If you are even remotely linked to any kind of a business today, it’s not possible that you are unaware of the role that Instagram story ads play in advancing your business ventures. That’s exactly why it is very important to know how to use Instagram stories ads in the most optimal ways to benefit your business. Today’s article will be all about Instagram story ads, and how creating Instagram story ads that are catered to your target audience can boost your business a lot.
It is essential to know how to create Instagram story ads and know the value of investing time and effort into them if you want to utilize this marketing tactic’s full potential. You need to brainstorm and think of creative ways to do something out-of-the-box with tools that every competitor firm or business in the market has equal access to.
You will notice that the tips we give you below will not seem like something you have never heard before, but when you go into some detail, you will realize the uniqueness hidden in each of them.
Before we begin, let’s describe what Instagram story ads really are.
What are Instagram Story Ads?
Instagram stories ads are those vertical ads that you run on your Instagram stories feature.
If you’re not familiar with the Instagram stories feature, these are photos or videos visible to your Instagram account’s followers for 24 hours after posting. They are published separately from the other content that you post on your profile.
Instagram now allows you to run targeted ads that are set according to metrics like reach, video views, conversions, traffic, brand awareness, and app installs. Unlike an unpaid or organic Instagram story, these ads do not disappear after the 24-hour timeframe. You can set the frequency and period for these ads to be shown to the targeted audience. These settings are made in your Facebook ad platform.
Instagram story ads are seamlessly immersed into the stories of the targeted Instagram users, thus integrating them into their overall Instagram browsing experience. A user does not have to follow your Instagram account to see your ad. As long as they fall under the metrics you set for your campaign, Instagram will show your ad.
There are a few different ways to format these ads. You can create them in the form of an image, a video, or a carousel. A video ad can be as long as 15 seconds, while an image ad will play for only 5 seconds. You can play it in three separate content pieces (images, video, or both) within a single ad if it's a carousel.
Using Instagram Story Ads for Business
Here are three unique ways to use Instagram stories ads for promoting your brand.
1. Time-Sensitive Offers
Instagram stories often tend to grab more attention than Instagram posts, as they give the illusion of being easily skippable and something that will ‘end soon’. Users can see the white line that moves forward as part of Instagram’s layout as you watch a story. That’s why if you want to make sure your audience pays attention to something quickly, then Instagram stories ads are the way to go.
Image taken on Strikingly user’s website
You can either use the Instagram story ads as the only place to promote your special deals that last for just a couple of hours, or make a post and add animations when you repost it on your story. The animations will help gain more attention than a simple post, even if the post is in video form. Some ideas on how to create Instagram story ads that are more attractive are as follows.
- Use funny GIFs or memes that are relatable to the general public.
- Write words like ‘IMPORTANT’, ‘ATTENTION’ or ‘URGENT’ around the post when you repost it as a story.
- Provide a link to your website or profile within the ad, so it is easily accessible.
2. Use Polls
If you add polls to your advertisements when creating Instagram story ads, the audience will feel like their opinions are valued. This is a subtle and somewhat secretive guide to Instagram story ads. Making your audience feel valued is a great incentive for using polls as part of your Instagram story ads. You can also use polls to decide what to create an ad about. The trick is that the audience will think you are seeking their opinion, while in actuality, it will just be a gimmick to get them to watch the ad until the end.
Polls can start simple with questions like ‘Has this ever happened to you?’ To answer, the person watching will have to pay attention to what is happening in the ad being played. Then they can ask questions like ‘How would you rather fix this problem?’ And the only two possible answers will be solutions that your product or service already provides for the customers. Hence, you’ll be luring the audience into gaining interest in whatever you are offering through your Instagram story ads.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
3. Networking
A very common way of boosting one’s business, especially if it is prevalent on social media, is through collaborations with others. Others can be other businesses or people like social media influencers or celebrities. This marketing technique never fails to bring in a lot of profit for your business, as long as you choose your collaborations wisely. Make sure your connections are relevant to the message your business is trying to put across and the type of lifestyle you are trying to sell.
The thing about creating Instagram story ads is that they are a multipurpose phenomenon. Of course, they are advertisements, first and foremost, but they are so much more as well. Don’t understand what we are talking about? Let’s explain with an example. You are collaborating with a famous makeup artist because you own a makeup company. Your business is still small, and you were able to get in touch with her purely by coincidence. There is no way to establish ties with other celebrities of their caliber the same way. But if your Instagram stories ads get some reposts, go viral to some extent, and the celebrity who is part of your Instagram story ads also reposts it, it might pique the curiosity of other high caliber people on the platform.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
You may not need to establish the same kind of ties with all the people you get acquainted with by creating Instagram story ads, though. They can be official or even unofficial brand ambassadors of your company, or they can simply be someone you could take some advice from or send PR packages to.
When it comes to networking through Instagram story ads, there are really no limits. You can be advertising your product to sell it directly to potential customers, or you could be promoting it to gain the attraction of people who could become sources of further large-scale promotion for you.
Putting it All Together
So what is the most brilliant way mentioned in this guide to Instagram story ads for promoting your business? It is to focus on all the tips we have given and put them all together to get the best results.
Most importantly, make sure your Instagram account is integrated with your brand website. This will allow your traffic to flow back and forth between your Instagram account and website home page.
If your website is built on Strikingly, you can even insert part of your Instagram feed onto your landing page. Strikingly is a user-friendly website building platform that exceeds the expectations of its users in terms of its ease of use. We provide you with tools and features that enable you to run your marketing campaigns effectively, managed through your Strikingly editor and dashboard. For example, with our newsletter feature, you can send marketing emails to your subscribers directly from your Strikingly editor. Our live chat feature allows you to stay in touch with your audience 24 hours a day. Our social feed feature lets your website visitors get a glimpse of your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts, without having to leave your domain.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
If you do not have a website on Strikingly yet, you can start creating one by signing up for a free account with us today. The process barely takes one complete day, as we provide you ready to use templates that serve as your website design. This means you don’t have to spend time, money or effort in creating your web design from scratch. You wouldn’t need to hire a web developer either. Simply select a suitable template, add your content, and integrate your site with your Instagram story ads by linking your Instagram account to it. You can do this by inserting an Instagram icon on your site’s footer that directs your visitors to your Instagram profile.
Have fun playing around with our website building features, and make the most use of them for promoting your business.
