Targeted advertising on Instagram: common mistakes

4 min read
6 January 2022

Mistake 1: Launching only one advert

The first most common mistake is launching only one advert. It is unrealistic to expect that things will work smoothly from the very first time. Targeting is all about testing first. First, you try dozens of options and gain optimal results through trial and error. Avoid making conclusions based only on a couple of ad creatives. It is necessary to try out many different hypotheses first.

Mistake 2: Focusing on the reach

People focus on the ad reach more than on qualitative metrics quite often. In any case, you need either sales or followers. How will reach lead to it? Someone seeing your advert doesn’t guarantee any sales. That is why reach is an irrelevant metric — and so clicks.

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Setting up Instagram ads: what interests to choose and how to find the target audience

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If you see that 50 people got redirected to your profile, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the advert works well. Try to track and evaluate only qualitative and specific metrics. If you aim to make immediate sales, you should track sales and revenue. If you are more interested in accumulating more followers, you should monitor their indices after adverts. The price of a click, reach, and return on investment doesn’t make much difference if they do not result in sales, new clients, or followers. Make sure to set relevant targets and objectives.

Mistake 3: advertising when your account is now ready

Let’s assume your advert has performed well and your ad creative generated a lot of clicks. People get redirected and what they see is only six posts. Obviously, users will see it as an amateur account that is only picking up but doesn’t have any background. For this reason, try to avoid launching advertising if an account is not ready for any traffic. Make sure to have a well-designed profile first.

Mistakes 4: mundane texts

When you scroll the feed, you can’t see the whole text but only the first 5-6 sentences. Make sure to compose in such a manner that makes users interested in reading further and finding out more. It is vital as the person will watch the picture first — but then the text will play a decisive role. Make sure to reread the first sentences and phrases to see if they are catchy enough.

Mistake 5: lack of CTA in adverts

Ideally, you want people to get redirected to your page or website, write to you, or follow you. These are the targets you most likely want to hit, and you should use them in your adverts to motivate users to take action. Frequently, adverts lack calls to action, a clear step-by-step structure, and an ultimate guide to actions users should take. Note that your adverts should have a clear call to action and a guide with steps that users need to take. It improves the conversion and clickability of your adverts.

Mistake 6: boring creative ad

Ad design is the crucial part —it is the first thing users see. It should be a catchy image or video to draw users’ attention and increase the chance of interaction. It comes without saying that creative ads should stand out and be outstanding. Do not be negligent when choosing images, photos, and videos for your adverts. Take examples of big corporations and brands, learn from the best.

Mistake 7: small budget

Targeting requires a lot of money and investments. When you have only a low budget, e.g., a couple of dollars per advert, different algorithms start working in this case. It is especially true for Instagram and Facebook that are artificial intelligence-driven — it takes time to learn new patterns. You need money to make sure you have enough time for optimal results. For this reason, a small budget may not even allow you to generate enough statistical data and to see whether the advert was effective or not. Unfortunately, money is a requirement here. It is wrong to think that a couple of thousands of rubles will be enough to generate decent results. Advertising is expensive to run. And to guarantee results, you need to be able to afford it and allocate sufficient funds.