Instagram Ads are Now Available for Everyone

Starting next month, advertisers, big or small, will have the opportunity to run ads on Instagram.

An official Instgram blog post announced the big news last week: “With technology that leverages the best of Facebook’s ads infrastructure, it’s not easy for advertisers on Instagram to target their message more effectively and reach people based on what they care about – whether it’s fashion, sports, cars, or food”

The blog post went on to add that advertisers will have the chance to access new ad formats to help them reach different types of goals. This will enable Instagram users to learn more about what interest them and shop for products directly from Instagram.

Instagram’s Advertising Features 

Instagram advertisers have seem some excellent branding results so far with 97% of brands generating “significant lifts in ad recall”. Here are some of the features that brands can expect with Instagram ads:

Landscape Photo and Video – Advertisers are not restricted to the square shape that Instagram is famous for. Instead, advertisers can “unlock new creative opportunities and give ads a more cinematic feel.”

Video Ads Can Be 30 Seconds – Brands can engage their audience with longer video clips for “richer storytelling”.

Calls to Action – Advertisers have the option to add a call to action buttons such as “Shop Now,” “ Install Now,” “Sign Up”, and “Learn More” that connects directly to a web page.

Marquee – Instagram is introducing a new buying option called Marquee that lets advertisers drive mass awareness and reach within a short time frame – ideal for new product launches or movie and TV show premieres for example.

Carousel Ads – Carousel ads bring additional depth by allowing users to swipe through additional images and click on a call-to-action button.

Delivery and Optimization Tools – “to help drive the best performance of campaigns across Facebook and Instagram.”

Create Your First Instagram Ad Campaign

Instagram ads will officially be available to everyone Sept 30, 2015. Follow this quick set up guide to get started:

1. You can create Instagram Ads in the same place you create Facebook ads. Just go tohttps://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide/.

2. Select your ad objective in the left column.

3. Depending on the objective you choose, Instagram will be listed as one of the options in the drop down menu of that objective. For Instagram ads, the objectives can be website clicks, website conversions, app installs, and video views.

4. Review the ad design recommendations and technical requirements.

5. Click the blue box that says “Create Ad”.