Instagram has been evolving to turn from a photo-sharing app into a full-fledged marketplace. Here's the evidence if you need any: the platform has introduced various functions to simplify selling. Take Instagram Shopping as an example.
However, users often see ads in the feed that are not much different from each other. Such ads do not arouse interest: the potential client does not check out the site, and conversion does not occur.
Many affiliates resort to the help of designers, but in effect, you do not need to do the same to develop a converting Instagram creative that will help you gain subscribers and turn them into clients. In this article, you will discover ways to create high performing creative for Instagram, what services you should use to achieve it, and what mistakes you should avoid.
Basic Principles
If you're here looking for an answer to the question how to create advertising creatives for Instagram, you're obviously in the know what you're looking for. Beginners, however, might need clarification, and we're eager to provide it.
Instagram creative is an image with text or video for targeting, the main goal of which is to attract the target audience to the offer. The creative must be high quality and not overloaded with unnecessary details because concise and native advertising works much more effectively.
Don’t forget about the meaning put into a picture or video: the clearer it is, the greater the chance they will click on the ad.
Photo
Photography as visual content works as a hook for app users when they breeze through your business account feed. Researchers at the University of Kansas found that a person perceives 80% of the information from a picture in just 36 milliseconds of viewing. Let's take a closer look at static creative formats on Instagram.
Stories
Stories have their own requirements. This is a vertical .jpeg or .png image with a recommended resolution of 1080x1920. You can also add a button leading to the landing page:
In the stories format, you can post animated pictures as dynamic images convey information better and attract user attention. The duration of stories is 5 seconds. You can come up with a variety of creative ideas for display in this format, and if you don’t have enough imagination, look for ideas here.
Feed Banner
Square images (1:1 aspect ratio), vertical images (4:5), or horizontal images (1.9:1). This format also allows you to add a motivating button with a link to the site. The text in the description should not exceed 2200 characters.
Carousel
Several photos or videos in one post are called a carousel gallery. It can demonstrate the range of products, show one product from different angles, or a step-by-step tutorial.
The carousel is also suitable for “Before/After” photos. This approach is useful in cases where you need to create the “I want it too” effect and motivate the audience to use the service. You can add up to 10 square materials with a resolution of 1080x1080 to the ring gallery. The advertising format can be supplemented with a button leading to a landing page.
Set
This is an image (1200x628) with small images of products underneath. As a rule, the post is enabled with the NEXT button and a scroll arrow. The button opens a field with pictures and descriptions of additional products (from 4 to 50 items), and clicking on the image takes the user to the advertiser’s website.
By the way, the set can also be presented on a separate page called Instagram landing page. This is a great option to advertise products from one category or collection.
To make advertising creatives for Instagram, you gather your target audience first. Next, find a suitable image in photo stocks. Search phrases and resource selections in recommendations will help with this; play with the search results settings, and don’t stop at viewing the first page. It is worth purchasing paid content to reduce the risk of encountering the same creatives as your competitors. By the way, you can specifically look at competitors’ advertisements to understand which direction to choose.
There's always an option to take your own high-quality photos using your phone. To do this, you should adhere to the fundamental rules:
study basic photography concepts: exposure, composition, saturation, contrast, and color balance;
adjust the lighting;
try different compositional techniques (Flat Lay, macro photography, framing, blur);
adhere to the rule of 3 colors in the frame (check out Itten’s color wheel);
use a colored background;
do not let superfluous elements in the frame distract the user from the product;
process images in a photo editor.
Every user pays attention to the image first; their eyes focus on the main object that the advertiser is promoting. When the product is acknowledged, they explore text and the call to action button. Since text is the last thing the audience sees, it should be placed in the center of the frame.
Examples
The navy blue and turquoise color scheme stands out on the feed;
Concise ad text helps viewers understand what they will see when they click on the call-to-action button;
The text mentions the website redesign, but the visual does not contain examples. This encourages users to go to the landing page and explore the resource themselves.
High-quality image;
Cute animals attract attention and make potential clients stay longer on the publication;
The Call Now button encourages you to take the action the advertiser needs.
The harmonious combination of colors;
The ad clearly states what the user will receive after registration (a box with FabFitFun products);
By timing the event to coincide with Women's History Month, FabFitFun demonstrates its solidarity with companies founded by women (its target audience).
Video
More than 70% of users believe that video content is more effective than text and pictures, which is why this format is extremely popular. Let's take a look at video advertising formats on Instagram.
Stories
A vertical video (MP4 or MOV) lasting 15 seconds allows you to add a button leading to the site. It is recommended to select 1080x1920 resolution. The maximum size is 4 GB.
Feed Video
Square (600x600) or horizontal (600x315) videos 120 seconds long. You can also add a button that impels customers to check out the landing page. The maximum size is 4 GB.
Before shooting an ad, think through the video concept and USP. Seasonal and situational creatives show good results. You can often find videos with summer discounts or film teasers on the feed. However, one of the most effective ways to grab user attention is to highlight the pain point that your product can solve.
The main principle of any successful creative is their nativeness. Marketers recommend mentioning your brand three times: at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the advertisement. By the way, they also advise filming people for advertising videos because people tend to attract the audience and build trust.
However, the lack of background actors isn't always a mistake: the product can get its main character moment. Focus on the product, talk about its advantages, and check the intonations you use in the text or add music: many users scroll the feed without sound, only reading subtitles.
Text
Posts that include text can significantly increase engagement with your audience. Offers should attract the user no less than the creative itself. If you use a static or animated picture, try to indicate only the USP, and in the case of video creative, it is advisable to describe each shot.
Text recommendations:
write short sentences;
use one sans-serif font;
choose large font size and bright colors for text;
place the text in the center of the creative;
use geotags for greater reach in stories;
write subtitles for videos;
speak the language of the target audience (modern slang, specific terms, etc.).
Common Mistakes
We've discussed the approaches one should use in a creative; now let's see what should be avoided when developing visuals.
The first mistake would be the lack of the product or its description in the creative. Sometimes, the image or video does not show the product. As a result, users don't understand what exactly they are expected to pay for.
The store is advertising a face mask with a lifting effect, but there is no glimpse of the product whatsoever: you cannot deduce what exactly will make your skin better.
Another common mistake is the lack of the so-called wow effect. In most cases, the user makes purchases spontaneously: they come across a creative, upload the landing page, and read through the details that encourage them to purchase the product. If there is nothing catchy in the creatives, there is a high probability that the user will not linger on the ad. The following creative contains no catchy details or bright highlights.
Some people make creatives plain, while others practically go overboard with excessive use of graphic elements. Too many details and embellishments will scare the user away, erasing the main topic of the ad from their memory.
All creative must contain a clear call to action. Pictures and videos that lack it tend to be less effective.
One more thing. Do not shoot a long video: not many people will watch it to the end when they realize that this is just an ad. Your tactics here should be the following: capture user attention, tell them immediately what the ad is about, and you're good to go. One exception is the ad that tells a story: it may gain additional moments of user attention.
Best Tools for Making Your IG Creative
Let's look at several services that make it easy to create a visual for advertising.
Freepik
Freepik is a photo stock with free vector images on any topic. Images are available in AI and PNG formats. The service is suitable for supplementing creatives with graphic elements. The platform's free library includes thousands of files, but the paid plan unlocks even more graphics for the user, allowing you to download unlimited vectors, PSD files, and premium stock photos.
Advantages: Affordable subscription price
Disadvantages: Small collection of stock photos (3 million photos and 2 million vectors).
VistaCreate (Crello)
VistaCreate is an exceptional platform for making creatives for social networks. The editor is enabled with many tools. You can work with templates divided into different topics: type keywords in the search bar to find a suitable layout. There is also the opportunity to build creos from scratch.
VistaCreate is free to get started and offers over 50,000 design templates, branding, and 10 GB of storage. The paid plan gives you access to more than 50 million creative assets, an unlimited set of styles, and unlimited downloads.
Advantages: a wide selection of templates and many tools for working with graphic elements.
Disadvantages: limited functionality of the free plan.
Supa
With Supa, you can create short videos for social networks. Users are provided with free photos and videos of high quality. The Supa service has simple functionality; you can create videos directly in the browser and save them in the GIF or MP format. There you can find all the necessary functions, such as adding background music or text.
Beginners can enjoy the free plan to create videos with the service logo, but their maximum length should not exceed 40 seconds, and the file resolution is 480p.
The Premium subscription contains all the features of the free plan, but the videos will no longer have the Supa logo. The length of the videos reaches 90 seconds, and the resolution is 720p.
Advantages: clear interface, various functions.
Disadvantages: You can't upload your own videos.
Canva
Canva is absolutely indispensable when it comes to creatives. The functionality is not inferior to VistaCreate, and your entire team can work on visuals. The service also has an application.
Canva's free plan includes at least 250 thousand free templates and over 100 design types. To access more than 100 million photos and 610 thousand free templates, you should subscribe to the Pro plan, which also allows you to change the design of graphic elements and work in a team of up to 5 people. Canva also offers an exclusive Enterprise subscription, which lets you create your corporate identity and manage your team's access to graphic settings.
Advantages: for new users, the paid PRO plan is free for 30 days.
Disadvantages: limited functionality of the free plan.
Pablo
Pablo will help you prepare posts and stories for social media. The service has a large library of images and a simple interface for working with standard filters. You can add a logo and text to the picture, and save the file on your PC and a social media platform.
Beginners can start their acquaintance with a free plan that gives access to the basic publishing tools and a landing page builder. Pablo's paid subscription allows you to work with analytics tools and invite additional users.
Advantages: All basic features are available in the free version.
Disadvantages: images cannot be edited; the platform is not enabled with a wide variety of fonts.
Pixlr
Pixlr is a great online image editor that can work with almost any format: .psd, .pxd, .jpeg, .png, .webp, .svg, you name it. You can either resort to a template or edit pictures from scratch.
Pixlr's free plan allows you to work with basic editing tools and gives you a limited set of stickers and overlays. If that's not enough, you can purchase a subscription to unlock extensive editing tools, AI CutOut, and thousands of additional overlays, icons, and stickers.
Advantages: simple functionality, variety of filters.
Disadvantages: not suitable for processing 2D and 3D models and adding textures.
Photoshop
Photoshop is a multifunctional program for editing almost any graphic element. Using the tool, you can edit the image and improve its perception, work with GIF animations, and use layers and effects. The program allows you to enhance creativity by developing complex and beautiful designs from simple elements.
Advantages: wide functionality of the program.
Disadvantages: a paid tool that needs to be installed on a PC.
PicsArt
Picsart is an image editor for mobile devices. The program has many settings for processing photos. In addition to the standard set of editing tools, you can create various effects on images, such as dispersion.
The platform's free plan offers standard photo and video editing features along with millions of free-to-edit images. There are even more premium tools, over 20 million premium stock graphics without watermarks, plus logos, colors, and fonts available with a Gold subscription.
Advantages: multifunctionality
Disadvantages: few filters compared to other programs.
Glymt
Glymt allows you to create short videos for social networks. In addition to working with your own videos, you can edit the video templates offered by the service. Main functions: change the format, timing, and sound; add logos, text, and graphic elements.
You can start working with the platform right away. The user has free editing functions, as well as discounted video packages. To interact with high-quality videos, you should purchase the Basic plan, which includes 12 premium videos per year. To get even more functions, support, and a team account, subscribe to the PRO plan.
Advantages: large video library.
Disadvantages: limited functionality in the free package.
FAQ
