How To Get Started With Instagram Reels Ads

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If you’re not taking advantage of Instagram Reels Ads already, you could be missing out.

Reels are one of the most popular features on Instagram, and Reels Ads give you the opportunity to reach more than 726 million potential customers. That equates to about 55.1% of Instagram’s reach overall.

With the right Instagram Reels, you can significantly increase your visibility online, improve your chances of sales, and strengthen your relationships with your target audience.

Plus, considering that Reels generate about 22% more engagement than any video post on Instagram, you could find that reels are the key to activating your customers like never before.

The good news?

Getting started with Instagram Reels Ads isn’t as complicated as it might seem.

Today, we’re going to walk you through the benefits of Reels advertising your business, and how you can create compelling Reels of your own.

4 Main Benefits Of Instagram Reel Ads For Your Business

Reels surged into the spotlight among Instagram users as demand for short-form videos increased, thanks to the rising impact of TikTok.

Though they’re often quicker and easier to create than long-form video ads, they still drive phenomenal results.

With Instagram Reels Ads, you can connect with endless Instagram users in an authentic, unique format. In fact, 74% of customers say they use the Reels feature already.

While there are various distinct benefits to using boosted Reels and Reels Ads, some of the most significant advantages for your business include:

• Greater visibility: Ads can significantly increase Reels views for your company, contributing to increased brand awareness, and opportunities for growth. What’s more, Reels benefit from higher engagement levels than any other form of Instagram content. That means more people won’t just see your ads, they have a higher chance of connecting with your brand too.
• Effective targeting and customization: Meta offers a variety of tools to help businesses reach existing and new audiences alike. You can target customers based on their location, demographic information, interests, and behaviors. This means you’re more likely to draw valuable leads back to your business.
•  Showcase your brand: Authentic content has a massive impact on customer loyalty and business growth. Reels give you a unique opportunity to show off your personality, creativity, and talent. With these fast-paced vertical videos, you can draw attention to your unique values, and get customers excited about your products and services.
•  Increased sales: Thanks to shoppable Reels, businesses can transform ad engagement into genuine revenue growth. Ads on Reels can increase your chances of sales, boost average order values, and improve customer lifetime value.  

Plus, when you create Instagram Reels with your campaign goals in mind, you can boost your chances of getting a higher return on investment from your marketing strategy.

Step By Step: How To Craft Your Reels Ad Campaign

If you know how to create Instagram Reels, you shouldn’t have much trouble designing Instagram Reels Ads.

However, there are some slight differences between organic Reels and the ads you promote. Reels Ads can only be 30 seconds long, and they can only be created via a desktop.

Plus, you’ll need an Instagram Business account to make sure you can take advantage of the platform’s advertising features and analytics. If you don’t have a business account already, click on your Instagram settings to update your account type.

Once you’re ready to create, here are the steps you’ll need to follow:

1.  Choose Your Video

First, you’re going to need a compelling video, showcasing your product, service, or brand. If you don’t know how to create Instagram Reels, check the instructions on the Instagram website. Remember, you’ll need to ensure your videos are recorded in full-screen vertical format.

Often, the key to success with Instagram Reels is creating content that convinces customers to stop scrolling. Use beautiful imagery to grab your audience’s attention, pair your Reels with music, stickers, and gifs to make them more interesting, and showcase your unique brand personality.

2.  Select A Goal

The Facebook Ads Manager helps you to define a purpose and vision for Ads on Reels, by offering a range of “goals” to choose from. The goal you choose will help to determine how your Reels are distributed to customers and potential followers.

There are a few different campaign objectives to choose from, including:

• Brand awareness
• Reach (More profile visits)
• Traffic (More website visits)
• App installs
• Video views
• Conversions (More messages or purchases)

Choose an objective that resonates with your business goals.

Do you want to reach new audiences? Encourage customers to connect with your team, or just boost conversion rates?

After you choose your objective, name your campaign, so you can find it again later.

3.  Define Your Target Audience

As mentioned above, one of the biggest benefits of Instagram Reels Ads is the ability to reach a specific target audience. If you scroll down in the Facebook Ad Manager, you should see an audience section, where you can choose various parameters for your campaign.

You can choose to use the audience you saved on a previous campaign, or you can create a new audience from scratch.

Take a moment to think about the people you want to reach. What are their interests and demographics, where are they located, and how do they connect with your brand?

If you want to reach the same new customers again in the future, saving your target parameters for future use will help you later on.

4.  Set Your Budget & Duration

Now it’s time to think about how long your Reels ad placement should appear for, and how much you’re willing to spend on your campaign.

Ads Manager offers a “Dynamic Creative” option, which can help you organize your Reels content automatically.

However, it’s usually a good idea to start with manual strategies to ensure you get the best ROI.

Enter your daily or overall budget into the boxes provided, and determine how long you want to run your ad.

Remember, the longer your ad runs, the more you’ll pay for clicks and conversions.

5.  Review Your Reels Ad Settings

With your budget and duration set, review your settings, and campaign details. You can click the blue “More Options” link to access brand safety settings. This will allow you to filter out risky topics you don’t want to be connected with, as well as blocked users.

You can also limit your ads to appear to customers on specific devices, depending on your campaign objectives.

Check you’re happy with your ad format, your exclusions, and your chosen audience, and review your video content one last time before clicking “Next.”

It’s worth double-checking you’re logged into the right account on the Instagram app, too, to avoid any social media mishaps.

6.  Place Your Ad

Finally, you’ll select the placement options for your ad. Instagram offers two options. You can either use manual placements or automatic placements.

With the automatic option, Facebook chooses where to show your ads, which might not include showing Ads in Reels.

Check the “manual” option to select “Instagram Reels.” You can also choose whether you want to showcase your Reels content in Stories, too.

Or you can mix and match ad placements to show some videos on the Explore page or home feed.

Best Practices To Increase Sales Through Ads

Instagram Reels Ads can deliver incredible benefits to businesses of all sizes.

The high level of engagement on the Reels tab often contributes to higher sales.

In fact, one Meta-commissioned report found 77% of respondents bought a service or product after watching Reels.

However, to make the most of ads on any social media platform, you need the right strategy.

Here are our top tips and best practices to help increase your sales with ads on Reels:

1.  Create Compelling Content

It might go without saying, but your Reels Ads should be designed to grab customer attention. Similar to ads on TikTok, Reels ads should be brimming with personality.

Apply your creativity, and try to showcase the lighter side of your brand. Have a little fun with humor, and think about how you can deliver real value and entertainment to your audience.

Remember, it’s best to avoid coming across as “too promotional” with Reel Ads. The more fun and interesting your ads are, the less likely your customers are to skip them.

It’s also worth creating entirely fresh content for your Ads, to convince the algorithm to showcase your content on the Explore feed.

2.  Add Text, Subtitles & Music

Just like Instagram provides numerous ways to enhance your Stories ads with filters and extra content, the platform also offers ways to make your Reels stand out.

Adding music to your video from the Instagram library ensures you can engage more of your audience’s senses.

However, keep in mind, that some users on Instagram will choose to watch Reels with the sound turned off.

This means adding subtitles and captions to your piece is crucial to ensuring you get your message across. Text will make your ads easier to understand, and more memorable.

Plus, it can provide your customers with a great view into your brand personality and voice.

3.  Partner With The Right Creators

There’s a reason why influencer marketing is set to be a $69.92 billion market by 2029. Across virtually all online channels, customers trust and value input from influencers more than anyone else.

The creator economy has contributed to the power of partnership marketing.

Working with the right creator to produce your Instagram Reels ads can boost your credibility, help you connect with more potential customers, and even increase sales. One study found 84% of millennials use user-generated content (creator content), to decide what they should buy.

The key to success is choosing the right creators to work with.

Pick an influencer with an existing connection to your target audience and a high level of engagement. Use their insights to make your Reels and ads more interesting and eye-catching.

4.  Showcase Your Brand Or Product

While it’s important to avoid being overly promotional with your Ads on reels, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be drawing attention to your brand.

The whole purpose of your ads is to drive customers back to your website and increase your sales.

Look for unique ways to showcase your product or company.

Highlight the benefits you have to offer customers and demonstrate what your solutions can do for your target audience. You can provide a behind-the-scenes demo or look at how your product works.

Or you could showcase what your product looks like with the help of influencers. You could even caption customer reviews in your content, to build your social proof.

5.  Link Your Landing Page To Your Ad

A great ad needs to drive action. As well as crafting a compelling CTA (Call to Action) for your product or service, you should also be thinking about where you’re going to direct your customers when they click on your link.

Creating a custom landing page, where you can provide deeper insights into your product’s benefits, and cultivate conversions is a must. Make sure you link your landing page to your ad, and ensure the page you create is relevant to your campaign.

The messaging on your landing page should match the content in your Instagram Reels ads perfectly, to show audiences they’ve ended up in the right place.

6.  Use Instagram Reels Insights

Getting the most value out of your Instagram Reels Ads starts with taking advantage of data. The more information you can collect from each of your campaigns, the easier it will be to optimize your ads and improve your return on investment.

Source: Instagram

Fortunately, Instagram offers its own native analytics tools to help you.

With Instagram Insights, creators and businesses can monitor information about Plays, Accounts Reached, Likes, Comments, Shares and Saves instantly.

To check how a specific Reel is performing, open it from your profile, tap the three-dot icon, and click on “Insights.” Your metrics should help you to determine what kinds of content are working best for you.

Making The Most Of Instagram Reels Ads

At this point, you should know everything you need to know about the power of Instagram Reels Ads, and how you can use them to elevate your brand.

With the right strategy, your Reels Ads can significantly improve your brand visibility, increase your sales, and boost your relationship with your target audience.

Plus, your Reels campaigns can help to boost the performance of your other marketing strategies too.

Take the right approach to Reels Ads, and you’ll find your Instagram profile starts to deliver incredible results for your business.