5 Common Instagram Ad Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

For quite some time, Instagram advertising has been a hot subject. How could it not be, given the continuously increasing number of Instagram users? Instagram has surpassed one billion users, according to data. It’s particularly noteworthy that around two-thirds of these individuals use Instagram daily. This implies you have daily access to a vast Instagram user base, which you should use to boost your popularity.

After Facebook purchased Instagram in 2013, it began giving ad spaces to select businesses. After introducing Instagram advertising to all businesses in 2015, it exploded in popularity, reaching one million advertisers by 2017. Advertisers can manage Instagram ads directly in Facebook Ads Manager, which offers a variety of audience targeting options. Even while the same ad can be displayed on both Facebook and Instagram, we recommend designing different ads.

For example, if you want to run an ad on Instagram Story that is presented in a vertical format of 9:16, you won’t make an ad for a feed that is displayed in a horizontal format of 16: 9 and simply designate that it is also featured on the Story.

1. Establish your ad budget and timeline

Crop anonymous financier planning budget writing numbers in notebook

When it comes to budgeting and scheduling Instagram advertising, you have a lot of flexibility in terms of when and how much you spend on them. First and foremost, you must decide between a daily and a total budget.

A daily budget, such as only $5, allows you to run your adverts endlessly as long as you wish to spend $5 per day on advertising and don’t care how much it will cost in one day. The entire budget, which you specify at the start, for example, $150, will only be shown for the period you specify. For example, $8.50 each day from May 15 to June 15.

2. Not switching to the business account

Instagram has two fundamental operating modes: personal and commercial accounts. Unlike most users’ private accounts, Instagram has created a business account for businesses. This account is important as it provides a new level of Instagram control. By transferring the profile to the business account, the user gains access to very precise statistics.

They allow them to track the success of their Instagram profile, as well as the ability to create ads and various call-to-action components via Instagram. You can quickly set up a business account in the settings, and you can switch back to your account at any moment.

3. Oversegmentation of the audience

Woman's hand writing the word "audience" on a whiteboard, with arrows.

You’ll generally want to keep your campaign architecture simple, with highly segmented campaigns and ad groups, so you can track what works and what doesn’t. On Instagram, it’s sometimes a shame to keep the audience too segmented. You must guarantee that you have sufficient data for Instagram to continue to thrive.

You’ll never get out of the learning phase on Instagram if you split your audience too much and put it in multiple sets of adverts. If you split your targeting options into 10 separate ad sets instead of 3-4, it costs more to reach the same audience. Make your audience mappings as reasonable as possible, but don’t limit them too much.

4. Using only photo ads

If you want to have a successful Instagram ad campaign, you need to create video advertisements. Video is becoming a more popular way to express yourself online, but it’s also becoming more popular as a way to advertise on Instagram. Instagram allows you to create 60-second-long video advertising.

Videos may represent a variety of aspects of your product or service, which is why they are so popular in advertising. If you’re not sure how to use video to your advantage, show how to use some of the services or items you have to offer. Videos perform much better than just plain text or photos, so be sure to utilize them.

5. No knowledge of the complexities regarding budget control

Laptop frustrated

When it comes to budgeting, Instagram offers some of the most diverse options in the digital advertising world. These various options are terrific tools for seasoned advertisers, but they can be somewhat bewildering for newcomers.

While your campaigns will continue to aim to achieve as many conversion targets as feasible, daily budgets will work to spend your whole budget each day regardless of performance conversions. You can always make changes if you don’t receive the results you want from your Instagram ads or feel like you’re not getting the most bang for your buck.

Wrapping Up

Instagram advertising is a terrific approach to not only improve brand awareness but also to acquire new customers. Many brands and businesses have grown as a result of not making the mistakes mentioned in this article. Instagram has quickly become one of the most important platforms for online advertising, and it’s up to you to maximize its potential.