Utilising Instagram ads to increase your reach

Quickly becoming one of the music industry’s primary social outlets, Instagram has become instrumental in the promotion of music. With its visual focus, the platform boasts the ability to captivate audiences without the need for text-heavy content. Having been released in 2010, it wasn’t until 2013 that Instagram began offering users and brands the ability to use paid promotion to expand their reach. Although audiences were resistant to the idea at first, ads soon became fully integrated with the platform, and are now commonplace. This form of advertising can prove incredibly valuable for artists, so it is important to utilise the platform effectively. But how can you kick start the process and start making the most of Instagram’s advertising capabilities?

Switching your account to business

In order to start advertising on Instagram, you must first make sure to switch your profile from a regular account to a business account. To do this, simply navigate to the settings and make the switch, you will be asked to choose a sector and input a few details about yourself, but this is a relatively short process. During the process, you can also set up a phone number and email address, allowing users to get in touch simply with the click of a button on your main profile. Whether or not you’d like to utilise this option really depends on the stage you are at in your career, if you’re not yet being bombarded with messages and are on the hunt for opportunities, having an email contact button on your profile will allow people in the industry to reach out to you.

Cater your content to your audience

To really get the best out of your Instagram advertising, it is vitally important to consider what your audience is looking for. As Instagram is a highly visual platform, all of your promotional materials should be visually driven. Any messages you need to covey should be easily understood through the imagery you use. Of course, you can add text to your post, but often a long written message can be skipped, and promoting in this way can become a wasted opportunity. The aesthetic of your post is highly important, as images and videos that are the most pleasing to look at usually draw the most engagement. Due to this, you should ensure to always post high quality images, or else risk looking unprofessional and losing potential engagement. The posts and adverts you release showcase your brand to the world, don’t leave a bad lasting impression.

Advertising options

Once you start advertising, there are plenty of options available. You can stick with the traditional photo and video ads, they pop up on users’ timeline among regular content. This is a great way to reach those who do not necessarily follow you, and may be drawn in by your content. Underneath the media you can also add a ‘call to action’ button like ‘shop now’ or ‘learn more’. This is an ideal method to drive users to your website or store, or to your latest release on Spotify. If you advertise effectively, you will experience a huge number of clicks on your ‘call to action’ button. Since the introduction of allowing multiple images or videos to be uploaded into the same post, Instagram also offers carousel ads. These work very similarly to photo and video ads, but allow multiple pieces of media. Sometimes these ads provoke more engagement, with people eager to find out what is hidden away behind the front cover.

Instagram advert example: Spotify

Story advertising

The final method of advertising enabled by Instagram is story advertising. This allows you to select a piece of media (either a photo or a video of 15 seconds or less), and slot it among a user’s regular stories. Naturally, the danger with these ads is that it is all too easy for users to skip them. The key with this is to try not to be too brash in your advertising, keep things less formal to a degree, enabling your advert to blend in with other stories. Nobody enjoys watching a blatant piece of advertising, so make sure that the clip or photo has an element of entertainment; make sure that viewers will enjoy the ad. Unlike the other advertising options, in order to use story advertising, you must create the advert on Facebook before connecting it to Instagram. Without utilising Facebook, it is impossible to initiate story ads.

Connecting Facebook to Instagram for advertising

In order to connect your Instagram ads to Facebook, you must make sure that your Facebook fanpage is set to public. Make sure that your details on the page are all up to date and correct, and make any changes necessary, and start producing your advertisements. By utilising both platforms, you will soon be able to create eye-catching adverts that dramatically increase your following, and in turn, your engagement level.
Advertising on Instagram can prove hugely beneficial for your brand, if done correctly. The potential for exponential growth is endless, with plenty of future fans out there just waiting to be reached. With Instagram continuing to increase its users through its unique offering, it is vital to plough your resources into expanding your audience on the platform. Even though showcasing music on the platform may seem difficult, being inventive with images and videos is a great way to market your persona, and see an influx of interest. Keep innovating on the platform and stay ahead of the trends, and soon you will see a growth in engagement. Advertising on the platform ensures that you are really making the most out of your content, and encourages your engagement levels to grow even more quickly.