Instagram ads cost less than you might think if you have the right strategy for your business. The truth is that many strategies are for certain kinds of businesses and that business might not be yours.
What is needed is a careful analysis of your brand’s niche. Then take that information and try to create free buy useful content to “test” collecting data from your supposed customers. You need to see if they are your customers.
After you realize you can collect information about your customers, then it’s time to start selling your products when you reach a critical mass. That mass is determined by your business and your budget. This article is about how to get your Instagram ads cost as low as possible, but effective as hell. It all starts with the basics of Instagram marketing, so start from scratch and don’t skip a step.
What can dramatically change your Instagram ads cost is to carefully plan your social media strategy better than your competition. You need to execute what works. If you’re new to social media this might take some time, but don’t worry. The tips you’ll get in this guide are a collaboration of some of the best resources on the internet.
How to Create Instagram Ads
Understanding your Instagram ads target audience is one of the most important keys to creating your ads. In any marketing endeavor, it’s always best to start with research. Read guides like this. Watch Instagram ads tutorials on YouTube. It really doesn’t take that long to make money with Instagram ads.
What you’re looking for are the best practices for Instagram ads. If you search that on Google or YouTube, you’ll find a plethora of great resources.
If you’re worried about the cost of Instagram ads, then prepare a budget before you start and look for free tools to get you started. One of my favorite tools is Canva. Canva is a free graphic design tool that makes creating social media ads fun and easy. If you practice with the program, it’ll be hard to spot that your ad is one of the canvas Instagram ads.
Find an Ad You Saw on Instagram
After you do some research make sure you get plenty of inspiration and view Instagram ads before you create any. You need to get the feel of how marketers are successfully using this ad platform.
The best-performing Instagram ads
How do you know if you’re adopting tactics from the best performing Instagram ads? It’s difficult to say if you’re staying within your own industry. You need to branch out of your industry and get your hands dirty. In other words, make some mistakes.
Many times the best-performing Instagram ads cost the least and make the most. When I say cost the least, that means they are very natural in their creation. They are usually the result of a fantastic product and a company with a great brand name and social presence. When you have those three things in place, it’s pretty easy to keep your Instagram ads cost low.
My favorite Instagram ads are one that allows you to participate. Interactive Instagram ads cost less because they get more engagement than plain ads. Many marketers use interactive Instagram ads within stories. They give the viewer the opportunity to comment if they’re interested.
How to find a sponsored ad on Instagram
I’ve been looking for a way to find a sponsored ad on Instagram for the purpose of creating a swipe file. After searching intensely for this answer, the best idea I’ve seen is to use Facebook instead.
Simply go to the Facebook page of your favorite brands and look for INFO and ADS in the menu on the left. Click on that tab. You might have to select the country you’re from to view local ads.
Below are a few ads from some top international brands.
Adidas Instagram ad
This Facebook ad could easily be on Instagram. Notice the text is not overwhelming and it actually makes a lot of sense. “Focus on your game, not your gear” is a very non-sales approach to selling this athletic shirt. It’s tactics from ads like these that you should adopt.
Gucci Instagram ad
Here is another ad from Gucci just to show you the difference between countries. Gucci is a clothing company that is not showing off their clothes. Sometimes you shouldn’t sell your products. Sell the attitude, the feeling, and happiness that comes from being a part of the Gucci community. That’s what they’re saying in most of their ads.
Adidas is doing the same thing in their own way. They are saying train like a pro the best gear, because good gear doesn’t inhibit your ability to perform. It enhances it.
Instagram Ad Specs
Now that you’ve done your research and have plenty of great Instagram ad ideas, you should focus on constructing your own. Remember Instagram is a visual social media platform. That means you need to stick to the visuals and only have text when it really helps the ad.
Step by step Instagram ads
Choose which product you’d like to sell. Don’t think about the Instagram ads cost just yet, focus on the construction of the ad and how you need to position it.
Today, it’s not enough to just put some of your ads on Instagram stories and hope for the best. You need to be far more organized than that.
You need a consistent practice of being social on Instagram or your ads will cost you more.
The next thing you to keep in mind is the design. Consult the Facebook help center to effectively create ads that meet their requirements. Here are the image requirements for Instagram ads …
An ad maker for Instagram ads costs less than hiring an agency to make Instagram ads for you. What you want to learn is what makes your audience tick and then make videos and images for your ads.
Instagram ads text rule
Another thing to keep in mind is the Instagram ads text limit. Only 20% of your ad image can be text. This is for Facebook and Instagram.
You might think, why does that matter? There are plenty of ads that have only text. I don’t really understand it either, but there are rules with ad platform, and in this case, there is an Instagram ad text limit.
How to Run Instagram Ads
Now that you’re done with your research and you understand Instagram ads cost. You need to start creating lead ads on Instagram. This means that you’re going to use Instagram to create leads with your ads.
You should already be posting frequently and making your brand known in the industries you target. Now, that you have your brand set you can create Instagram ads on your phone. However, what you should think about is how to create Instagram ads on Facebook.
If you use Facebook and a desktop computer you’ll have a much easier time customizing them and getting detailed analytics of their performance. It’s far easier to run Instagram ads through Facebook, so make that you’re home base for ad creation.
How much do Instagram Ads Cost
Instagram ad costs vary based on your budget. You decide how much to pay.
What works best is to run multiple ad sets at the same time. Then compare and contrast the statistics. This means that as you analyze the success of the ads, you need to manipulate the design, images, text, and target audience. The more you test, the more you learn.
Learning about Instagram ads cost is important, but not as important as finding a winning ad or target audience. Once you find that, you really can’t spend enough money, so worrying about the cost will not help you.
That being said, if you’re new to Instagram ads, you need to at the very least have a decent size budget to start testing. You can’t expect to create a perfect ad on the first try, so expect to fail a little bit. Focus more of your time on the research of your industry and learn to niche your brand specifically to the buyers.
The more you post on social media the more you will understand about your audience. You can even get more information from them using survey tools, like Survey Monkey or even Twitter.
Striking Gold With Instagram Ads
After you find your best ads, the cost will become irrelevant if you have a great product. Having that product is the most important part of the business. If it solves a problem or fulfills a need it shouldn’t be a hard thing to sell.
That’s truly how you strike gold with Instagram ads. You have a great ad for a great product being sold to the right audience at the right time. The better the product less timely less quality ad you need.
For more information on how to get your products out to the masses check out one of Digital Cartel Media’s best articles on Influencer marketing, specifically on Instagram.