Advertising in story - only for girls with lips and priests. Or not ...?
Printed 2013-09-20
Instagram is confidently becoming the most popular social platform. While Facebook and Vkontakte are mainly focused on the connections between people (friends, relatives, workers), this attractive social network relies on visuals.
Many companies and smm agencies have noticed how great Instagram has as a marketing tool, especially if you maximize the platform's media capabilities. Instagram has over 1 billion active users per month, with 500 million of them using it daily.
Besides that Instagram is the most visually appealing social network, it gives business owners many advantages. Sometimes it turns into a real marketing "gold mine". We focus now only on one of the many Instagram features: Instagram Stories (and Instagram Story Ads in particular).
Many businesses have achieved significant success from advertising on Instagram Story. For example, Ralph Lauren, a well-known fashion brand, used advertising in stories to increase his sales by 18 percent and page views by 41 percent. Not bad, right?
Why do we need advertising in story
Most of the Instagram coverage now comes from Stories: more than 500 million active users per day. It's prudent to use this reach by showing your brand and attracting potential customers.
Let's look at a specific example of how powerful advertising in story is.
Take SHEIN, an online store and a manufacturer of inexpensive women's clothing. They wanted to use Stories on Instagram as part of their marketing strategy. They launched a split test to measure ad performance on Instagram stories, on Facebook, and on a regular Instagram feed. To do this, use the video. And to add a little emotion, they made the advertisement very colorful and actively used emojis.
What are the results, achievements? SHEIN's record campaign has shown the best results on Instagram stories. The business increased sales by 9 percent and profits by 20 percent. This is impressive!
Instagram story ads are also great for brand awareness. Take, for example, Airbnb. When the company wanted to increase brand awareness to launch a new product (Airbnb Experiences), they used Instagram Story ads.
For their advertising campaign, Airbnb used a series of 15-second videos. This has led to a two-digit increase in the number of responses to advertising.
How to make your story look
If you are now passionate about the idea of __creating an advertisement in story, keep in mind that you need to create an advertisement that will attract the attention of your target audience and motivate them to do swipe up. Remember that Instagram stories have a lifespan of only 24 hours. This means that your advertising in story should be so good that it hooks the audience at a glance. Use every second.
Here are three key points that will make Instagram advertising for business effective.
1. Use video
Video ads on Instagram can last up to 15 seconds, which is three times longer than static images. This is good: videos hold attention longer than still pictures. In addition to attracting the attention of your target audience, videos make them more involved in what you say.
2. Add music
A simple action like adding music can significantly affect the conversion rate of ads on Instagram. A study conducted by the social network itself revealed surprising statistics: Stories were viewed with sound in 60% of cases. This means that audio is very important.
3. Strong CTA
Quite often you can see how people save on this moment. If you want those who view your Instagram ads to swipe up quickly, you need to give them a reason to do so. You must clearly explain to them what actions you are taking from them.
A good call to action (CTA) will take you one step closer to a sale, new subscriber or quality lead. Not only text is needed in advertising, you also need to tell your audience aloud what exactly you expect from it.
Remember, no one reads minds. If you want people to swipe, then be sure to tell them about it. But do not let them think that you control them; you just lead them to your proposal.
Is it worth a try?
Instagram has shown that it can be a great platform for generating leads, sales and increasing brand awareness. Do you take advantage of these opportunities on time and, in particular, advertising on Instagram story for business - it's up to you :)