Which format you choose for your Instagram ad can have an impact on how effective your ads are. There are 4 main formats and you want to make sure to choose the right one for your specific advertisement and objective.

Ads in Instagram can appear in the Feed, Stories or the Explore feature (they will not appear on the Explore grid, but may appear after someone taps on a photo or video) and will have a “Sponsored” icon as well as a call-to-action button if you desire.

You can choose between an image, video, carousel or story as the format for your ad. Each one has its own aesthetic and can serve specific ads and goals.

Images

The available orientations for images are square, landscape or vertical. It’s worth noting that Instagram is highly optimized for mobile and a vertical orientation will take up the most screen space. When creating image ads, according to Facebook, best practices are to make sure your images are on brand, are concept driven and well crafted.

Aesthetically your images should be recognizably your brand, even without a logo. This is often accomplished with a color scheme, usually your company’s colors. Using a filter consistently throughout your organic posts will help build your Instagram aesthetic and will help when it comes to your ads.

Using a concept to construct your ads can be done in a few ways. Think about how you want this image to make your target audience feel. Often an effective way to do this is to put your product or service in the context of a story, use both the imagery and caption to build a story.

It should go without saying that your ads need to look good. Instagram is all about visuals.

Image ads are effective when used for promoting products, a highly effective tool for marketing in the ecommerce industry.

Videos

Video ads can be done in square or landscape. Remember that you have 60 seconds or less to get your point across. These ads are best when they are paced quickly with multiple scenes in order to keep attention and stop people from scrolling on by. Ideally you need an attention grabber immediately.

Another option for video is a looping slideshow that combines up to 10 images.

Video ads are perfect for showing a product in action. If your product is designed to perform an action, like a vacuum for example, instead of showing a static image of a vacuum, show the vacuum in action.

Carousel

A Carousel ad features 2 or more (up to 10) images and/or videos in 1 ad. These will show in either square or vertical orientation on Feed and Stories. You can even use 1 bigger image that splits into multiple images called a canvas ad.

Carousel ads are really cool for a number of uses. You can tell a story through images, explain a process or show different versions of the same product.

The ability to have both images and videos in 1 ad is definitely something to take note of, if you catch the attention of a potential customer they can get more in depth into your product without any extra effort.

Stories

It is recommended to use full screen sizing for these ads in order to maximize on space, but the other orientations are also supported. These ads will appear in between stories of accounts that someone follows and are most effective when:

• They get right to the point
• Are fast paced and use multiple scenes to grab and keep attention
• Use motion
• Don’t include prices
• Have sound
• Use focal point text to drive conversions
• Emphasize a call to action

Stickers are another option that can make your ads seem more casual and friendly, just remember not to overdo it.

Conclusion

Instagram’s various ad formats can deliver for whatever your advertising goals may be. Picking the right format can contribute to the difference between an effective ad campaign and one that falls flat. Try a few of them out and see which are giving you the best results.

What is your go to format?

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