How Can I Target Audiences On Instagram? — Part 3

Published in

Inside Revenue

6 min readOct 9, 2018

The Advanced Guide

In the Intermediate guide, I went over the different targeting options available to you on Instagram. These options are available through the Facebook Ad Manager platform. I also discussed the Instagram audience funnel to help you to target your ads to the right people with the right message. If you need a refresher on the topics discussed in this article, click here to read “How Do I Target Audiences On Instagram? — Part 2 (The Intermediate Guide)”.

In this article, I will discuss some of the tips for targeting your ads on Instagram, including some ad targeting best practices for advertising through the Facebook Ad Manager system.

“Quality performance (and quality service) starts with a positive attitude.” — Jeffrey Gitomer (Host of “Sell or Die” podcast, #1 Business Podcast On Overcast) @gitomer

What Should You Watch Out For When Targeting Audiences On Instagram?

In this article I will cover:

#1 Instagram Ad Targeting Errors

#2 Ad Targeting Best Practices

So let’s move along…

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#1 Instagram Ad Targeting Errors

For many marketers, we are having to learn how to create good ads by creating a few bad ones first. But there are plenty of best practices and lessons to take note of to help ease that learning curve a bit. Make sure your business is not falling victim to these very common ad mistakes.

1. Targeting Non-Fans

It turns out when you target ads to fans, you get 700% more click-throughs, according to the data king Webtrends. Additional data from TGB Digital shows that ads targeted at fans increase actual conversions (not just click) by as much as 400%.

Yes, you need to build an audience first, and yes, increasing your fan engagement helps support any future conversion efforts. But ultimately, when you want to convert with Instagram ads, targeting fans is the way to go. The data does not lie.

When we think through this process, it makes complete sense. The more relevant an ad is to you specifically, the more likely you are to notice and act on it.

And we know most fans are existing customers or potential customers of a business. Ads targeted at existing customers and Instagram users already familiar with a business will clearly see a higher success rate.

2. The Super Bowl Ad Syndrome

With a super bowl ad, companies spend a large budget on one or two ads targeted at, well, basically everyone. They reach 90 million Americans with one campaign.

On Instagram, the smaller and more relevant the audience for an ad, the better it performs. If it isn’t clear that this ad is relevant to the targeted user in any way, they will immediately turn their attention elsewhere.

Therefore, communicating relevance in the ad is extremely important. And the way to do that is to create several version of your ads that are targeted at unique audiences.

Instead of creating one ad or one sponsored story to promote everywhere, as per the Super Bowl commercial strategy, work on creating many ads targeted at small, clearly defined audiences.

3. Not Testing Images

Images are the first thing that Instagram users will see. Making an assumption that you know what image will get your Instagram ad clicked on the most is a bad idea. There are some great best practices when it comes to Instagram ad images, but if we do not test our assumptions, we are missing an opportunity.

Always split test your Instagram ads, especially your images.

Who knows why one image performs better than another. The point is, when you have the ability to put a dozen or two images out there to TEST and see which image performs better, do it. You save money in the long run and create an ad that will get noticed more and create more clicks.

4. Targeting Audiences That Are Too Broad

We’ve seen ad campaigns targeting over 20 million people in the U.S. alone. However, unless you’re a household brand, your offer and ad copy might not be relevant to such a broad set of people.

The main threat of targeting too broad of an audience is that your offer might not reach the people with highest purchasing potential due to a limited ad budget.

Founded in 2014, HiSmile is a teeth whitening company with a difference: it offers an easy-to-use and all-natural product that delivers sparkling results in just 10 minutes. The teeth whitening company used ads in Instagram Stories and an influencer partnership to connect with young men, resulting in a 90% increase in male customers. See their success story here.

#2 Ad Targeting Best Practices

You can attract new customers with your Instagram Ads by using more targeting options in the ads create tool. Since targeting on Facebook is over 2X more accurate than most online advertising networks, you’ll only pay to reach the people who’ll love your business.

Here are 4 ways successful eCommerce and retailers use targeting to get the most from their ads.

1. Use your connections — Show your ads to the right set of people

If you’re looking to reach new customers, and don’t necessarily want to show ads to people who have already liked your Page of profile, you can set them to exclude existing fans, or show ads to the friends of your fans.

In the ads create tool, under the Audience section, choose Connections and select Advanced connection targeting. Then, enter your Page name in the appropriate options.

2. Target demographics — Be specific about who you want to reach

You can refine your ad’s target audience based on content people have shared about themselves in their Facebook profiles. Some of the most frequently used demographic targeting choices by eCommerce and retail businesses are:

Age
Gender
Relationship status

To see demographic details about people who like your Page or profile, visit your Page Insights , select the Page you want information on, and click the People tab.

3. Target customer interests — Reach an interested audience

Interests targeting lets you define your ideal audience by their interests, hobbies and Pages they like on Facebook.

We identify interests from information people have added to their timeline, keywords associated with the Pages they like, ads they’ve clicked on, and other sources. When targeting new customers, remember to:

Experiment with different interests to see which ones reach more customers
Be creative in using different keywords based on your audience’s hobbies and interests. For instance, if you’re a fitness clothing retailer, instead of running shoes you may want to choose marathons, cross training and hiking boots.
Try using unique keywords that are relevant to different audience niches, like handmade jewelry or sterling silver

4. Create a lookalike audience — Find more people like your existing customers

An advanced targeting option many eCommerce and retail companies use to find new customers or prospects is lookalike audiences. You can create one from your:

Page fans: Reach potential customers similar to the ones who have already liked your Page
Customer lists: Use Custom Audiences, to upload your existing email or subscription lists. Then, create a lookalike audience to find more people like the ones on your lists.
Website visitors: Get information on what visitors do on your site from your Facebook conversion pixel or a Custom Audience from your website. Then, use lookalike audiences to find people who are similar to your website visitors.

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Targeting on Instagram can help you to reach your audiences, increasing the chances of them converting into sales. This will help you to increase your chances of hitting revenue targets. Thank you for taking the time to read this article set on Instagram targeting.

We are working to bring you more guides on Instagram marketing, so come back and visit our publication, Inside Revenue, for the release of these articles and more.