Instagram Campaigns – Are They Worth It?

Launched in 2010, Instagram has quickly become a mainstream source of media sharing. Initially designed as just a photo sharing app, Instagram has now extended its features to include video and a private messaging. Used for personal and business reasons alike, Instagram is now considered one of the most successful apps in the world. So how can you utilise it for your business? These few notes might help you decide if running Instagram campaigns can be beneficial to your brand.

Two Ad Types

The first thing you need to do when advertising through Instagram is decide between their two options: ads that appear in the feed, or story ads. Just like Facebook, feed ads are advertisements that appear as you scroll through your home or news feed. Story ads were introduced not long after Instagram stories were launched and play between organic posts from people you follow. Similar to Snapchat, these story ads take up the entire mobile screen and can’t be seen again.

Mobile-Only

One downside of advertising on Instagram is that both the above options are only applicable to mobile, with no choices for posting via desktop. While this makes sense (when taking into consideration Instagram was designed as a mobile app) you will have to ensure that any ad intended to take users to a checkout process should be simple. The upside of Instagram ads being mobile-only is that they have four format choices and you don’t have to worry about optimising for mobile and desktop. Your format choices include:

• A single image
• A single video (up to 60 seconds for a feed ad, 15 for a story ad)
• A carousel (minimum two images or videos)
• A slideshow (a looping video with a maximum of 10 images)

If these options sound similar to you, it’s because Instagram ads were added to Facebook’s ad offering.

Costs

According to a study done by AdEspresso, “the cost of Instagram ads are influenced by many factors”. The report delved deep into the cost-per-click of Instagram ads in the first three-quarters of 2017 and found that genders, devices, and days of the week can influence the average cost of a campaign. The results of the research shows the average CPC is between 70c-80c (but increases as the year goes on) and tends to be higher for females and Apple devices. In fact, Instagram ad cost probably has as many variables as Google AdWords.

Engagement

Though generally more expensive than other social platforms, Instagram tends to see a higher engagement rate. This post by Hootsuite shows that 75% of Instagram users are more likely to take action after looking at an ad on Instagram. This is backed up by Yotpo who states 72% of customers say seeing a product on Instagram increases their chance of buying and 30% of Instagram users bought something they found on the app. The same post by Yotpo continues on to show engagement rate statistics in comparison to other social media sites such as Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, where Instagram dominates.

Instagram continues to evolve and attract a large spectrum of users. If you’re looking to increase your brand awareness and drive more conversions, Instagram campaigns are a statistically reputable place to start investing your time.

Do you think Instagram campaigns might be beneficial to your business? Call SponsoredLinX today on 1300 859 600 to talk to one our social media specialists!