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Using Instagram to Advertise
Instagram introduced sponsored post a few years back, and since then we have the opportunity to get our message out to a more diverse audience. The Instagram advertising platform is becoming more popular.
With the growth Instagram has experienced since its launch 7 years ago, it is quickly establishing itself to be one of the biggest social media sites for all ages. Having so many users, it’s a useful alternative to advertise. So, you might still be asking why? Why should you use Instagram for advertising?
Instagram enables you to create high quality pictures and just about anyone can have access to them. You can produce photos and videos which can be shared to your other linked social media sites and you can also embed your account to your website or your blog.
If you have noticed, Instagram is marketing friendly. Instagram has recently developed many advertising features. Let me list a few.
You can promote directly from your phone. Yes, exactly what you just read. If you have a business account, then you are good to go. You can customize the audience you want to target, or Instagram can do it automatically for you. These posts will have a blue button underneath the image. Click it to choose: if you want users to use your website, or if you want them to contact you through the information provided on your profile page; your budget; the destination; a “call-to action” button and the duration of the promotion.
Instagram added CTAs. Last year, Instagram quietly updated their CTAs, making them more energetic and fascinating. Most people didn’t even notice the advanced updates, since they did not require users to do anything at all to obtain the new benefits; it happened automatically. When you scroll over an ad for four seconds or more, the CTA under the image will become blue. It basically gives users an extra push.
You can now create 30 second story ads. Instagram now has full screen ads that appear between stories and are marked with a “sponsored” label. Users are allowed to skip these ads, so just be sure these are provoking and able to grab attention immediately.
Your audience can zoom in on any little detail.
Instagram has live videos. You can give ideas, do video blogs, offer sneak peaks of products, give insight of your organization, etc. If you can gain a lot of viewers, you end up on the explore page which exposes your business to a bigger audience.
Hashtags are a big must in advertising on Instagram. Regardless of how old they are, if you know how to use them, it’s a great way to advertise. The great thing about this is that Instagram lets users search what they are looking for. For an example: If your company has to do with cosmetics, use a common hashtag about cosmetics and whenever someone searches that hashtag or anything having to do with it, they will see your post.
Many people think that Instagram is only for businesses that have products to sell. Service based companies have a lot to offer, too; so just be creative! Instagram is a great place to even get inspired by people and companies who are also using the platform to advertise.
Using Instagram to advertise can be very fun! You can be creative and establish a certain theme for your page. With the different filters and editing tools, your ads will never be boring and will always be able to catch users’ eyes.
Always remember Instagram has a user base growing every year, a large number of brands jumping on board, and a great ability to target audiences. Instagram currently has 700 million active users, so we’re talking about a large audience. You can be successful on Instagram!