5 Steps To Creating An Instagram Advertising Campaign

Subscribe to our industry digest for the latest news and trends on top Instagrammers, YouTubers, bloggers, & Snapchatters!

How To Create An Instagram Advertising Campaign With Influencers

Instagram now has more than 500 million active users who spend 23 minutes on the app every day (CNBC). Despite the platform’s large audiences, a recent survey found that only 36% of marketers use Instagram for marketing compared to 93% who advertise on Facebook (e-Commerce CEO). As the app becomes increasingly crowded with content, collaborating with high-reach, high-engagement Instagram influencers now provides the best way for brands to reach the platform’s massive user base.

[Tweet “Only 36% of brands market on Instagram compared to 93% advertising on Facebook.”]

Why Influencers Are Key To A Successful Instagram Advertising Campaign

Working with the platform’s most popular content creators can help companies maximize campaign ROI by leveraging each Instagrammer’s large social media audience. While reach is one of the most prevalent reasons why brands develop partnerships with social media influencers, Instagram’s high engagement rates—especially for photos and videos created by Instagram’s digital stars—can increase visibility by telling Instagram’s algorithm to boost brand-sponored posts to the top of social media users’ feeds.

5 Steps To Creating An Instagram Advertising Campaign

For the uninitiated, developing an influencer-driven Instagram advertising campaign may seem like a daunting process. To develop and launch an Instagram marketing campaign with social media influencers, companies should follow these steps:

1. Establish Your Audience

Knowing which marketing demographics to target is the first step to developing an effective Instagram advertising campaign. Once a brand determines what type of user is most likely to become a customer, it’s far easier for companies to…

2. Find The Right Instagram Influencer(s)

Choosing an Instagrammer with followers who would be interested in a brand’s products or services is a large determinant of a campaign’s success, though companies should also look at an influencer’s engagement rates (especially in light of discoveries that some social media stars purchase “fake” followers) and quality of their content to ensure the partnership will be mutually beneficial.

3. Collaborate On The Best Instagram Advertising Campaign Strategy

To develop and launch a successful Instagram advertising campaign, both brand and Instagrammer must work together to create content that accomplishes the company’s goals while still appealing to the social influencer’s audience. To create an impactful campaign, brands must:

Give necessary information about the campaign, including an overview of marketing strategy, relevant talking points and/or verbiage, and any hashtags or links that must be included within the description of the photo or video.
Allow the Instagrammer to create content based on what they believe will generate the most engagement with their audience.
Review photo(s) and/or video(s), communicate directly with the social media influencer about edits, and approve content for publication.
Coordinate with Instagrammer on the best time to post.
Be sure sponsored posts include a clear indication of sponsorship per FTC guidelines.

4. Engage The Audience

Encourage user engagement by incorporating giveaways, promotional codes, and/or contests within the Instagram advertising campaign and asking the Instagrammer to include these strategies in the sponsored post’s description. Mentioning other users, selecting a post location, and creating branded hashtags are other simple and effective ways to increase social shares/likes and boost post visibility.

5. Measure Campaign Success

Once the brand-sponsored post goes live, monitor content for engagement (i.e. likes, shares, and social comments). To increase campaign success, brands may also cross promote content throughout other social media channels and ask partnering influencer(s) to do the same.