We’ve all been there: You’re scrolling through your Instagram feed and you see an ad that catches your eye, but then you realize it’s not relevant to your actual interests and that’s kind of annoying. What went wrong? Well, in most cases, it comes down to one simple thing: the ad didn’t target the right audience.
In this article, we’ll talk about 8 common mistakes to avoid when running Instagram ads:
1. Not defining a strategy with a set of clear goals
It’s important to have a clear objective for each of your Instagram ads, as this will help you get the most out of your campaign. If you don’t have a clear objective, there’s a chance that your ads won’t work as well as they could. For example, if you want more followers, then it makes sense to use an ad that promotes an offer or discount for new followers. This is because the ad will encourage people who want to follow you to take action and click on it.
2. Targeting the wrong audience
When creating an ad on Instagram, one of the first things you should do is choose which audience you want to target. You can select from different types of users such as location, age group, and gender. For example, if you want more followers from London then enter ‘London’ instead of just ‘United Kingdom’. Similarly, if you want more male followers then select ‘Male’ instead of just ‘All Audiences’.
3. Your ad is too long or too short
It’s also important to keep your ad short and sweet—the shorter the better! If your ad is too long or too short, then maybe no one will watch it until the end (or even finish reading this post!). Make sure that your ad is short enough so people want to watch it all the way through and long enough so they don’t lose interest halfway through watching it themselves! We know it can be tempting to include every single detail of your product or service in your ads, but if it doesn’t stand out from the crowd in less than 30 seconds, then nobody is going to see it anyway.
4. Posting controversial contents
If you run ads on Instagram, you’re going to attract some attention. That’s the whole point! But you don’t want just any attention: you want the right kind. And there’s a big difference between the two.
Sure, when it comes to getting likes and comments on your posts, you might think that controversy is a great way to go—but when it comes to running ads, it’s not. If your brand is associated with a divisive issue or an opinion that isn’t widely held, then people are going to be turned off by your product or service even if they don’t know who you are or what it is that you do.
When you’re running Instagram ads, it’s tempting to focus on organic content. After all, it’s what’s worked for you before—and it’s free! But when you’re trying to get an ad in front of potential customers, there are two things that matter: payment and relevance.
If your goal is to get people to click on your ad and visit your website, then you want to make sure they’re seeing an ad that is relevant to them at the time they’re looking for your product or service. And if they don’t click on the ad? Well, then they’ve moved on—and so has your opportunity for revenue.
On the other hand, if you’re paying for ads with money from someone else (like a client), then it makes sense for them to expect that their money is being spent wisely—which means showing up when people are looking for what you have to offer.
5. Focusing too heavily on organic contents
When you’re running Instagram ads, it’s tempting to focus on organic content. After all, it’s what’s worked for you before—and it’s free! But when you’re trying to get an ad in front of potential customers, there are two things that matter: payment and relevance.
If your goal is to get people to click on your ad and visit your website, then you want to make sure they’re seeing an ad that is relevant to them at the time they’re looking for your product or service. And if they don’t click on the ad? Well, then they’ve moved on—and so has your opportunity for revenue.
On the other hand, if you’re paying for ads with money from someone else (like a client), then it makes sense for them to expect that their money is being spent wisely—which means showing up when people are looking for what you have to offer.
6. Running ads that aren’t relevant to your brand’s core audience
Forcing users to click on your ad before they can see what it’s about makes them less likely to convert because they don’t feel like they’re making their own decision about whether or not they want what you’re offering! (Instead, let them browse around and then decide if they want more info.)
7. Posting confusing content
When you’re creating an ad on Instagram, it’s tempting to get a little creative and try something new. But if your content is confusing or unclear, you’re going to lose your audience.
The key to creating effective content for Instagram is being clear about what you want to say and how you want to say it. One way we recommend doing this? Write down the headline, copy, and image before you start creating the actual ad so that everything stays on message.
You also want to make sure that your images are representative of what your brand stands for—and don’t forget about hashtags!
Bottomline
It’s a lot easier to plan for Instagram ads in advance, so if you haven’t already, you’re going to want to get started on the steps highlighted above now. The sooner you’ve got your ads set up and running, the sooner you can start to see how they impact your business. If you do happen to run into any of the problems listed above, hopefully, this will help you avoid them. Good luck!
Originally from the public sector, in 2022 I founded Clockwork Copy to bring a breath of fresh air to the content writing industry. We pride ourselves on being a firm that practices consistency, professionalism, and honesty, with the eventual (lofty) goal of being one of the best in the world.