If you’re a retail or e-commerce brand looking to tap into the $1.2+ trillion in purchasing power of Millennials and Gen Z, then advertising on Instagram is a must. Instagram is one of the fastest growing social media platforms. It gives retail brands instant access to over 1.2 billion active and global users.
As the other social media platforms have seen a drop in user engagement and interaction on their platforms, Instagram has experienced a marketed boost, especially in how consumers are responding to ads. In terms of marketing ROI, Instagram has been found to deliver up to 58x more engagement per follower. And, up to 120x more engagement than Twitter.
That’s why retailers must have a robust Instagram marketing strategy to quickly grow their brand in 2024 and beyond. Here are the top reasons why Instagram ads are key to maximizing your retail brand’s reach.
Better visibility and higher brand loyalty
The ability to go viral is much higher on Instagram than any other platform. With 4.84% user engagement that means more people are interacting than on any other platform. However, the key to producing viral content lies in capturing what your target audience wants to see. And in a truly unique and highly compelling way.
More affordable advertising costs
The cost per click (CPC) is what drives the average cost of social media campaigns. For Facebook, the CPC is around $0.80 whereas a similar campaign on Instagram could be run for as low as a CPC of $0.20.
Combining a lower CPC with a more engaged audience, Instagram represents a large “bang for your buck”. Especially, when other features like the swipe up option and influencer marketing are factored in. To master Instagram advertising, retailers must create highly engaging video content and strategically. Also, use hashtags to ensure that posts are seen by a wider audience.
Leverage cross promotions
The power of advertising on Instagram is in being able to cross promote on Facebook, without having to pay Facebook’s higher advertising costs. However, it’s important to note that videos posted on Facebook that are longer than 60 seconds will not be “eligible” to be shared on Instagram (unless through IGTV). Likewise, Instagram posts that contain more than one video cannot be cross promoted on Facebook from Instagram.
As more people continue to use social media platforms in 2024, savvy retailers and e-commerce brands will be smart to establish a consistent Instagram posting schedule and advertising campaigns.
The importance will be in posting highly-engaging, consumable content that target audiences are actively searching for. Those retail brands that produce high-quality Instagram content and ads will be handsomely rewarded with increased social media engagement.