Since Instagram’s inception in 2010, large and small businesses alike have used the application for promoting their products and services. Not only to generate buzz but to also tap into a new marketplace. From the seemingly general and trivial updates, like adding hashtags to search for photos, to the more direct and business-minded updates such as Instagram’s Story Ads. Instagram is constantly evolving and came out with Story Ads in the beginning of January 2017. Before rolling out to all of their customers, Story Ads was tested with some 30+ global business heavyweights, including the likes of Nike and Louis Vuitton. With positive feedback from the initial testing, it was officially rolled out to all businesses in March of 2017. And by May, just two short months later, four new advertising objectives were been added to Story Ads; video views, traffic, conversions, and mobile application installs.

How Instagram Story Ads Work:

 

Instagram Story Ads allow you to create ads that appear on a user’s feed or in their stories. When running the ads you can use one of the objectives mentioned above. Whereas before with previous versions, a business would only be able to see who they were able to reach. Now with the new updates, you have a much more in-depth view of who’s watching your ads, who’s visiting your site, and how many conversions your advertisement was able to generate.

To get a better understanding of we can look at the potential impact Story Ads might have, let’s take a look at some recent statistical information from Instagram’s parent company, Facebook, and their 2nd quarter results. Facebook disclosed that within the first year of launching, Instagram stories amassed 250 million daily active users. And, in a post from April of this year, the current amount of users on the application in total is up to 700 million. But, the most staggering statistics are the site now has 500 million active users daily! And, 80% of those users follow a business on the application. It’s no wonder Instagram Ads have been steadily gaining popularity.

 

Instagram Story Ads Help Generate Leads, New Referrals, and Help your Overall Brand:

First, your personal Instagram account that’s half pictures of what you had for dinner last night and your cute puppy doing another trick has got to go. If you haven’t already done so,

you’ll want to change your profile from a personal account to a business account. That way you can enjoy all of the benefits of using Story Ads and find out who your target clientele is with all the amazing analytics Instagram provides.

There is nothing wrong with showing off your personality and overall brand to potential buyers, but I doubt they want to see that photo of the quaint Spanish style home next to your shirtless “Throwback Thursday” photo of you in Lake Havasu. If you insist on posting those shirtless pictures, then you should probably consider a separate account for your business.

Now that you have a business page that is a little bit easier on the eyes, you can now start creating ads tailored to your specific clientele. Ads range in time.  Where a photo can be viewed for 10 seconds a video only lasts a bit longer coming in at 15 seconds. With attention spans dwindling, the brighter and flashier an ad is, the better. It is said that an image is worth a thousand words. In real estate, looking at a home that is aesthetically pleasing to the eyes can be worth a million words. Videos are worth even more!

Conclusion:

Back in 2010, Instagram started out just as an internet-based photo sharing application. Now, companies big and small alike use it to sell goods and services to consumers worldwide, and the user base is growing everyday!  Now that you have been brought up to speed on Instagram Story Ads, get out there and start creating! Start your business page, brainstorm some catchy and creative hashtags, create some ads, and with time you will see what works best for you.

Here is how you create an Instagram stories Ad. Choose Reach for the objective in the ad manager:

 

 

Then choose the placement for Instagram Ad Stories:

 

 

From there you will need to then choose the ad creative. Either video or image. Video no more than 15 seconds.

 

 

Here’s an example ad of what it would look like:

 

Hope you all found this article useful! If you happen to have any questions please feel free to let us know in the comments below.