When it comes to advertising on social media, Instagram is one of the most popular platforms. And, one of the most successful ways of promoting businesses or products on Instagram is through sponsored posts. This type of post is an effective way for influencers, businesses, and brands to increase their reach and engagement on the platform. In this blog post, we’ll explain what a sponsored post is, and how it can help to benefit your business. We’ll also go through the key steps that you need to consider before you invest in sponsored posts on Instagram. By the end of the post, you should have a better understanding of sponsored posts, and how they can help you reach your business goals.
Who uses sponsored posts on Instagram?
Any business on Instagram with a business account can use sponsored posts. To run advertisements on this platform, businesses typically hire a social media manager or digital marketer. They could also hire a freelance marketer or a digital marketing agency to handle their marketing strategy on their behalf. Influencers and brands may collaborate to develop sponsored posts for their accounts.
What is a sponsored post on Instagram?
Instagram offers companies who want to advertise on their platform and promote their goods and services the option of sponsored posts. While Instagram’s ads manager allows you to create a variety of advertisements, many marketers start with sponsored posts because this choice enables them to merely pay to promote an organic post that already exists on their page. A published post on Instagram that wasn’t purchased by a business is referred to as an “organic post.”
When an organic post performs well and generates a lot of engagement, marketers frequently decide to convert it into a sponsored post in order to reach a wider audience. To do this, they decide who they want to see the post and allocate a specific sum of money to promoting it. This enables them to connect with a larger group of prospective clients who might be interested in engaging with their content. Influencers and brands can collaborate to sponsor natural posts on their Instagram accounts. By doing this, brands can increase their reach and connect with influencers’ followers.
Reasons to sponsor posts on Instagram
Instagram sponsored posts are primarily sponsored by businesses in order to promote particular goods or services and attract new clients. Sponsored posts are a fantastic tool for businesses to boost sales and keep expanding. You might decide to sponsor a post on Instagram for the following reasons as well:
2 types of sponsored posts on Instagram
While there are many different types of advertisements you can use on Instagram to market your goods and services, there are primarily two kinds of sponsored posts available. Here are the most popular types of sponsored posts:
1. Paid promotional posts
These sponsored post formats are used by brands to promote older organic posts by purchasing more audience reach and interaction. These posts resemble other kinds of Instagram advertisements you might see in the platform’s home feed. A paid promotional post begins as an organic post, whereas marketers create other types of advertisements in Instagram’s ads manager exclusively for use in marketing. Additionally, compared to other Instagram advertisements, these posts typically appear and feel more genuine.
2. Brand-sponsored posts
If businesses want to pay an influencer to post about their goods or services on their behalf, they can do so by using brand-sponsored posts. A social media user with a sizable Instagram following and high engagement rates is known as an influencer. You can reach their followers and increase the likelihood that they will buy your goods or services by paying influencers to post about your brand.
For instance, you might pay an influencer to post an image of themselves wearing your brand’s clothing on Instagram with your Instagram handle in the comments. Influencers typically indicate in the caption of their post that it is a paid advertisement by using a hashtag like #ad or #sponsoredpost. Depending on their average post engagement rate and the number of followers they have, each influencer may charge a different amount per post.
How to sponsor a post on Instagram
Here are some guidelines for creating an Instagram sponsored post:
1. Choose what type of sponsored post to use
Decide first whether to publish a paid promotional post or pay an influencer to do so on your behalf. Although many marketers employ both of these techniques to build a strong marketing strategy, there are a number of variables you may want to take into account to help you decide which is best for your campaign. It is frequently quicker and less expensive to create a paid promotional option. This approach may be used if you already have an organic post that is performing well on your account.
Reaching out to influencers to produce brand-sponsored posts for you can take more time, and the cost may vary depending on the influencers’ level of online popularity. While some smaller influencers might accept free products in exchange for their brand-sponsored posts, others might demand hundreds or even thousands of dollars. However, collaborating with niche influencers who are aligned with your brand can significantly increase your return on investment and assist you in reaching your target audience.
2. Determine your advertising objective
Next, determine what your advertising objective is. Open the organic Instagram post you want to promote and click the blue “Boost Post” button that appears underneath it if you want to create a paid promotional post. This brings up a page where you can choose a target for your advertising campaign. You have the option to increase the number of people who visit your Instagram profile, drive more traffic to your website, or encourage people to message you directly. Select your goal by clicking the circle next to it, and then click the blue “Next” button at the bottom of the page.
If you want to ask an influencer to create a sponsored post for your brand, think about whether you want to promote your brand to more people or get engagements on the post they create. This can make it easier for you to let potential influencers know what you expect of them and make sure they monitor the right metrics so you can gauge the success of your campaign.
3. Identify your target audience
Identify who your target audience is. You can compile a list of people who would most benefit from your goods or services by studying data about your current customers to identify patterns. Pay special attention to important demographics like age, location, gender, occupation, and income level. Then, think about the kinds of interests or pastimes that your ideal clients might share. For instance, if you sell fashion accessories, your clients might like browsing stores and reading fashion publications. Use the information you’ve gathered to develop an audience for your sponsored post once you’ve determined who your ideal client is.
When prompted on the “Select Target Audience” screen, select “Create Your Own” if you’re creating a paid promotional post. Then manually enter your targeting options. If you want Instagram to show your paid promotional post to users who are similar to your current followers, you can also select the “Automatic” targeting option. If you want an influencer to create a brand-sponsored post, look for popular hashtags on Instagram using your list of interests and pastimes. This can assist you in finding influencers who write about related subject matter.
4. Establish your advertising budget
Next, establish your advertising budget. When boosting your post, you can set your budget on the “Budget & Duration” page if you intend to create a paid promotional post. Decide how much you can afford to spend each day and how long you want your campaign to run. On this screen’s top, Instagram displays the total budget. In accordance with your budget, you can also see your projected reach. This is displayed as a range underneath your overall budget to provide an estimate of the audience size for your promotional post.
Establish a budget you’re willing to spend if you want an influencer to create a brand-sponsored post for your business. While some new influencers might feel at ease accepting complimentary goods in exchange for their services, more seasoned influencers frequently demand higher fees. Check the websites or Instagram bios of the influencers on your list to see if they provide pricing information. Influencers frequently charge a set fee per post based on the number of followers they have. The following are some examples of influencer post pricing:
5. Place your sponsored post
Make sure to review your ad creative, goal, audience, budget, and duration on the “Review Your Ad” page if you’re creating a paid promotional advertisement. If this is your first sponsored post on Instagram, they might ask you to upload a new payment method. Click the blue “Boost Post” button at the bottom of your screen when you are ready to publish your sponsored post. Although Instagram may take up to 24 hours to review and approve your advertisement, you can always choose to pause it once it has begun to run.
Contact an influencer via their website or through a direct message on Instagram if you want to commission them to create a sponsored post for your brand. Share some background information about your company, the goods or services you offer, your target market, your campaign goals, and your reasoning for believing they are a good fit. If they’re interested in collaborating, you can discuss price, schedule, number of posts, and other crucial issues to make sure the post they produce reflects your vision.
6. Track your progress
Track the development of your sponsored post after it goes live to see if your campaign is a success. If you created a paid advertisement for promotion, you can click on it in the Instagram app to see how it performed. Depending on the objective you chose when you created your post, the outcomes you see may differ.
Ask for regular updates and screenshots of the posts’ performance if you’re working with an influencer. You can also ask for a report at the end of the campaign that details how many people saw the post and how many engagements it received. This can assist you in determining your return on investment and optimizing your subsequent marketing initiatives to raise your results over time.
Please be aware that Indeed is not connected to any of the brands or businesses mentioned in this article.
How to Use Sponsored Posts on Instagram
FAQ
How much is it to sponsor a post on Instagram?
To begin, go to your profile and pick the article you want to highlight. Then tap the Promote button on the post page. A different option is to access your Instagram Insights, scroll to the Promotions section, and click the Create Promotion button.
What is the difference between a sponsored post and a boosted post on Instagram?
How much does Instagram promotion cost? Instagram promotion of your posts can cost as little as $5 USD. Your post will be promoted until the budget you specify for how much to spend runs out once you’ve chosen the post or Story you want to promote.
