Purchased in 2012 by Facebook, Instagram a photo-sharing service, has kept mostly free of advertising allowing only a handful of big brands to place commercial messages. Fast forward a few years and now any brand across 30 countries can advertise on Instagram. So here’s everything you need to know to start using Instagram to promote your business!
Why advertise on Instagram?
Well according to The New York Times Instagram’s users are generally a young, passionate group who share, like, click and comment on posts at a much higher rate than users of other social media services. Instagram’s click through rates on ads is impressive too as revealed in an article by Fortune magazine – users are two and a half times more likely to click on ads compared to other platforms.
Instagram’s high engagement is attributed to the fact it caters to what consumers crave – the ability to visually share their stories, reactions and experiences. And this is exactly why Instagram is the perfect match for spas and salons. Show your clients that you’re up to date with the latest hair trends, post an amazing before and after that focuses attention on your staff members talent or the gorgeous nails you did this week, there are so many ways to ensure your clients keep you top of mind or encourage new ones to visit your salon.
How does it work?
Use Facebook’s advertising apps such as ‘ad creation’ or ‘Power Editor’ to purchase and create your Instagram ads. So log into Facebook and from there you’ll find it easy to target very specific audiences from Instagram’s 300 million users by age, gender, location and other factors such as interests or behaviours. For some tips which will help you get started, check out this blog.
Instagram offers three simple ad formats:
- A standard photo ad promotes your business with one image and an interesting, descriptive caption.
- Take it to the next level with video content. What’s awesome is that Instagram has dropped it’s 15 second video cap and brands now have the ability to share videos up to 30 seconds long and in landscape format. Tip: Instagram now also allows you to share rectangular images.
- Bring an additional layer of depth to photo ads by choosing the carousel option. Share multiple photos so your audience can swipe through them.
Another addition which we’re excited about is Instagram’s new call to action button. This adds a button underneath your video or image and allows you to direct your chosen audience to your website, or we suggest your online booking form. If you’re a Kitomba customer and want to know more about Online Booking, give our free trial a go!
So why not check out Instagram advertising and see what it can do for your business!
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