Tips on how to create Effective Video Ads for Instagram
- Create ad videos for Instagram without mistakes
- How to create video ads for Instagram
- Stage 1 - make a video ad for Instagram
- Campaign settings to create video ads for Instagram
- Stage 2 – how to make short video ads for Instagram coverage
- Campaign settings for custom video Ads
- Conclusion
Have ever run video ads for Instagram and it did not go so well? It is probably because you are just blending in with every other Advertiser with no real strategy. Before you do that, did you know that there is a better way to run Instagram ads that are going get you much more profitable long-term results and spend way less of your money? Today we are going to break down the exact strategy so you can get your results to increase using just one ad type in a very affordable budget. The reason this strategy works so well is because it plays into actual human psychology and known buying behavior.
Create ad videos for Instagram without mistakes
The big mistake that most small businesses make when it comes to advertising on Instagram is they run an ad to a cold audience who does not know them yet, asking for a sale or for their e-mail address. But the problem is, buying decisions just are not made that quickly, so you end up spending a lot to advertise to people who are not worth the money because they are not ready to buy yet. They are not warmed up to you as a business yet. So, how can you reach those same people for a lot less money?
How to create video ads for Instagram
It is called the omnipresent Reel strategy, which means showing up over and over again in a smart sequence of ads that consistently puts you in front of your target audience more often than your competition. And it mimics the way people might naturally find you online, gradually getting to know, like, and trust you. This sequence just puts it all on hyperdrive helping quickly move people from “never heard of you before” all the way through “I am ready to take my money now!”. Meanwhile, your competition will just fall away into the sea of mediocre Instagram advertisers banging their heads on the propeller of negative ROI.
This strategy works best with Instagram Reels ad placement because it is where the most eyeballs are on the platform right now since it is what Instagram pushes the most instead of being an image-sharing app.
Stage 1 - make a video ad for Instagram
We divide this approach into two stages. And stage one is to create your magnet ad. This ad should not even remotely resemble an ad. It won’t mention your business or paid services at all, as the only goal of this Reel is to attract the right people who would be perfect customers and get them to watch at least a part of your video and to get everyone else to just swipe on past.
- Create a really short clip that’s closely related to your business niche and either informs or inspires on that topic. And the idea is everyone who is interested enough to watch it would likely be your perfect customer.
In this video, we would not recommend following trends on the platform as they are inconsistent and forever changing. Instead, we can do a video that will serve its purpose for at least one year. Think of your customer’s biggest problem or stumbling block that is in their way right now. Then make a short video giving them one piece of advice or the three tips or the truth behind the common myth that’s standing in their way. The idea is to inspire them and to believe that what they want is possible and maybe you are giving them a shortcut to a quick win that they can achieve on their own.
Campaign settings to create video ads for Instagram
Now we need to choose an Engagement objective at a campaign level. Then we get to the ad set level where they ask you to set your conversion location. You’ll choose “On your ad” and then under engagement type select “Video views”. As it comes to the budget, start out with $10 or so which is going to be enough to start building your custom audience of your best customer matches. Instagram is a part of Facebook and the Facebook has the cleverest algorithm that you can possibly imagine. So thrust the algorithm on that and do not be picky on region or area selections which will just limit the algorithm in turn and attract fewer prospects to your business.
Stage 2 – how to make short video ads for Instagram coverage
Now we are going to make custom videos for Instagram ads to cover as many categories of customers as possible with 10 different Reels. Each of those videos is to satisfy a specific objective that will be shown to your prospects in a repeated rotation so you show up in front of your audience on a set schedule of two ads per day. So here are the types:
- 2 helpful tips or “how to” style videos
These are to deliver even more value to your custom ad audience. They are pretty much of the same style as your magnet ad, delivering a quick tip or two, or action steps to get a result, but the extra bonus here is if you happen to have any clips of you delivering these tips from a stage or during a podcast where you were interviewed as an expert guest and spotlighted.
- 2 advice style videos
These are not specific instructions, but just giving your two cents on a subject related to your business.
- One inspirational video
This type of content is to convey what’s possible. For instance, if you are an accountant, you might talk about how to structure your business save on taxes, and become profitable. We do not tell how to set it up that way but just paint the mental picture of what that could look like afterward.
- A hot take ad
In this video, we talk about a belief we have or an opinion that your best customers would likely agree with. For instance, you can say that “Social media is NOT the new website” and explain why you thought that. And everyone who agrees is on the same page with you now. This is designed to pull people one way or the other on you telling them that you are not for everyone and declaring who you are for.
- 2 Exhibits
These ads are essentially to prove that what you offer works. Show a video testimonial from a customer or a study where you explain the results you got for someone.
- The Coffee Date ad
This is where we ask our customers for a small commitment and to meet you somewhere off of Instagram, like your website/blog/Livestream/podcast. Doing a smaller ask before making a bigger one is a little step to conquer your customer. If they say YES to you once it is much more likely to say it twice in a row.
- Offer they can’t refuse Ad
With this ad, we call for action and invite our customers to a free consultation call a free month of service trial, or a discount. This one ad is a recap, so it should be crystal clear, including the benefits of the offer and the ways to get it (click the link).
Campaign settings for custom video Ads
The best length for Instagram video ads in these regards is from 30 to 60 seconds which is within Reels length in general and you want to run them under the “Avareness” campaign objective because you want everyone who watched your Magnet Ad to be seeing these. And to make sure that happens, under the “Audience”, you will just click ‘Create new’ and then click ‘Custom Audience’. Under ‘Meta source’ you’ll choose “Video” and then click next. Here we choose people who viewed at least three seconds, then you’ll just choose the right video which should be the one you used for your Magnet Ad. Then under ‘Retention’ set it to 90 days which will make sure that people who stayed in your audience long enough to either convert or show that they are not interested. And it keeps your audience large enough to make sure that your Ads actually show. 90 days is also short enough to make sure your audience is continuously refreshing itself. Under placements choose manual, then go down and make sure only Instagram Reels and Facebook Reels are selected.
Conclusion
Now we have everything set to make your audience see two of your Ads every day for the length of the campaign in a rolling randomized sequence so you stay in front of them but they don’t get bored seeing the same ad or two over and over again. So the way will ensure that they see all of them more or less equally is you want each Ad to be in its own Ad set and you can do that in the ‘Optimization for Ad Delivery’ setting. Click on ‘Show more options’ below and set the frequency cap to 1 impression every 5 days. That means each Ad will only show every 5 days which will average out to your audience seeing two ads from you every single day.
Start each ad set out at one dollar per day so between these 10 ads plus the magnet ad you are looking at spending twenty dollars per day or only $600 per month.
Author
IT entrepreneur and co-founder of VJump. His passion is travel photography, within which, he has already visited 75 countries. Photos taken during his travels are actively posted on his social networks. For example, his Instagram account has more than 1 million followers.
In addition, his documentary short film Terra del Fuego was awarded more than 30 international awards and certificates at film festivals worldwide.
