There is too much online noise. Take a moment to put things in perspective. Statista reports that Instagram has over 1 billion active users. Around 500 million people also use the stories feature. Commonly, organic posts are hard to reach on these platforms.
Do you think that social media platforms will no longer be able to provide the same benefits? It’s not true. You need to post more than organic content. You should instead create an ad campaign and use the advertising feature on such platforms.
In the case of Instagram’s video ads, you can be sure to catch your audience’s attention. What is the feature? Don’t worry! You can find a complete guide on this topic here.
Instagram Video Ads – What they are and How to Use Them
This ad’s name is self-explanatory. Video ads are more engaging than static ads or ads on a carousel. They allow you to tell a story that is immersive and eye-catching. You have more time and space to engage your audience than a static blog post.
You can, for example, show the audience how to use your product, share your portfolio, or create an aspirational advertisement to appeal to their imagination.
Imagine combining this strategy with a gamification-based marketing approach, where you offer a discount or coupon to consumers who engage with your advertisement. You can then improve your advertising campaign.
Both Instagram stories and Instagram feeds can promote video ads. The ad size may differ between the two placements.
Instagram’s video ad specifications are as follows:
- Resolution: You should use a resolution of 600 x600 pixels or square. The maximum resolution is 1080 x1080 pixels.
- Aspect ratios can be either 1:1 or 1.9 to 1, which is a ratio of yard and landscape, respectively.
- The length of the advertisement can vary from three to sixty seconds.
- The maximum size for a video is 4 GB.
Why do you need Instagram video ads for your brand?
Brands will benefit from this change, no matter how large or small.
SingleBrain’s research shows that video content is the most popular, irrespective of your audience. Video content is more accessible for the brain to process and more engaging.
According to the study below, conducted in 2015, on average, US adults spend 38.5 hours per week watching videos! This is a lot more time than people spend at work.
In short, people prefer videos over text. This is not surprising, given the recent popularity of YouTube influencers and TikTok.
Instagram video ads are different from other formats because they don’t feel intrusive. They are also more challenging to ignore than static posts.
Native, in-feed ads can help brands get noticed naturally without forcing the audience to watch an advertisement they do not want to.
How to create a video that will make an impact
Here are ways to create Instagram ads worth the money spent creating and distributing them.
Make a good impression within the first three seconds.
Know why gamification is held in high regard? Gamification is a great way to engage your customers instantly. What if you want to incorporate this strategy into your video ads but only in some of them?
The first few seconds are crucial. Instagram users are known to be quick to scroll their feeds, so you must make them stop and watch your video immediately.
You should move within the first 3 seconds of the video. It allows the users to recognize, even without sound, that it is a video, not just a picture. It is essential to have an engaging hook, visually or in text.
You can learn how to write an appropriate text.
Never rely on the audio in the Instagram video. It is muted. It would help if you didn’t count on captions alone.
Use dynamic text effects instead to highlight the critical points of your video. This will ensure that your target audience stays within the core of the content.
It would be best if you also mastered the art of using the right amount of text. Less text can make a point difficult to understand, but too much text will cause the audience to lose interest.
Decide how you want to phrase your words based on the length and visuals of your advertisement.
Find a need, and then solve the problem.
All effective ads must identify unmet needs in their lives and demonstrate how the brand’s product meets that needs.
This will help you to form a functional and emotional bond with potential customers. Instead of focusing on your value, begin with the problems that customers face. Introduce your product as the solution.
One Call to Action
Would you like to increase brand awareness? Do you wish to increase the number of app downloads? Only ride one boat simultaneously. Stick to one theme and goal for a campaign.
An advertisement designed to increase brand awareness may have a different message than intended to improve downloads and subscriptions. Video ads trying to do it all can look more like a sales pitch.
The last thing customers want when they scroll through social media is to feel like they’re being bombarded by brands trying their best to sell them products.
Avoid looking like an advertisement.
The modern consumer is very skeptical of advertising. This is understandable, given how intrusive some ad campaigns are. It is only natural to be weary of the constant barrage of advertising. To get noticed, brands must continue to advertise.
You can at least try to hide yourself. Take measures to not look like an advertisement.
Swiggy
Swiggy is one of India’s most extensive food delivery services. To attract attention, they used a humorous video campaign.
Instagram Stories allows them to create video ads that begin with mouthwatering food. It is enough to grab the attention of a foodie. The captions in the ad are used to describe the features of Swiggy, and the ad ends with a picture of a smartphone – an image that encourages people to download the application.
Burger King
Two Burger King campaigns are worth a spotlight.
Story Ordering
Burger King is one of the best examples of gamification in marketing. It is because Burger King offered a unique incentive using different formats.
Although it’s not a video ad per se, this campaign deserves to be on the list. Burger King created a viral “Stories Ordering” campaign using Instagram stories, polls, and video backgrounds.
Instagram users can customize their orders by using polls embedded in stories. The user would then get a voucher for a free burger based on the customized burger they created. The campaign was a hit because it used visually appealing backgrounds for the poll, and the idea was unique.
ASL Day Ad
A video advertisement circulated during American Sign Language Day (ASL) also elicited a lot of emotion and interaction. They used their mascots to sign a captioned message. Instagram was used for this campaign as a subtle hint at consumer behavior on the social media platform.