How to Manage Your Instagram Advertising for Your Business?

One of the most important factors to running a successful business is advertising. In this day-and-age advertising is primarily done through social media. You’ve got Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, but the biggest player to this day is Instagram. With over 800 million people using the app 7 days a week on an average of 53 minutes per day, Instagram Advertising offers a huge potential for growing your business!

Now, you may be asking yourself: If there’s that many people scrolling through the app at different times of the day, how am I going to get my business noticed? Simple. Advertising. And advertising on social media.

Shoppers are always influenced by the new trends popping up on social media and Instagram itself is, quite possibly, the Holy Bible for showcasing what’s new and hip. Studies actually show that people are 2.5 times more likely to click on an ad on Instagram than on any other social media platform. By paying for sponsored posts you can target these audiences at the right time to ultimately increase exposure, traffic and brand recognition.

What is Business Instagram Advertising?

Instagram is a highly visual platform accompanied by small snippets of text. This means you’ll need high quality images, that not only represent your brand but grab the audience’s attention as well. As a testament to how effective Instagram advertising is, in 2017 over 120 million people used Instagram ads to go to a website or contact a business to learn more (and that was in March alone).

Instagram statistics show that 60% of people discover new products through the app and 75% take action because of a post. That’s just through simple postings. By putting some money behind your posts, you gain more control over who sees it and when they see it. That way you can target people who have a high probability of being interested in your business.

How exactly does that work? Well, Instagram is developed around an algorithm that tracks people’s interaction with the app. Through their likes, comments and searches, Instagram can determine which posts they might be interested in. Those posts are then placed at the top of the users feed, where the highest amount of engagement occurs. Instagram advertising boosts your post and puts in front of the right people. The people that have already started to show interest in things related to your business.

So, is Business Instagram Advertising Right for You?

This is a fair question that you should really think about. Just because Instagram is booming doesn’t mean it will make your business boom as well. The first real question is: Are you able to market your business in a visually pleasing way?

Because Instagram is visual first, text later, you have to make sure that your images are attention grabbers. If they’re not, no one is even going to bother reading the caption below it and they’re certainly not going to take action. Statistics show that 67% of shoppers think a beautiful, detailed image is more important to them when deciding to buy something, than product information or ratings. This not only applies to each individual photo but to the overall look and feel of your Instagram page.

The Second Question is: Who is Your Business Aimed At?

Instagram is definitely a younger persons’ game. 61% of users are aged 18-35 with a significant drop to 26% between the ages of 36-55. Only 2% are aged 65 and up. If your business is aimed at the younger generation then Instagram advertising is definitely the answer for you. But, if you are looking to target the older generation then you might want to consider a different form of advertising.

That isn’t to say the older generation won’t ever be on Instagram. As the platform continues to grow, more and more adults over the age of 35 are going to start exploring the app. Plus, you can always target those smaller demographics more specifically. The smaller the demographic the easier it is to gain more exposure and the more likely it is to gain a dedicated following.

Who you aim your business at is also related to gender, location and even interests. Let’s face it, men are not going to be interested in feminine products, city people aren’t interested in farm equipment and young adults aren’t interested in mommy products. Instagram advertising takes care of that and makes sure your business is placed in front of the correct eyes. By using Facebook’s demographic data, advertisers can tap into the extensive history that Facebook has collected to specifically target their niche audience.

What’s this Instagram Business Advertising Going to Cost You?

The cost of advertising on Instagram is dependent on several factors, so there really isn’t a straightforward answer. Their cost model is based on two different things CPC (cost per click) and CPM (cost per impression). The first (CPC) is determined by how many people actually click on your ad to visit your website or learn more about your business. On average this ranges between $0.70 and $0.80. However, purchasing Instagram advertising is done through auctions so this price can change heavily depending on the auction, the target audience and even the time or day/week. Obviously for a prime spot you’re going to have to dole out a lot more cash.

The second model (CPM) is determined by how many impressions and how much engagement your ad gets. So, if people like, comment or share your ad this is going to cost you. Advertisers find that ads often get a lot of engagement which is great for business but, of course, raises the cost. You’re looking at around $5 per CPM for a highly targeted ad.

The good thing is you can control your ad budget and how it’s used. Instagram advertising has several different budget options including daily and lifetime budgets. Daily budgets limit how much you spend per day and lifetime budgets let you set your ads to run until the budget is gone. You can also set up an ad schedule to control what time of the day the ad runs or even what day of the week.

There are also goals you can tack onto your ads to help your business get rolling in the direction you want it. For instance, with each ad you can choose to either build brand awareness, reach, traffic to your website or engagement on your Instagram page and website. Instagram will then take you through the steps so that your ads will help you reach just that. Instagram advertising has a huge amount of potential to make your business boom with customers.