With a user base of over 1.3 billion, Instagram has become more than just a place for funny clips and images that give you wanderlust.

With all of those eyes scrolling past content, companies would be remiss if they didn’t capitalize on the opportunity to market their products and brands alongside relevant content.

Instagram ads allow you to organically engage with all of these users in a way we've never seen before.

Is Instagram the Right Place for Your Ads?

Thinking about how many users are on the platform may make you feel like you’re missing out if you’re not advertising on Instagram, however, it’d be wise to first decide if it is best for your business.

Keep in mind that the IG audience skews younger and is visual-focused, so this means certain industries will fare better than others.

If you provide a service, Instagram’s algorithm can deliver your ads to your exact target audience with efficiency. 

Choose the Right Type of Ad

There are several types of Instagram ads to consider, but we’ll focus on the ones that apply most to creatives. 

Photo ads are the most basic form you can use on the platform, and are a nice tribute to Instagram’s origins as a photo-first app. If you are already creating visual content, , try refining it further with certain online tools. A common one creatives use is the background remover tool from Picsart. This helps to elevate and isolate the subject of your ad, engaging the viewer's attention more effectively.

It’s best to make your photos appear as organically as possible, as if they were always meant to be in the feed as your audience scrolls. 

Video ads work best when your brand or content needs movement or sound to showcase its qualities. We all know video is king these days and if you add royalty-free music to your ads, you’re sure to engage your audience even further.

Stories ads come in both photo and video flavors and can offer the highest engagement. Many users often open the app and head straight to their stories for the latest updates, and with over 500 million accounts viewing stories each day, you can hit the jackpot. 

As with the photo ads, ensuring that your ad blends in organically is important for optimal engagement. Using the features provided by Instagram like gifs, filters, and interactive features like polls, will all help to keep your ads appearing as natural as possible.

Carousels Convert

Carousels offer the best of all Instagram ads features into one powerful package. You can include photos and video, as well as have them appear in the feed or in stories. Carousels allow for a deeper look into your brand as users swipe through engaging photos or videos.

As always, the most effective ads should be cohesive and with up to 10 slides at your disposal, you have an opportunity to tell a captivating story. Carousels that start with an interesting CTA or question often encourage users to stop and swipe left.

Partner With a Micro-influencer

When Instagram first started, users mostly only followed their friends to keep up with their daily adventures. Today, celebrities, meme pages, and influencers dominate the space. This provides a unique opportunity to associate your brand with individuals that your audience trust and most likely rely on for the newest trends and products. 

Instagram has made it easier than ever to search for potential influencers to collaborate with, even allowing you to filter by age, gender, location, and follower count. The program is so robust that these influencers can have official affiliate links that make it a breeze to collaborate with your brand.

Don’t Forget the Music

Making the extra effort to make your ads more engaging doesn’t have to be cumbersome.

Adding music to even a 10-second ad will make it more engaging and can give a viewer another reason to linger just a bit longer. Finding the perfect royalty-free track for your video ad is beyond seamless with Loudly.

You can upload your clip to our platform and preview hundreds of tracks alongside your video. In minutes, you can have your ad exported and uploaded to Instagram with a unique song that is sure to engage your users over an ad with no sound.

When it comes to creating Instagram ads, you have a bevy of tools that you can tweak and perfect to drive the most engagement to your brand. It may take some time, but the growth in traffic will make it well worth it.