When running Meta ads, you’re able to use the same ad for multiple placements across Facebook and Instagram. One of the most important is for Instagram Story ads. When Meta’s algorithm allocates budget based on Advantage+ ad placements, you’ll tend to see mobile Story ads using a good chunk of the overall spend.
Why? Well, according to research from SocialPilot, over 70% of Instagram’s 500 million daily users watch Instagram Stories daily. And with a whole phone screen to utilise, it’s the perfect place to get your content in front of a big audience.
What are Instagram Story ads?
Like in-feed paid ads, Instagram Story ads look the same as native Story posts, appearing between those posted by followed accounts. They take up the whole screen on mobile (9:16) and can use either images or video. These have a set amount of time they will appear before automatically moving on to the next Story - 5 seconds for images or 15 seconds for video. Any videos that last longer than 15 seconds will be broken down into separate sections.
What’s changed for CTAs?
Meta has started rolling out a feature that allows you to include discount offers within the call-to-action button that appears at the bottom of Story ads. Brands will be able to add either a percentage or cash amount discount, plus optional discount codes and date ranges. These will then be featured alongside the ‘Shop Now’ (or other chosen CTA) for users to click.
How do I add offers?
First, it should be noted that this feature hasn’t yet been rolled out to all accounts, so you may need to wait to use it.
If you are able to, you’ll need to use Traffic, Engagement, Leads or Sales as your ad objective.
Set up your campaign and ad set as normal, though making sure that ‘Use a catalogue’ is switched off at a campaign level if your objective is Sales.
Your conversion location should be Website, allowing you to add the link to your site under ‘Ad sources > Website URL’ at an ad level.
Once you’ve added your website link, Ads Manager may be able to automatically pull through discounts automatically from your site. If your offers don’t come through automatically, don’t worry! You can add these manually.
Select ‘Set up manually’. From here, you’ll be able to set up new discounts, in addition to changing and deleting ones that have been automatically added.
Add your discount amount (percentage or cash), optional discount code* and dates, then click Save.
*Note: We found that the option to add a code doesn’t always appear. This may be an error that is fixed as the feature continues to be rolled out.
Your offer amount should now appear at the bottom of your Story ads, providing even more incentive to click. This feature is also likely to be useful if you want to keep your images and videos as minimalist as possible, but still want to highlight your discount.
Final Thoughts
By featuring offers within the CTA button, Meta aims to make Instagram Story ads more engaging than ever, allowing brands to increase user engagement and the overall effectiveness of this placement. With Instagram now being the most downloaded app in the world, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to make the most ads on the platform.
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Want to know more about using Instagram ads for your brand? Get in touch with our Newcastle digital marketing agency today to arrange a no-obligation call.