Instagram is one of the most popular and powerful social media platforms for advertising. How do you create engaging and effective SEM ads on Instagram that stand out from the crowd and drive conversions? Here are some best practices to follow.
Before you create any SEM ads on Instagram, you need to know who you are targeting and what they want. You can use Instagram's insights tool to learn more about your followers, their demographics, interests, and behaviors. You can also create custom audiences based on your website visitors, email subscribers, or app users, or lookalike audiences based on your existing customers. Knowing your audience will help you craft relevant and personalized messages that resonate with them and motivate them to take action.
Back in the day I use to ask business owners who is your customer? Not who you want as your customer but who is your customer? This would sometimes get them thinking. I’d say “we can find out!” Watch the next ten people who walk through your door ( yes long before online shopping lol) . Now record on a note pad everything you can observe about then. Age , gender, clothes they wear, shoes, can you see the car they drove up in? Write it down. All physical characteristics as well as any other defining features. Now later tonight make a graph. Do ten more people each day for a full week. Now you have 70 customers in your pool. Where the medians cross.., that is your customer. Yes computers have changed a lot but i still like my method. ??
Instagram offers various formats for SEM ads, such as stories, feed posts, reels, IGTV, carousel, collection, and explore. Each format has its own advantages and limitations, so you need to choose the one that best suits your goal, budget, and creative. For example, stories are ideal for creating urgency, feed posts are great for showcasing products, and reels are fun for demonstrating features. IGTV is engaging for longer videos, carousel is effective for telling a story, collection is immersive for browsing products, and explore is discoverable for reaching new audiences.
I never tell people to choose one. You can’t define your strategy on how each method typically works. Clear your mind of that so you have no preconceived notions. Determine a budget for a few months and start testing. You are NOT wasting any money. You test to find what brings your individual business the best return in ( dollars) on your investment. Start eliminating things that perform the worst. When you have your top three use those. Keep pushing the bar up. Eventually you will find what gives you the maximum return on your investment.
Visuals are the key to attracting attention and conveying your message on Instagram. You need to use high-quality images or videos that are clear, colorful, and consistent with your brand identity. You also need to optimize your visuals for different devices and screen sizes, and avoid too much text or clutter that might distract or confuse your viewers. You can use Instagram's creative tools to enhance your visuals, such as filters, stickers, effects, captions, and hashtags.
Use the dynamic visual tools mentioned above. If you want to creat the proper sizes look up and use an app to size your visuals. The cardinal sin is poor quality or resolution. Your visuals represent how you treat your customers. Be professional. Use good images. I view images as being a visual metaphor of your text. This gives you create ways to attract views and then deliver a proactive action that solves a customer’s problem.
Copy is the complement to your visuals on Instagram. You need to write compelling copy that captures your audience's interest, communicates your value proposition, and encourages them to take action. You also need to keep your copy concise, clear, and conversational, and use a tone that matches your brand personality and your audience's preferences. You can use emojis, questions, or humor to add some flair and emotion to your copy, but don't overdo it or sound too salesy.
Avoid cliches and stay away from words like very ( very very uhg) ; but…be careful with but. Don’t pitch? Write your copy with full knowledge that a customer had a problem ( real or perceived) . They are looking for a solution!!! They ‘need’ a solution. Write your copy from the customer’s perspective not something you want to tell them. Be brief. Brevity is a necessity. The online attention spans are nearing micro seconds. So don’t waste space. Build trust in your copy. People buy from people they trust.
A call to action (CTA) is the final element of your SEM ads on Instagram. It tells your audience what you want them to do next, such as visit your website, shop now, sign up, download, or learn more. You need to include a clear and specific CTA that aligns with your goal and your offer, and use urgent language that motivates your audience to act. You can use Instagram's built-in buttons or stickers to add a CTA to your ads, or include it in your copy or caption.
Clear and brief. See why thousands have trust our …. Get people who work with you from different generations to add some input so you can adjust copy for each target potential client.
The last best practice for creating engaging and effective SEM ads on Instagram is to test and measure your results. You need to track and analyze how your ads are performing, using metrics such as impressions, reach, clicks, conversions, cost per result, and return on ad spend. You also need to test different variations of your ads, such as different formats, visuals, copy, or CTAs, and see which ones generate the best outcomes. Testing and measuring your results will help you optimize your ads and improve your ROI.
Not just on Instagram but everywhere. How long are you testing? Forever. Demographics change, old businesses close, new competitors enter the market, so basically your business and marketing are perpetually changing. A sure way to go under despite your brand and reputation is not constantly adjusting. This doesn’t apply to you? My answer: Sears, Bed Bath and Beyond; K-Mart, JC Pennys, i can go on and on.
Create a sharing pod with other influencers. You'll share each other posts, like, and comment. Make sure that they reflect your values, mission, and brand awareness needs. Then share away!
Learn to love your marketing. It is an equal component of your business as customer service, quality products, inventory control, employee training, and being what your mission statement says you are. Enron had a great mission statement??? Be a good business of high integy.