Expert tips to boost your Instagram ad conversion rates

With Instagram boasting a projected 1.4 billion users worldwide by 2024, the social media platform has become a retailer's paradise.

Instagram's visual nature is the perfect match for eCommerce brands, allowing you to showcase your products in an engaging way and connect directly with potential customers. But how can you create ads that stand out on the feed?

In this guide, we'll unveil the secrets to creating Instagram ads that convert. From strategic budget scheduling to engaging video subtitles and A/B testing your ad creative, we'll equip you with the knowledge you need to turn scrollers into shoppers.

1. Test different variations of your ad creative

Unlocking more conversions on Instagram ads is all about testing and optimizing your creative. While targeting is important, it’s your content that will turn Instagram users into potential customers.

By experimenting with different elements, you can discover what resonates most with your audience. Remember, Instagram is a visual platform. So while catchy descriptions are important, testing images and videos can be even more impactful.

Video hooks

If you’re running brand awareness ads on Instagram, videos can be a great way to introduce your product to potential customers and educate them on the unique features or the problems it solves. But with less than 3 seconds to grab a person’s attention on Instagram, you need to get the hook of your video right.

A strong hook can boost your ad watch time and click-through rates. That's why testing different hooks is one of the best ways to optimize your video ads. By continuously testing, you can discover what resonates best with your audience, leading to improved ad performance.

Here are some Instagram video hook ideas that you can test:

• Start with a question: Such as "Ever wish you could solve [pain point]?"

• Showcase a surprising transformation: Show before and after using your product.

• Add a dash of humor: Make the audience laugh with a relatable scenario.

• Highlight a unique feature: Show what sets your product apart from competitors.

Message angles and offers

For image ads you can test different message angles in the copy of the visual. For instance, let’s say you sell men’s wallets, you could test angles like “No more bulky wallets”, “RFID safe”, or “Made from premium leather”.

Finally, as consumers love a good deal, you can also experiment with different offers in your ads. See how your audience responds to:

• Discounts: Percentage off, flat price reductions, etc.

• Value bundles: Combine products for added appeal or cost savings.

• Frictionless benefits: Free shipping or returns can ease purchase hurdles.

• Seasonal or limited-time offers: To create a sense of urgency.

Tip: When testing, change only one variable at a time - whether that’s the hook, the angle, or the offer. This way, you can pinpoint what drives the most conversions. You might be surprised at how simple tweaks can significantly boost your Instagram ad success.

2. Maximize conversions with strategic budget scheduling

Once your Instagram ads start gaining traction and you understand what resonates with your audience, it's time to level up your budget strategy. This involves fine-tuning your targeting for even better results and scheduling your ad spend strategically to maximize ROI.

Dive into your analytics to identify periods with higher engagement, sales, or website traffic. Are there specific days of the week or times of the day where your audience is most active?

Or when you get most of your sales? Leverage these insights to schedule budget increases during those peak periods. This ensures that your ads reach the right people at the right time, maximizing your chances of conversions.

Understandably, some advertisers may not want to limit the days and times their ads show. So another way Instagram's budget scheduling feature could come in handy is if you’re running a flash sale or exclusive promotion. You can schedule a budget boost for the duration of the offer to capture maximum attention and drive sales.

3. Launch an Advantage+ shopping campaign

Meta’s Advantage+ shopping campaigns are a relatively new campaign format, specifically designed to drive more conversions for eCommerce and retail brands. Advantage+ campaigns leverage machine learning to automatically manage various aspects of your ad campaign, including targeting, bidding, and creative selection. This saves you time and effort compared to manually setting up and optimizing campaigns.

These campaigns cover the entire customer journey, from initial awareness to conversion, by automatically showing different ad variations to different audiences based on their purchase likelihood. Meta's algorithm optimizes your campaign based on conversions, and spends your budget where it's most likely to deliver results.

While brands using Advantage+ shopping campaigns have seen a 32% increase in return on ad spend, we highly recommend testing it with a small budget before committing to a larger campaign.

Tip: As you can upload up to 150 images and videos in Advantage+ shopping campaign and the more visuals you supply the better, you’ll want to optimize your creative production process. Channable's Dynamic Image Editor allows you to create multiple ad variations featuring real-time sale prices, special discounts, or new stock notifications - all directly from your product data.

4. Allow customers to check out on Instagram Shop

Advertisers who direct their ads to the Instagram Shop checkout can create a streamlined buying experience that reduces friction and boosts conversions. If a potential customer spots your eye-catching product photo on an ad, instead of facing the hurdle of navigating to a separate website, they're presented with a seamless option to buy directly within the Instagram app.

Your Instagram Shop is like an extension of your brand as you can create an interactive, visual shopping experience to connect with potential buyers.

You can use it to share your brand story and create custom product collections for Instagram users to browse through. Having an Instagram Shop also allows you to tag your products in your organic posts, increasing discoverability and the chance of making sales.

Tip: Using a Feed Management tool like Channable keeps your product information up-to-date and consistent across all of your platforms, including Instagram Shop. This allows you to save time and resources by creating and managing all your product feeds in one place.

5. Make video ads that capture attention without audio

Did you know the average viewer scrolls by with the sound off 75% of the time? So if you’re running video ads with a voiceover without closed captions, you might be missing opportunities to connect with potential buyers.

If you don’t want to overwhelm your video editor with adding captions to every Instagram ad, there are plenty of AI-powered subtitle generator tools that you can use to speed up the process.

Not only do captions make your ad accessible to everyone, but Facebook data shows they can boost engagement by 12%.

Additionally, skip the overreliance on music. While a well-placed soundtrack can enhance your ad, it shouldn't be the sole storyteller. Instead, let your visuals do the heavy lifting. Remember, showing is always better than telling.

So try to create an ad that tells its story entirely through images, with no sound or captions needed.