people to view your video content.
- Conversions
- Drive valuable actions on your app or website.
- App installs
- Get more people to install your app.
- Lead Generation
- Drive sales leads like email addresses and phone numbers.
- Traffic
- Send more people to your website.
When you create an Instagram Story Ad, you’ll need to select from one of the seven marketing objectives to shape the tone and style of the ad. Depending on the objective you choose, Instagram will tailor your content for the desired audience. Once you’ve chosen your Story Ad objective, it’s time to create the Ad itself.
Our Instagram Story Ads Cheat Sheet Checklist
There are a couple of things to take note of when crafting your ad. Below are a few things you can consider and incorporate.
- Strike a good first impression
- Many people don’t have time to watch an entire video and wait for you to hit their interest. Considering that you only have 15 seconds to be exact to deliver your message across, you need to make a hit on the first 5 seconds of your video and use the rest of the time to send your entire message to your viewers.
- Leverage on Carousel for more engagement
- There are big companies that are already using Carousel ads on Instagram Stories, this is to keep viewers engaged and make the most of their ad time. You have 3 options when doing Carousel ads: 3 cards consisting of images, 15-second videos or mix of photos and videos.
- There are big companies that are already using Carousel ads on Instagram Stories, this is to keep viewers engaged and make the most of their ad time. You have 3 options when doing Carousel ads: 3 cards consisting of images, 15-second videos or mix of photos and videos.
- Create your own Identity
- Every known brand has its own identity; it can be in how they showcase their products or how they choose their Influencers that will represent them. Creating your own Identity will make it easier for viewers to know and remember you.
- Ad copy should be short and direct
- It’s very common for Instagram Story ads, regardless of their videos or photos, to be highlighted as the main view, supplemented with messages or copy to tell the viewers what the ad is without overdoing it. Sometimes it’s as simple as putting a couple of words that will make the views interested to “Swipe Up” to learn more. If you focus on how you’re solving a user’s problem, you may have a better chance of grabbing their attention.
- It’s very common for Instagram Story ads, regardless of their videos or photos, to be highlighted as the main view, supplemented with messages or copy to tell the viewers what the ad is without overdoing it. Sometimes it’s as simple as putting a couple of words that will make the views interested to “Swipe Up” to learn more. If you focus on how you’re solving a user’s problem, you may have a better chance of grabbing their attention.
- Create your own Logo
- Having your own logo is also a way to showcase your brand’s Identity. Adding it in your video or photo is a good way to make people remember your brand. Try to make sure that the logo will not block the story of the video or photo.
- Having your own logo is also a way to showcase your brand’s Identity. Adding it in your video or photo is a good way to make people remember your brand. Try to make sure that the logo will not block the story of the video or photo.
- Add a Call To Action tab
- A call to action tab is used to direct your viewers to the more detailed story of your brand. Instagram offers different CTA options for viewers to see like “Swipe” “Shop Now” and “Learn More”. These tabs are great to have since they are not too distracting, and it reminds viewers to take action if you caught their attention. In short, it is a simple yet effective tool that boosts sales and clicks that an ad can generate.
Conclusion
By now you should have a greater understanding of how you can effectively promote your brand with Instagram Story Ads. There are many more tools that we may not have covered in this article, but this instagram story ads cheat sheet should give you a good starting point.
Make sure to follow our cheat sheet checklist, and you’ll be on your way to driving more traffic to your business. Also remember in the world of advertising, everything changes constantly. Don’t limit yourself to what you know now, and always read and watch articles that will teach you more about Instagram advertising.
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