Instagram ads are a more detailed form of Instagram promotion. The aim here goes beyond visibility to conversion. There are more features on the Instagram ad and you would need to create the ad from the Facebook ads manager.
Instagram ads offer advanced targeting and flexibility to be accessible for just about any business.
Why Instagram ads?
- Instagram ads offer advanced targeting and more features: Instagram has over 1 billion monthly users, ranking second after Facebook. The platform has a variety of targeting data and since Facebook owns Instagram, Instagram advertising uses the same comprehensive demographic and geographic data as Facebook. This advanced targeting is what makes Instagram Ads work so well, as you can be specific when targeting various audiences.
Instagram Feed and Explore video can be up to 60 seconds in duration and while Stories are typically up to 15 seconds in duration, if you run ads in these three ad placements, you can have up to 2 minutes of video content. This gives you more opportunity to convey both your brand and the features and benefits of your offer through your products and/or services.
- High engagement rate: Instagram is known for its high engagement rates organically and through paid ads.
Here’s a breakdown:
- Images on Instagram receive an average of 23% more engagement than when shared on Facebook.
- Only about 4% of a brand’s followers see its content. This is still higher than Facebook’s nearly non-existent reach, but you can amplify your visibility with paid ads.
- Brands typically see about 38% more engagement with video ads.
- As a visual platform, images and videos are powerful in driving more engagement than on other more text-based social platforms.
- It is cheaper: With Instagram ads, you would reach a wider range of people more than you would do using the traditional method with and for a lesser price.
This is because Instagram has over 1 billion people and reaching this large number of people through traditional advertising would cost a lot. But with Instagram, you will spend less.
How do Instagram ads work?
Depending on your goals, Instagram ads have different call-to-action buttons. It can be to visit your website, download an app, pay for something or shop online.
With Instagram advertising, you can include outside links, which enables you to designate a destination URL to your website or another external URL.
You don’t even need an Instagram account to advertise on Instagram. Since Meta which also owns Facebook is its parent company, all you need is a Facebook business page.
Though it is best to have an Instagram account so you get acquainted with the kind of content that your Instagram audience resonates with. This will help complement and amplify your organic Instagram marketing efforts.
To set up Instagram Ads, use Facebook’s Ads Manager to set up campaigns where you select your budget, target audience, ad placements, and optimization options. Similar to Facebook Ads, your ads will run within the selected time frame, budget parameters, audience selection, and optimization goals.
Factors that affect the cost of Instagram ads
Objectives:
This is what you set to achieve from the ad campaign. Your advertising cost can be higher or lower depending on what you want to achieve and how it fits your target audience. For example, targeting a broader audience for brand awareness will cost lower than an ad that is solely for conversion.
Audience size:
If you’re targeting a broader audience, the cost will be lower compared to targeting a specific audience.
When you narrow down your audience to a more specific one such as a particular age, location, preferences, etc. The price goes up. This is due to the fact that other people are targeting that specific audience and so the competition is higher.
Budget:
How much money you’re willing to pay will affect how your ad will go. The cost of an Instagram ad will be more expensive at first before the system learns and understands your campaign type and optimization goals, and how your audience engages with your ads. If your ads are well engaged with, Facebook and Instagram will reward you with lower costs over time.
Click through rates:
If your audience is interacting more with your content, the price will be lower as not much work needs to be done.
Other factors, such as relevance, estimated action rate, and your bid amount, will also help determine the exact cost you’ll pay for your ad clicks.
How much do Instagram ads cost?
The cost of an ad depends on how competitive your audience is. If you’re in a highly competitive industry like fashion, travel, etc. You would pay more.
When analyzing Instagram advertising costs in 2018, AdEspresso found that the average cost-per-click on Instagram is around $0.80.
For fresher data, here are the Facebook and Instagram advertising cost numbers from 2021, based on data by Revealbot.
From the Facebook ads cost data from April 2020 to April 2021, the average CPC is between $0.5 – $3,5.
For all metrics, Instagram cost per click in 2021 ranges from $0.40-$0.70. This takes into account all clicks that happen on an ad, which includes not only link clicks, but likes/reactions, comments, and shares.
For ads that have a destination URL, Instagram’s cost per click in 2021 ranges from $0.50-$0.95.
Instagram cost per thousand impressions (CPM)
Another metric is the cost per 1000 views (CPM)
Instagram cost per one thousand impressions in 2021 ranges between $2.50-$3.50 for better-performing better-performing campaigns and their respective ad sets.
When it comes to CPMs, Facebook tends to be higher than Instagram, by nearly 2 times but CPCs tend to be lower by nearly half on Facebook compared to Instagram.
In summary:
- An Instagram ads cost per click costs $0.40-$0.70 (link clicks, likes, reactions, comments, shares)
- Instagram ads cost per click to destination URL costs $0.50-$0.95.
- Instagram ads cost per engagement costs $0.01-0.05.
- The cost per thousand impressions costs $2.50-$3.50
How much ROI would you get from an Instagram ad?
When thinking about your investment in Instagram marketing, think how much a conversion is worth to you and make sure that your campaigns have a positive ROI.
Instagram ads have the highest engagement among all digital as placement according to Forrester.
A marketing report by Shopify revealed that Instagram users tend to spend the avg. of $65 per referred sale. In comparison, Facebook users only spend $55, and Twitter users $46.26.
Moreover, Instagram posts have quite a high conversion rate of 1.08%. Even though it’s lower than Facebook (1.85%) it still surpasses Twitter (0.77%) or Pinterest (0.54%).
How to lower Instagram ad cost
- Use automatic bidding: Automatic bidding is the best way to go if you don’t have any historical data informing you of a good CPC to set for your campaign. This will help you determine the bid amount that matches your campaign.
By using automatic bidding, you are preventing your company from overbidding to run an ad. The shortage of previous data can make it tough for you to know the right bid amount. You might bid more than you need to.
Automatic bidding is a smart way to minimize the expense of your Instagram ads.
- Set goals: Setting goals will help maintain focus on what you want to accomplish with your advertisement.
The three main goals you should focus on attaining with your Instagram Ads include Awareness, Consideration and, Conversion.
- Always test your ad: You must test your ad to make sure you put out the best version possible. Testing your ad lets you make a more relevant copy of the ad. Relevant ad copy means you will have a higher ad spot, leading to a lower CPC.
- Use specific targeting: When setting up your Instagram ads the goal is to target people who would be interested in your products or services. Use precise targeting to reach your desired audience
Instagram lets you target people by location, demographics, interests, and habits.
By using precise targeting, you will reach more people who are interested in your products and services. This means that your ad copy will become even more relevant to them, helping you get a higher ad rank and a lower CPC. This would also result in a rise in sales which will help cover the costs of running the campaign.
- Make a relevant landing page: Most businesses make the mistake of directing leads to their home webpage after clicking on their Instagram ad. This does not promote engagement, since, people are not led to an ad-relevant landing page. If a user is taken directly to the product they see in the ad, they are more likely to convert.
In summary, the content you use for your Instagram ads matters a lot. A lot depends on how your audience perceives and interacts with your content. Your content is the only thing you have total control of. Always invest in quality content and visuals first before considering other factors that make a successful Instagram ad.
Do you need the help of a professional to run your Instagram ads?
The professionals at Socialander will help you,
You can hire socialander just by clicking on “I need your social media ads services”
