How to Plan Your Instagram Ads Campaign

Social media is a continually growing resource for consumers. With the advent of Facebook and Twitter, two of the largest social media sites, users were able to reach out to family and friends and receive instant updates on their activities. Smartly, businesses and companies began to utilize these new and prolific outlets to reach their fans– and to those for whom they were still unknown. Social media has changed the game for individuals and companies who are looking to connect with their consumers.

Instagram, with its eighty million (and counting) users, has changed the game again. Instagram is a photo and video based application available on both the iPhone and Android interfaces. Registered users post images or short videos, which they can edit within the app, to their account. All followers of the user will see these images and videos in their streams, neatly organized in a simple, streamlined format. Instagram has revolutionized how cell phone users get their information and predominantly appeals to its many users visually, rather than textually.

Just as Facebook and Twitter allowed companies and individuals to reach out to their consumers in new and efficient ways, Instagram offers the same convenience and marketplace power. But Instagram’s benefit is the visual format, which allows information to make its impact visually and, thus, makes a greater impression. But how can an Instagram ad campaign make the biggest impact possible, making use of the application’s unique format?

The Photos

Because Instagram is a primarily a visual format, the photos an ad campaign uses are the most important consideration. Photos must, first and foremost, appeal to the consumer. Therefore, it is essential that the intended audience be given great thought. Photos must appeal to that audience in their content and in their composition. This can be a challenging undertaking. If a campaign seeks to reach out to a variety of consumers, it will need to take into consideration that variety and appeal to the broadest group it can with its images. Alternatively, a campaign may choose to post several images, each with a specific audience in mind.

In addition to considering the audience, a campaign must also use photos that are clear and creative. They may use an editing application to add text to the photos, but this should be done only to enhance the image and not to obscure it. Remembering always that Instagram users expect to see rather than to read about a product or individual, campaigns should use text sparingly.

The Photo Contests

The beauty of social media is its ability to draw in users and to forge connections. Instagram in its most basic form allows for observation and short comments. The connection is often brief, which is why choosing powerful images is key. But to heighten the connection, a campaign may opt to oversee a photo contest. A photo contest begins with an Instagram post that provides instructions and a theme for the contest, as well as a tag for the contest that would speak to the campaign’s interests and further encourage community. The post might also explain the prize or reward given at the end of the contest. Then, for a set period of time, followers post their own submissions, using the tag and tagging the original campaign.

The photo contest is an important tool because it allows users to connect to the campaign, to share their own work, and to expand their own social networking circle by engaging with others users. Connecting to the campaign means a user makes a personal connection to the product, individual, or group. They cement their commitment by sharing in the experience of the contest. Sharing their own work allows users to feel that they are part of the campaign and helps to expand their own circles by reaching out to other users who are also contributing to the campaign. Furthermore, when a user posts an image and tags it with the original campaign’s username, his followers see the post as well, helping the campaign to receive greater awareness.

The Videos

With the recent introduction of Instagram video, campaigns have an additional tool in their arsenal. Videos are typically up to fifteen seconds long and can be continuous or stitched together. Videos take Instagram to the next level, allowing the visual medium to be combined with an auditory one. Videos may be instructional, humorous, explanatory, or feature human interest. One way a campaign can draw followers into their ads is to make behind-the-scenes videos that capture the mystique of the product or the campaign itself.

Instagram is an important tool of social media for campaigns of all types. By addressing the content and quality of its images, using photo contests to generate interest, and creating videos that engage followers, an Instagram ad campaign can reach unexpected levels of success and popularity.