Instagram Video Ad: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Yours

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Instagram Video Ad: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Yours

An Instagram video ad can be used by a brand or business to promote their products and services. Originally a photo sharing app, Instagram Video was launched in 2013 with over five million videos uploaded within 24 hrs. It along with WhatsApp now belong to Facebook.

With over 1 billion monthly active users and 500 million daily active users, Instagram is a great place to advertise your business or services to a global market that cuts across different age groups and demographics.

However, most business owners have no clue what is Instagram
Video ad or how to create an Instagram Video ad to promote their businesses. In
this post we’ll highlight these and show you how to create your first video ad,
but first

What Is Instagram Video Ad?

Instagram video offers numerous options for businesses including in-feed video and Instagram Stories video ads, as well as photo ads and carousel ads. These options are also available to non-business users.

In layman terms, Instagram video ad is a type of traditional
video advertisement designed to a mobile-first standard as specified by the
social network. Instagram video ads are standard video ads whose lengths could
be anywhere from   a few seconds to 60
seconds.

In-Feed Video Ads

With Instagram video ads you can combine the power of sight,
sound and motion (in either landscape or square format) to promote your
business to the 500 million + daily active users. In-Feed Video ads make video
advertisement organic since it fits naturally into social media app layout.
Instagram users engage these video ads as they would every other in-feed
videos.

Carousel Video Ads

The introduction of carousel ads by Instagram provides
another layer of depth to video advertisement campaigns, allowing users view
layers of photo or video ad with a simple swipe. Carousel ads give business
owners opportunity to upload more than one video in a single advert.

Instagram Stories Ads

Instagram Stories affords the option of complementing your
feed content with ads on Instagram Stories. With Instagram Stories, you can
connect with over 500 million accounts using stories daily. Usage of Instagram
Stories Ads has gained traction as 50% of businesses on
Instagram worldwide created at least one story during a typical
month
.

Some Other Interesting
Instagram Statistics

  •  Over 1 billion monthly active users
  • Over 500 million daily active users
  •  50 billion + photos shared since so
    far
  • 25 million businesses registered on Instagram
  • Over 4.2 billion Instagram likes per day
  • Users upload over 100 million photos and videos
    daily
  • Instagram presently has over 2 million monthly advertisers
  • Over 200 million Instagram users visit at least one business profile daily
  • 1/3 of the most viewed stories are from businesses
  • The potential reach of advertising on Instagram is 802 million
  • 70% of shopping enthusiasts turn to Instagram for product
    discovery
  • Females account for 52% of Instagram users, and 42% are males
    as against 57% males and 43% females on Facebook.
  • Around 72% of teens use Instagram
  • 31% of internet users between the ages of 18 and 24 use Instagram and 32% of internet users between the ages of 25 and 34 use Instagram
  • Instagram user-generated content has a 4.5% Higher Conversion Rate.
  • Instagram projected revenue in 2019 is $14 billion.

Now, here’s

How to Set Up and Run Your
First Instagram Video Ad

Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up and running your
first Instagram Video Ad.

Step #1: Research

This is a strategic step towards creating an engaging video ad campaign. Before you begin creating or setting up your Instagram video ads, you should invest quality time researching and exploring your competitors ads. What types of ads are they running? What call-to-actions do they use? How much engagement are they getting?

One productive way to do a competitive research is to visit
two or more competitors Instagram page, their mobile website, product and
landing pages and click on specific products. Some of your competitors may use
Facebook Pixel for Remarketing (an advertising form where users who have
previously visited your website are targeted with ads).

Carrying out Instagram competitor research is a great way to
get some amazing insight and generate ideas for your own unique Instagram video
ads campaign.

Step #2: Set an ideal
Instagram Campaign Objective

Just as in every traditional business, setting up and running
your first Instagram video ad begins with setting clear goals and objectives.
By answering the what, why, when, where, who and how questions, you’d have a
clearer picture of what your video ads should look like.

Though there are similarities between Instagram and Facebook Campaign objectives, not all campaign objectives
available for Facebook can be used on Instagram. A campaign objective is what
you want people to do when they see your ads. It is how you want users to
engage your ads when they see it.

Instagram features default campaign objectives that you can
select from. Whatever objective you choose will influence your ads optimization
and how you pay for them. The following are the campaign objectives you can choose from on Instagram:

  • Brand awareness: targets people more likely to pay attention
    to your ads and increase your brand awareness.
  • Reach: This shows the maximum number of people your ad may
    reach or who may see your ad.
  •  Traffic: Sends people to your website or to your app.
  • App Installs: Takes people to the store where they can
    purchase or download your app.
  • Engagement: measures how people interact with your ads by way
    of comments, likes, shares, etc.
  • Video Views: Promote videos that display product launch or
    customer stories so as to raise your brand awareness.
  • Conversions: This objective
    allows users make a purchase or add payment info on your website or app.

To maximize a conversion objective or remarketing campaign
for users who visit your website, you will have to create and install Facebook
pixel first. A Facebook pixel is a small
piece of code that you can place on your website to track visitors and
conversions.

When you have clear objectives from the onset, it helps you
tailor your campaign video content, target audience and format to these goals,
and you are better able to measure the impact of your Instagram video ads with
more ease.

Step #3: Set Up Your
Instagram Video Ad Target Audience

Having done your research and set clear campaign objectives,
the next hurdle is getting your video ads in front of the eyes – people who are
most likely to convert..

For example, if your business sells gender-specific products,
your video ads will be targeting this gender primarily, and those of other
gender who may likely shop for their partners.

Instagram ads, like Facebook, has targeting based on
demographics, location, behavior, interests etc. There’s also Custom Audience which allows you reach users who have already
interacted with your business, or a Lookalike Audience.

Adjust
custom audience settings as you wish.

You
can also create lookalike audiences,

Using the duo of Facebook’s Audience
Insights which lets you collate insights (geography, demographics, purchase,
behavior etc.) about your target audience, and Google
Analytics, you can narrow your target even further by collecting targeted
information about your audience’s interests, location, behaviour, and
demographics.

The trick here is: the
more narrow the target is, the greater the conversion rate.

Step #4: Build a Creative
Instagram Video Ad

This is the melting pot where the first three steps outlined
above meet. Instagram allows you to make a video ad up to 60 seconds long. However, the
first 3-8 seconds of a mobile video ad matters most, according to data from Facebook IQ. It is also important to note that video ads
under 60 seconds record higher video completion rates, and keep audiences engaged.

In creating your Instagram video ad, consider the following

Instagram Video Ad Technical
Specifications

  • Video Format: MP4 or MOV
  • In-feed Instagram video ads length: 1 seconds – 60 seconds
  • Stories video ads length: 1-15 seconds
  • H.264 compression
  • Stereo: AAC audio compression
    at 128kbps or higher

Vertical Video

  • Max Size and length: 4GB/60 seconds.
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:5
  • Resolution: 600 x 750

Landscape Video

  • Max Size and length: 4GB/60 seconds.
  •  Aspect Ratio: 1:91:1
  • Resolution: 600 x 315

Square Video

  • Max Size and length: 4GB/60 seconds.
  • Aspect Ratio: 1:1.
  • Resolution: 600 x 600

For more on specs for other Instagram video ads such as
Instagram Stories Ads, Instagram Carousel Ads and Instagram Canvas Ads.

With these in place, you’re set to run your first Instagram
video Ad.

Here’s

How to Create Your First
Instagram Video Ad

  1. Link your Instagram
    account to your Facebook Page.

If you have an existing Facebook page, link your Instagram
account to it. Go to settings on your Facebook page and click
Instagram Ads.

Afterward, click “Add your Instagram to get
started”. Fill in your login details and continue to:

  •  Create a Campaign

Go to Facebook Ads Manager and click on ‘Create Campaign’ at the
top left corner of the screen.

  • Set Campaign Objectives

Set clear, pre-determined campaign objectives as discussed in
step #2 above).

You’ll need to install a conversion pixel if your objective
is to increase conversion. To do this, select ‘Create a Pixel’ on the Create
New Ad Set page.

  • Create Your Ad Set

Once your campaign objective has been created, you’re good to
create your Ad Set. This is where you decide and define who you want to see and
engage with your video ads, and how much money you’re willing to expend.

  • Set Your Budget

You have two options for your budget – daily budget and
lifetime budget. A daily budget sets your video ad to run throughout the day.
Thus your spending is paced per day. For a starter, this is a good place to
start. Start with a low budget, and increase your spending if your ad performs
well.

Next, decide whether you want a single image or video in your
ad or multiple images for a Carousel ad. After uploading your video you can add
text to your ad. You are at liberty to pick your headline and text caption.

You will also be able to customize the call-to-action in your
link button if your campaign objective is either conversion or traffic.

Now you can preview how your ad will appear on Instagram – to
the right of the text editor. Once you’re satisfied with what you’re seeing,
click Confirm.

Step #5: Track Your Ad
Performance

This is where you see how users/people are interacting with
your Instagram video ads. Tracking your video ads shows you how it is
performing, and also helps you optimize your performance by adjusting or
editing your Instagram ad campaign as it runs.

You can use:

Power Editor: This is useful in managing
large scale campaigns, as it gives greater control over your campaigns.

Business Manager: This is ideal for a large
team.

Facebook Ads Manager: Are you just starting out
with Instagram advertising? If yes, this is perfect for you.

Your Instagram ad metrics are available at the Ads Manager.
Simply go to the Ads Manager and click on the name of your Instagram Ad
campaign. There you would see a section at the top right that shows Performance, Audience, and Placement Data.

CONCLUSION

When creating Instagram Video ads, spy on your competitors
and learn what works. Also, since you’ll be spending money, make sure to target
your ads properly as much as you can.

With a good video thumbnail and intro you will attract more
eyes and clicks, this is very important since Instagram Videos are muted by
default. Above all, try not to be too salesy, offer real value with a clear
call-to-action at the end of your ad.

Author Bio

Amos Onwukwe is an AWAI trained Business and Ecommerce
Copywriter featured in Huffington Post, Dumb Little Man, Self-Growth, Ecommerce
Nation, eCommerce Insights, Understanding Ecommerce, Result First, Floship,
WeCan, Grow Map, Small Biz Club among others.

 Twitter: @amos_onwukwe