Why Businesses Should Utilize Native Advertising on Instagram

Social media is the future of digital commerce. A whopping 79% of users have discovered new products through platforms like Instagram, and the number of unique users on social networks continues to climb. This makes social channels a prime target if you’re looking to advertise your business and bring in new customers, but there’s a rub.

When it comes to social media and advertising, Millennials and Gen Z are savvy. They can spot a garish ad coming from a mile off, and when they do they’re more than likely to tune out. What’s a budding business to do if they want to get some attention? 

Native advertising on Instagram may hold the key to success. This article will show how it might be of benefit to your business and what you can do to get started on using it for yourself.

What is Native Advertising on Instagram and Why Should Your Business Use It?

Businesses love to spend on traditional social media ads, but they stick out like a sore thumb when compared to everything else on a user’s feed. This can make them eye-catching to some, but to many more users, they are annoying and distracting.

Because they disrupt the user experience on social media, younger users have largely trained themselves to identify and dismiss them without a second thought. Generation Z in particular is the least likely to tolerate online advertising, but native advertising on Instagram allow you to approach social media marketing from a more palatable angle.

Instead of standing out, native ads blend into the backdrop — often using a social platform’s same overarching style and taking the form of endorsements by notable personalities. Native ads offer something tangible to users instead of simply pushing a product, and in many cases, native ads are just as entertaining as genuine organic content.

This makes them look more genuine and less like traditional ads, which also makes them more forgivable in the eyes of younger users and more likely to drum up some engagement. Native ads can offer you real potential for business growth, so next, let’s look at some ways you can start incorporating them into your social media playbook.

How to Start Weaving Native Ads Into Your Marketing Strategy

If you want to have success with your campaigns, you’ll find it easier if you follow a few best practices for creating quality native ads. Chief among those tips is an emphasis on content that’s valuable to the potential customers you’re trying to attract to your business.

The whole idea behind native advertising on Instagram is that they’re doing more than simply hawking your wares. Therefore, you’ll want to focus on high-quality content that informs users of your brand while simultaneously educating them or helping them solve a problem.

This might take the form of a tutorial, a narrative vlog, or any other kind of Instagram-friendly content. Just be sure you’re providing value and accompanying it with aesthetically pleasing imagery. Beyond content, though, you should also focus on the following:

• Blending In: While it’s true that you want to use eye-catching visuals with your native ad, it’s also important that you match Instagram’s overall look and feel so that users interpret your ad as something natural.
• Being Honest: Younger audiences don’t like when ads try to dupe them. Whatever you’re offering them in your native ad, make sure it’s genuine and that connections back to your brand aren’t forced.
• The Customer Journey: You’ll need to consider how your native ad pushes prospects further down the path of making a purchase. Just remember to be subtle.
• Following the Rules: The FTC takes social media advertising seriously and requires that ads be disclosed. While you’re trying to be subtle about your ads, make sure that you’re still straightforward about their promotional nature.

Following these tips should allow you to break ground with your native ads, but you’ll also need to combine them with other Instagram best practices to optimize their efficacy.

More Tips for Instagram Success

Native ads should work in tandem with other techniques for social media growth so that you can maximize their potential. For instance, you won’t have a good idea of what sort of content to include in your ads if you don’t understand your target audience.

Many Instagram users are younger, but who specifically is your business trying to attract? You’ll need to perform some audience research and construct detailed customer profiles so that you can better understand how they’ll respond to different content approaches. From there, you can start tailoring your ads to be more effective.

Similarly, you won’t be able to shift course with your ads if you don’t know how well they’re performing. You’ll need to keep track of important metrics and KPIs, then compare these to your target numbers to get an idea of what kind of impact your ads are having. 

Finally, you’ll have a much easier time reaching new customers if you build up an Instagram audience that’s on the same wavelength as your brand. Make sure you establish a clear brand identity through your profile and content, as this will give you the best chance of bringing in prospects who will appreciate what your brand has to offer.

Wrapping Up

Native advertising on Instagram can help you connect with audiences that are wary of other types of marketing, but you’ve got to be smart about how you deploy them. Remember that the quality of the content within your ads is paramount, and you should maintain integrity throughout all of your Instagram marketing efforts in order to have the greatest impact possible.