The world has moved from posting minute to minute updates of their lives to capturing every moment and sharing it with the whole world. And for this, the social media giant Instagram is to blame. Instagram has over a billion active monthly users who consume content on the platform, and moreover, about 33% of those users will make a business transaction on the platform.
Due to the high engagement rate, Instagram is a much sought after tool to make events a grand success and market businesses. However, due to a large amount of content uploaded on to the platform every minute, one must ensure that their content stands out. Even for sponsored content like ads, the consumer would not give it a second thought if it doesn’t pique their interest within the first few seconds.
For this reason, a creative and well-tailored ad is essential for event invitations and business ads on Instagram. Fortunately, there are an array of applications available that can come with attractive free invitation templates for you to build your ad on.
Creating The Right Ad
Ads on Instagram help users take cognizance of your business or your event. Instagram pushes its ads on its feed as well as spreads it out between user stories. Instagram itself has admitted that users today are looking for videos, and those are receiving the most engagement, especially on stories.
There are a few technical aspects to Instagram ad-making that one should keep in mind for the best result –
1. The first impression can be the very last – Instagram users scroll quickly through their feeds, stopping only if something grabs their attention. And that something is usually the first second of a video or the thumbnail. Another point to note is that by default, Instagram videos do not play with their sounds. So ensuring movement in the very first second is key.
2. Word of wisdom – Even though pictures may well be worth a thousand words, words are still necessary. The right text is important for users to warm up to your ad. Using unique features that are most wanted by users ensures that they’ll stick around to watch your video. Having a friendly font that is easily read is important as nobody will strain their eyes to read an extremely cursive artistic piece of text in the very first second.
3. Thumbnail magic – The first thing the user sees about your video is the thumbnail. Ensure that it is attractive with the right balance of colors and include broad strokes of your idea in the text. Give a glimpse of your business or event in the thumbnail itself in order to hold the user’s gaze.
4. Make ads in the right dimension – Unlike Facebook or Twitter, Instagram doesn’t allow users to click on the thumbnail of the video to expand it. This means that any video on the Instagram feed is stuck in a 1:1 ratio, whereas any video on the story feed is stuck in a 9:16 ratio. Creating an ad to fit the right dimension is important to grab user attention; nobody likes to see a video that seems to be too callously made to even fit.
5. Loopable videos – Instagram plays a video right from it where left off when a user scrolls back. Making loopable videos ensures that the video seems consistent.
6. Make it clickable – Whether your event needs one to register, or wants the user to check out your personal page, Instagram ads make it possible by being clickable; nobody is going to fumble around the app or the internet to find your product. A big drawback of Instagram has always been the fact that you cannot add a link in the description of photo or video, or add one directly to your story. Fortunately, business pages and ads have bypassed this by adding the “See More” feature on Instagram story ads and the “Visit Now” feature on ads in the Instagram feed.
Stand Out
It has been a long-standing tradition in advertising to sell stories and not a product. In that sense, Instagram is no different from traditional marketing. A well-told story garners a better response and engagement from users all around.
1. Tell a story – To stand amidst the crowd, tell a story through your videos. If you are hosting a product launch, share stories of the people that made the product. Share the idea behind the product straight from the mouth of the people that made it. This piques people’s interest in your product as they now connect it with human faces.
2. Content and not ad – Users respond to videos that look less like ads and more like genuine content. Do not push your invite like its business as usual. Instead, use genuine activities and client or artisan stories to make authentic video content that a user will enjoy watching. This ensures maximum engagement.
3. Make it an interactive experience – For stories, make them engaging and interesting. Ask a question, set a poll, make the user want to interact with your video. The more they engage, the better their chances of checking out your event is.
4. Hype it up – Create a series of invites releasing each after a little time interval. Release a little information each time to build up anticipation. This hypes up your event further and makes people want to be a part of it.
5. Make it gorgeous – All said and done, nobody will click on an ad unless it truly grabs their attention. Use bombastic colors, classy by loud fonts, and upbeat music to make them want to check your event out. If you are using an app like InVideo, use readymade themes with music, color enhancing options, and several filters to make the most attractive invites you can think of.
6. Know what people want – Instagram, with its ever-increasing user base, is a gold mine of user-generated data. One search through the app tells you what kind of content users have been most engaged to. Try to emulate the core values of such content while not losing your own style, and your video should trend fairly well.
7. Use the right hashtags – Instagram hashtags are a world of their own. Although ads are pushed onto user feed by the app itself, still using the most relevant hashtags can mean the world of difference for your ad’s reach.
With its rapidly increasing user base, Instagram is a goldmine for advertisers. Users are continuously bombarded with information. Making invites that people genuinely want to check out is the only way to get your event noticed.
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