Video Marketing: Instagram Video Ads

If you’re looking to get started with Instagram video ads, this article will go right down your alley.

Video content will become even more dominant in the future. As per Cisco, the overall traffic share of the video content will be around 82% by 2022. Below is a trend of mobile video traffic growth that will shock you.

Well, that depends on how shock-able you are. Either way, there’s a whole lot of video traffic on the Internet. Which means people are watching more and more videos online.

Simple, right?

The internet users love to consume video content and advertisers are enjoying the kind of return on investment that they are getting from their video marketing campaign. Now, the question arises on where would you publish and promote your videos. 

The first thing that comes to a person’s mind when one talks about video advertisement is YouTube. Well, YouTube is a powerful platform, but have you realized that videos even perform amazingly well on Instagram?

This study shows that people spend as much time on Instagram as they spend on Facebook. Instagram used to emphasize a lot of images, but recently, they understood the power of videos for businesses and brands alike. Then they introduced IGTV. 

You can get a mind-boggling rate of return on investment if you know how to publish and promote your videos on Instagram. 

To create a video, you can use a smartphone and free video editing software to get your feet wet. If you do not like to be on camera, you can make use of animated explainer videos. 

Why Instagram Ads?

You may be asking yourself a question right now before moving forward. What is so special about Instagram ads? I’ve already mentioned some facts in the above section. I’m going to go more specific here. 

I decided to add this section to motivate you to go and take actions right after finishing this article. Furthermore, you will feel more motivated to complete this article to start right away. 

Here are some compelling reasons to go for Instagram ads:

Specific Target Market

Facebook Inc. is the parent company of Instagram. It acquired Instagram for a billion-dollar, and it has proven to be one of the best decisions made by Facebook Inc. Facebook has people logging in from all age groups. 

If you check out the Instagram user base, you will find that over 60% of Instagram users are young people. Around 64% of Instagram users fall in the age group of 18-34. 

You can beautifully showcase your products on Instagram, which is not possible neither on Facebook or YouTube. It is easier to take your ad viewers to your account on Instagram. You are much more likely to get some active followers by reaching out to a broader audience via Instagram ads. 

Lower Cost per Click

Instagram ads offer a lower cost per click than other platforms. It is continually increasing, but for now, the cost per click is cheaper. A lower cost per click means that you can get more visitors and leads for a more affordable rate. Also, keep in mind that the audience that you reach out via Instagram are of high quality. 

Better engagement

Here is one staggering fact. The study found that Instagram posts get 58 times higher engagement in comparison to Facebook. With an active Instagram account, you can build a relationship with your audience at a quicker rate. Try retargeting campaign and see how you can drastically increase your return on investment. 

Higher conversion rate

In addition to a lower cost per click and better engagement, Instagram also offers you a higher conversion rate. Whether it is a signup offer or a sale of a physical product, Instagram is an excellent option for advertisement. You will be amazed to check out the conversion rate if you manage to get your ads and product page right.

How can you get the best outcome from your Instagram video ads?

You can easily find out the information about how you can set up your Instagram video ads, which is the reason why I will not be focusing on that part. In this section, I will reveal some proven ways that can drastically enhance the outcome that you get from your Instagram video ads. 

Research, identify and solve your audience’s problems

Before doing anything else, you should think from your audience’s perspective at first. To be able to step into your customer’s shoes, it is essential to do some research in advance. At first, you need to know about details like your audience’s demographics, interest, pain points, etc. After that, list out problems that the audience desperately want to solve. 

You can use surveys or other secondary data to find out the hot issues that your market is facing at the present moment. Your whole video should revolve around that problem. Create a hook that will grab the users’ attention in an instance. After that, give away some valuable tips and insights that would help them solve the problem. 

When you solve the problem of users, they will regard that advertisement as organic content. It will help in building trust and improving your engagement. 

Have a definite goal

It is not possible to fulfill multiple targets with a single video ad. Your video advertisement should focus on achieving one goal at a time. Your goal could be brand awareness, generating leads, educating about a new concept, etc. 

Segment your audience, according to the buying stage, and then tailor your video ad for each segment to get the best outcome from your campaign. 

Appropriate video length, giving away the gist of the video in the first few seconds

You must choose an applicable length for your video ad. Below is the research data that shows an appropriate video length for various social media platforms. 

There is no such thing as an ideal video length, but it is always a good idea to refer to the research. Regardless of your video length, you must make sure that you make the first few seconds of your video highly valuable. The first few seconds of your video should be superb, and the users should understand what they are getting, even in a mute mode. 

Doing a series of shorter videos is not only a good way of breaking down larger films in small clips but also a way of keeping your audience engaged

Add texts in your video

Adding captions and dynamic texts in your video can help you a lot in communicating your message effectively to the audience. A catchy caption and influential sentence can entice users to stop for a while and then turn the sound on to watch the rest of the video. 

Furthermore, the viewers are more likely to understand and retain the information from text-based videos. Check out this list of the best Instagram video ads to see marketers are using texts in many different ways. 

Optimize video settings and features

Facebook recommends its advertisers to make the Instagram video in high resolution, and the preferred file types are MOV and MP4. For the audio, keep compression at 128 kbps or higher. Once you produce the ideal video, try to use all features of Instagram. Do not only rely on in-feed ads. Experiment with carousel ads and Instagram story, according to your advertisement goal. 

Carousel ads perform better for eCommerce products, while in-feed announcements do well when you’re trying to educate. 

Optimize your thumbnail

One of the first few things that your viewers notice is your video’s thumbnail. Your thumbnail should carry a convincing message that would lure Instagram users into stopping and watching your video. 

You will not be able to get the desired outcome from your advertisement campaign if no one bothers to stop by and watch your video. Also, your whole video will be of no use if you cannot get users’ attention via your thumbnail. Take a look at some of the top thumbnails in your niche and then optimize your thumbnail. 

A clear call to action

You need to guide your viewers until the end. Once the viewers get value out of your video, tell them what to do next. Be smart when you are putting out the call-to-action button. Instead of using a simple call-to-action statement, try to use intelligent CTAs. 

A smart CTA means you are personalizing your call-to-action statement. For instance, you can put out CTA like “Create your customized online form for free”, instead of “Learn more about making an online form”. 

Test, analyze, edit, and republish

It is not an easy task to come up with an active video ad all the time. Some ads may work better, and some might not perform well for you. It is not a wise thing to put all the money into one ad set. 

You should focus on creating more than two versions of Instagram video ad and test those ads among a variety of audiences. After a few days of testing, you can check out the analytics and see all sorts of stats like engagement rate, click-through rate, cost per lead, etc. When you finish your analysis task, get rid of the video ads that are not working out for your business. 

You can also make simple tweaks and try again like changing the CTA statement, editing thumbnail, and so on. Testing is an integral part of the advertisement campaign, and mastering the art of experimentation and learning will help you get a consistent result. 

Instagram Video Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

Knowing some well-known strategies will help you create great Instagram video ads. However, it is essential to know about some common mistakes that marketers are making to learn from their mistakes. Being aware of repeated mistakes can drastically reduce the number of errors you will make in your journey, leading to saving you time and money. 

Here are some of the mistakes that you must avoid when working on Instagram video ads. 

Niching down too much

It is crucial to get your targeting right, as not everyone who hangs around on Instagram is your targeted customers. Instagram allows you to laser target your video ads from various angles. It is possible to set your targeting, according to a specific country, location, interests, age, etc. 

However, it is not a good idea to niche down too much that you will eventually burn out your audience with your ad message. It will also not give you enough reach to get the most out of your campaign. 

You should occasionally try out broader targeting and make sure that your audience size is at least over 500,000. The Instagram algorithm is smart enough these days to adjust your ads to give you the best return on your investment. 

Focusing on video quality, but ignoring copywriting aspects of the video

One of the most important factors that decide the success of your video marketing campaign is the quality of the copy. Your video quality must indeed be as per the industry standards. However, the quality of copy matters even more.

The quality copy includes a lot of things like your video script, the texts on the video, your landing page, call to action statement, etc. The excellent copy combined with a mediocre video performs better than HD video with an inferior copy. One of the things that you must consider before preparing a copy for your video is your demographics. 

The majority of the audience in Instagram are men within the age group of 25-35. Try to know more about them and customize your copy as per their interest. 

Short-term focus

It is impossible to come up with video ads that will last on your viewers’ minds forever. Due to this reason, the first impression that you make is only the start of things to come and achieve.

The creation of a great brand does not happen overnight. There are cases where the advertisers give up on Instagram ads early. They only make a few sales from their first few advertisement campaigns and then they give up. 

The people who are consistent in their efforts reap the fruits of their efforts. It is crucial to experiment, learn, and try again and again to be successful in Instagram video ads. The Facebook pixel needs enough data and time to know about the best type of audience for your products. You will only give enough data when you are on the game for a long-term. 

Videos that bring heated discussions

There is no point in offending others and coming up with videos that will invite heated comments. When you are coming up with video ads, stay away from political dramas, racial topics, and sexual content. 

Many organizations are quick to flag inappropriate content on various social media platforms. You would not want to be in debate for some inappropriate video ads, as it will cost you not only money but also the brand reputation. 

The advertisers in the past have committed the mistake of publishing videos that invite heated discussions. Those video ads cost them both money and brand image. 

Not retargeting or not being consistent

You cannot expect modern internet users to purchase the product right after viewing a single video. You need to be aware of the buying cycle of the people to get the most out of your video marketing campaigns. 

Be consistent with your video ads and experiment with different ad sets. You should also strongly consider retargeting to the same audience with a variety of video ads. Once the audience is aware of your brand, you may want to create a quick animated video that explains the benefits of your product. The proper use of retargeting feature can 

Only focusing on likes and comments

Every single Instagram advertiser wants to get the maximum number of likes and comments on their posts. Getting a massive amount of likes and comments mean that your audience like your posts and it will also expand your reach. 

However, only relying on the number of likes and comments to analyze your campaign performance can lead to a considerable loss. After all, your company will not get any revenue by only increasing the number of likes and shares. The only thing that will add up to your company’s expansion is the growth in sales. 

To monitor your campaign in the right manner and to learn from mistakes, you need to dig deeper into Instagram insights. You should look at statistics like the cost per 1000 reach, impressions, action taken (number of leads, clicks, conversion, and so on). There is much other information that you can extract from Instagram insights besides those that I have mentioned.

After the analysis, you should make changes and experiment again. One of the things that you must know is that the number of reach does not matter if you are not getting any conversions. A lower impression combined with a higher conversion rate is much better than a massive reach with a little to no sales. 

It’s your turn now

I believe I’ve given you just enough information for you to go out and start producing effective video ads on Instagram. However, there is no point in consuming information without taking action. 

Do you love the tips that I’ve mentioned here in this article? If yes, let’s know what strategies you are planning to use on your next Instagram video advertisement campaign. Also, do share your insights and thoughts with our audience with our community of readers.