Video marketing is the future and Instagram is one of the most sought after channels of video promotion after YouTube. Recently, Instagram increased the video length to 60 seconds. Needless to say it was received warmly by online marketers who aspire to promote and attract visitors with a tailored video content. Along with creative aspect, promoting videos on Instagram requires a touch of genius.
Here are some tips as to how you can promote Video ads to drive sales and garner sufficient exposure for your brand:
1- Have An Objective For Your Video Ads
Instagram just like any other social platform is ever changing. The trends and patterns can see a significant shift overnight. Before settling up for any strategy it is essential to know the objective of the video and then give reasons to the viewer to follow or share it with their peers.
If you look at the best video ads uploaded on Instagram in April 2016, you can clearly see their marketing strategy and its effectiveness. Here are some key takeaways:
- The videos should be in sync with the Instagram culture.
- Any product promotion should be done by evoking user curiosity.
- Videos should leverage the power of storytelling.
- They should encourage engagement by involving audience through feedback/experience.
Keep your audience as the focal point and tailor compelling video content to attract likes. Use Instagram analytics to keep a track of Ad performance which can be useful for future evaluations.
2- Segment Your Audience and Follow Niche Targeting
It is important to segment and understand the behavior of your audience before you start to target them. Niche audiences have maximum chances of conversions and engagement. Here are the top 2 ways as to how you can use the Instagram dashboard to segment your target audience:
- Lookalike audience: As the name suggests the ads are displayed to users who show a similar activity trend as that of your existing audience.
- Remarketing: With remarketing you can display your advertisement to the audience which has visited your website in the past.
Targeted ad campaign filters out uninterested parties which only result in waste of time and resources. Choose wisely and research into who are inclined to be impressed with what you want to promote.
3- Align with Influencers In Order to Make Your Video Ads Go Viral
A single Instagram video ad shared by an influencer increases visibility and brings in new set of audience. An ideal strategy for influencer tactics to promote Video ads can be broken down into following parts:
- Evaluate the marketing metrics: Check if CPA (Cost per Acquisition) and CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) is cost effective with what you had done previously without an influencer. In all probability, aligning with an influencer always turns out to be a profitable tactic.
- Target Different Influencers for Different Marketing Goals: Influencers should cater to different aspects of a marketing goal. From the database of the existing influencers, the most appropriate influencer according to your marketing goals can be chosen to get relevant exposure.
- Design a strategic collaboration: What you want to achieve is what an influencer should help you with. Do not post anything that appears outlandish to what the influencer account is.
- Use tracking parameters to monitor campaigns: Monitor KPI’s to know how it is being received by the audience.
- Access and optimize: The last step is to understand what worked and what needs to be left out for future campaigns.
4- Do Not Miss Out On Any HashTag
Hashtags are the smallest piece of search query which users refer to when sharing any information. It is recommended to craft a unique tag for your brand while promoting your products or services. It can work like a charm if you are able to couple it up with a social cause.
Hashtags help to:
- Increase communication with the brand.
- Be visible for specific requirements.
- Access brand reach.
- Increase total link clinks.
- Get better understanding of trends.
5- Involve Your Audience and Make Your Video Ads More Real
Involve your audience into your marketing strategy. Every video that has a real person in it sharing or using the company product has greater impact on audience psych that the random marketing videos. Ensure, you are using conversion tracking to identify the real value of every visitor. No wonder many renowned companies have real people who are no different to targeted audience in their marketing video.
The pictures or videos your loyal audience shares on their own Instagram page can be great to engage new audience and convert them into followers. Gopro shared the story of Para sprinter and added a website link to direct users to drive traffic to the webpage.
The more real you make your Instagram video ads the better purpose it would serve. People have instant connection which can make a great difference to the overall ROI.
6- Put Everything to Test
Do not limit your video ad campaign to just one format. Use A/B testing to check the productivity of different video formats. Sometimes, micro videos can do much better and generate a greater publicity as compared to longer videos. Instead of resting on the decision of the HIPPO (Highly Paid Person’s Opinion), is always preferred to get everything tested. Even a minute change can have significant amount of impact on the overall productivity of an Instagram Video Ad campaign.
It is necessary to be patient and persistent in your efforts to be a successful brand on Instagram. With the above-mentioned points, your Instagram marketing video campaign can set the ball rolling for your marketing objectives.
