Best Practices for Creating Effective Instagram Ads in MailChimp

If you run a small business or sell stuff online, you know that the best way to reach your customers is to go where they’re already hanging out. And Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns in MailChimp give you the power to do just that. Not only can you build and run your ads in MailChimp, but our comprehensive reports also give you a clear picture of which ads are making you money.

Since we introduced Instagram ads a couple weeks ago, we’ve updated our resources and created some new ones to help you build beautiful and effective ads that drive customers to your store. From blog posts to a fun how-to video, let’s walk through everything you need to know about creating Instagram ads in MailChimp. 

Combine the strengths of Instagram and Facebook

Advertising on Instagram and Facebook can be valuable for your business, but the 2 platforms have different strengths that are important to your marketing strategy. Because the Instagram experience is designed to keep people inside the app, many e-commerce businesses have found success creating ads that promote brand awareness, but they use Facebook ads to generate more direct responses like clicks.

Before you run an ad, consider how it will perform across platforms. Will the same ad shared on both Facebook and Instagram get a response from your target audience? Or does it make more sense to create separate ad campaigns with creative elements that are tailored to each app?

For example, this Facebook ad promotes a store’s autumn collection with an image that focuses on a person wearing one of the products, since images of people tend to perform better on Facebook. The ad also includes 2 incentives—free shipping and a discount—to help drive conversions.

But in this Instagram ad that promotes the same fall collection, there are a few key differences. This business chose to use an image that focuses on the products and exclude the incentives we see in the Facebook ad above, since Instagram users are generally less likely to click out of the app. It’s designed to generate awareness and engagement.

The best advertising strategy leverages the strengths of Instagram and Facebook to both promote brand awareness and drive direct responses. Even though Instagram’s core strength is brand awareness, your ads should still include a strong call to action so people have the option to click through and make a purchase. And Facebook can complement your Instagram advertising as a direct-response channel that also offers additional exposure for your business.

Connect with people similar to your existing customers

You already have an audience you know a lot about: your MailChimp list. When you create Instagram ads in MailChimp, you can unlock the power of your list data to target your existing customers on Instagram or find new people with similar interests and demographics.

All sections of your list can help you attract the right audience with your ads, and targeting people who already know and love your brand is a more cost-effective advertising strategy than trying to find new buyers.

Your list data will also help you find people on Instagram with similar interests, behaviors, and demographics to your existing subscribers. With our pre-built segments, targeting an audience just like your best customers or most-engaged subscribers is simple and easy. We even found that using your MailChimp list to target similar people can more than double an ad’s ROI. 

Learn what resonates with your audience

Marketing your business can sometimes feel like you’re throwing money into a black hole. But with Instagram ads in MailChimp, you’ll get easy-to-read reports that show you which of your ads are making money.

When you connect your store, our ROI reports allow you to track key statistics like revenue, products sold, and customers acquired, so you can identify what works with your audience and use that information to improve your future marketing efforts. 

Get started

We know it can be tough getting started, so we’ve published a guide to help you develop an advertising strategy that works for your business. It highlights different ways you can define your goal, determine your audience, avoid ad rejections, and more. If you need more tips for building an Instagram ad, we have some Knowledge Base articles that outline best practices and steps for creating an ad.

It’s as easy and rewarding as that. Ready to get started?