Are you considering using Instagram for your small business? Instagram is one of the most popular social media networks, with over 800 million users. Selling is much easier on Instagram than on other social networks.

Instagram allows you to create well-rounded campaigns for users at all stages of your funnel, thus effectively building brand awareness and drive conversions at the same time. This means that you may want to consider Instagram advertising as a way to promote your products and services. The advanced targeting options, allow you to inexpensively reach users based on location, age, education level, marital status, and more.

And your competitors are there already.

How Does Instagram Advertising Work?
As a user scrolls through their Instagram feed, they will see sponsored posts in between their feed. The difference between a Sponsored post and a regular post is the word “Sponsored” on the top left.
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A call to action banner is displayed at the bottom of the image, and you can choose between “Learn More,” “Shop Now,” “Sign Up,” and more. When one clicks on the banner, they are sent to the webpage designated for the ad.

Why you should advertise on Instagram
I promise you that Instagram is not just a fad or for young people. With over 800 million users and still growing, it is highly likely that your target audience is using the app. Here are some compelling reasons to consider advertising on Instagram:

High engagement: Because Instagram is strictly a photo sharing app, the platform is not as noisy in the news feed as Facebook. This will allow you to benefit from a much higher engagement with your posts.

Targeting capabilities: You can target your ads so they only show to users who mirror your current audience.

Tracking: You are able to measure data to help you understand if your ad campaign is working or not. It allows you to view how many people see, click and convert after seeing your ad all in one dashboard.

Types of Instagram ads
Instagram offers five ad formats:
• photos
• videos
• carousels
• canvas Story ads
• Story ads

You can create and edit your Instagram Ads in Facebook Ad Manager. This allows you to take advantage of Facebook’s wealth of user information for targeting your audience with laser precision.

To Hashtag Or Not To Hashtag?
While it is best practice to place hashtags on every single Instagram post they don’t necessarily belong on Instagram Ads. Hashtags on Instagram Ads tend to look slightly out of place. The ads look cleaner with simple, concise text.

Want great results from Instagram and Ads on Instagram, but your not sure how to start? Contact us at Boswell-Buck Creative and let's chat about the amazing things that you can do!

What product or service do you provide? Will you be considering Instagram Ads to promote your brand?
#instagramads #facebookads #digitalmarketing  #instagrammarketing #smallbusiness

Did you know that everyday, over 300 million people use Instagram Stories? This means that there is a huge amount on the platform, and that some of these people are your ideal client. So, let's break down why you should be using Stories for your business.

1. They are visible for 24 hrs! So you can post anytime!
It is recommended that you post to Stories at least twice per day. At least 10-12 hours apart. This allows you to be in the feed at all times.

2. Instagram Stories are discoverable and searchable
This is cool because if people don't follow you they can still see your Stories. During a hashtag search your Instagram Stories that have the hashtag will appear at the top of the feed.

3. You can download and repurpose them
You can download individual posts, or even whole stories to use again for another piece of content (in another social media platform like Facebook or LinkedIn).

4. Live Stream to your audience
You can stream live video to your followers that will disappear from your feed in 24 hours. Or, if you want to replay or share videos for later, click Save after ending the video stream.

5. You won't be bombarding your audience
You can post as many videos and photos to your story as you wish - and it won't affect your main news feed.

6. You can show your personality and creativity
You you can choose from one of the pen type options to doodle on your photo, add emojis or select a color filter. You can give sneak peaks of whats new, post how to's or behind the scenes at your place of work.

Are you currently or will you be using Instagram Stories for your business?

I have always pondered over the thought that small business owners rely heavily on one social media platform. Mainly Facebook. However, with everything happening with Facebook right now I decided to share my thoughts.

​Are you a small business owner? I would love to know your thoughts.