Instagram is a powerful marketing tool for businesses of all shapes and sizes. It’s a versatile platform with at least 1.452 billion users around the world as of April 2022. Therefore, if you’re looking for an app that can help effectively promote your brand and produce satisfying results, Instagram should definitely be on your list.
Businesses that use Instagram should also pay special attention to Instagram Direct, which allows people to start a conversation with you in your Instagram DM inbox. Getting messages this way won’t save you from having to reply to them manually, but it will give your brand some unique opportunities.
For instance, you will be able to learn more about conversational commerce and experiment with it on an incredibly popular social media platform. You can leverage this chance to have more chat interactions with various users and see where it gets you.
To make this process easier for you, this article covers the most important aspects of this ad type along with another, similarly useful one. Continue reading below for more details.
What Are Instagram Direct Ads?
Instagram Direct ads, also known as click-to-Instagram Direct ads, are the ads shown in the Instagram Feed or Stories. They allow people to send an Instagram direct message to your brand’s inbox just by clicking on your ad.
When someone clicks on this type of ad, they will be automatically sent straight to your DMs. Then, they can start a conversation, for instance ask questions about how to avoid retail traps, or inquire about your products. You can use this opportunity to chat about everything you have to offer or provide customers with support.
Why Should You Start Running Instagram Direct Ads?
Instagram Direct ads can be an excellent way to boost your sales and create more engagement with both your existing and potential customers. Here are some of their main advantages:
Instagram Direct Ads Are Conversational
While it’s not a hard-set rule, people tend to react to Instagram stories more often than to posts in their feeds. The reason behind this can be the fact that reacting to a story requires less effort since just one click is needed to send an emoji. The same applies to Instagram Direct ads. They allow customers and leads to react to your Instagram Stories and start a conversation this way.
From this point, you can get the conversation going and, by keeping people engaged, turn potential customers into returning ones. However, remember that by running Instagram DM ads, you’ll be likely to get a lot of messages. Therefore, it might be wise to think ahead and invest in omnichannel communication software, so it’s all easier to manage. Another clever option would be to take advantage of an AI text generator tool just like ChatGPT3, Chatsonic, LaMDA, or any other great AI-supercharged software to help you generate replies to your potential customers’ inquiries faster and at a larger scale. This is just one example of a variety of different possibilities for Instagram marketing.
Your Ads Will Get Noticed by More People
People are likely to visit Instagram Stories to see timely and authentic content. There is value in the fact that it disappears in 24 hours – it helps the audience feel more connected to people and businesses they follow.
Additionally, Stories create a sense of urgency that makes people check them more often. Hence, if you decide to run Instagram Direct ads in them, you can be more confident that you’ll reach your target audience.
Now, Instagram Stories Are More Popular Than Ever
Today, there are over 500 million active daily Instagram Stories users, with 36% of businesses using them to promote their products or services. And since 70% of Instagram users admit to watching Stories daily, they can help you reach an abundance of people.
How to Set up Instagram Direct Ads?
Because Facebook owns Instagram, you can use this to your advantage and set up ads for both platforms in one place using Facebook Ads Manager. It’s an all-in-one tool for creating ads, or managing when and where they’ll run. It also allows you to track how well your campaigns are performing in comparison to your marketing goals.
Head to Facebook Ads Manager to get started, and then follow these steps:
- Create a new ad and set Messages as the Consideration.
- Move to Message Destination and pick Instagram Direct.
- In the Audience section, choose proper targeting for your particular business.
- In Placements sections, it’s best to stick with Facebook’s automatic placements.
- Head to the Budget & Schedule section and select appropriate ad spend and timing.
- In the Identity section, connect your brand’s Instagram account.
- Last but not least, in the Format section, select and fine-tune your ad creative as you deem fit.
Keep in mind that the Instagram Direct ads won’t appear anywhere on Facebook. They will only show up in Instagram feeds and Stories. Thanks to this solution, people who click on them will be redirected straight to your DMs. There will be no need for them to switch ads.
On top of that, it’s important to remember that to run other types of Instagram ads, you don’t need an actual Instagram account. For instance, if your ad leads to a landing page, Facebook will use your page name and profile, making it look like you have an account.
On the other hand, Instagram Direct ads lead people straight to your DMs, so you need an actual account. This way, you will be able to have an inbox, respond to messages, and create conversations.
How to Use Instagram Direct Ads?
Creating Instagram direct ads is one thing, but, still, you need to figure out how to get people to actually click on them. Learn to do so with these ways in which you can use direct ads and drive customers to your DMs.
Share Limited Deals
To boost the engagement and simultaneously improve your sales, consider creating an ad to share news about your enormous seasonal sale. Alternatively, you can also remind people that you offer a 50% discount on a certain product. Make it conversational by telling people they can message you to receive deals tailored to their interests. Create a sense of urgency – limit the time of your sale, so customers are aware that they need to act fast to snatch the deals.
Give Advice
Customers enjoy receiving personal and relevant advice. You can make it especially helpful by covering subjects or products they don’t know much about, e.g., natural cosmetics or diet supplements. Don’t hesitate to use your professional knowledge to encourage people to start a private conversation on Instagram.
Organize Giveaways
Organizing a giveaway with attractive prizes is another great way to prompt people to slide into your DMs. Giveaways are also an excellent way to collect leads. When people provide everything that’s required to enter, you can collect the contact information in the chat. Once the giveaway has ended, try to keep the conversation going and work your way to winning them over as a customer.
Click-to-Messenger Ads for Instagram
You may already be using click-to-Messenger ads to bring new users to your chatbot. These are the ads that show up on Facebook and direct people straight to your bot in Messenger. But did you know that, instead, you can have these ads show up on Instagram and still be able to direct customers to your Messenger?
However, keep in mind that this might not be the easiest process. In fact, automatically redirecting users from the Instagram app to the Messenger, which is an entirely separate app, can be quite daunting at first. That’s because “regular” click-to-Messenger ads also redirect to the Messenger app.
Some people may be unaware that Facebook owns Instagram and think that the seemingly sudden app switch is a mistake on their part. This could potentially lead them to stop the process or exit it altogether.
Why Should You Start Running Click-to-Messenger Ads on Instagram?
When people interact with your click-to-Messenger ads, they will automatically start a conversation with your business in Messenger. That’s why using them would make the most sense if you’ve already successfully built a bot that can hold a worthwhile conversation. This way, it will actually be able to engage and convert users.
Furthermore, this type of ads might be a good decision if your products or services are particularly appealing to a younger audience. In other cases, placing your ads on Facebook will be more effective.
Creating click-to-Messenger ads can prove to be quite a complex process. Therefore, you can follow this official guide by Meta to ensure that you do everything correctly.
How to Benefit From Click-to-Messenger Ads?
Click-to-Messenger Ads are unique because they’re the only type of Messenger ads that appear on the Facebook News Feed and Instagram Feed. They make it easy to implement a call to action (CTA), which can be highly effective in sending customers into your business’s Messenger chat.
The Messenger chat acts as a landing page for customers where they can converse with your representatives. They are also provided with a great opportunity to ask questions about products and offers you’re advertising. Moreover, click-to-Messenger Ads attract customers from various platforms, so your brand won’t be limited to Messenger only.
The Bottom Line
Instagram ads are incredibly powerful tools that virtually any business can use to engage more customers and boost revenue. They also give brands a way to advertise online and show off their creative side with images, videos, and other visual content. You can also use them to promote your brand to a wider audience.
To further optimize your Instagram ad campaigns and generate more revenue, consider leveraging an AI-powered ad operations assistant like AdOpsOne. By automating tasks and providing valuable insights, AdOpsOne can help you streamline your ad operations and make data-driven decisions for better results.
Whether you choose to focus on Instagram Direct ads or click-to-Messenger ones, the results will be likely to astonish you. Follow the tips provided above for the best results. Don’t shy away from running some tests and experiment with different ideas to see how both ad types could benefit your business.
