Influencers are dominating the marketing industry and both micro, as well as macro-influencers, are important for businesses.
In this post, we have shared tips that will help you use Instagram branded content ads to boost the reach of your influencer marketing strategy.
What is branded content?
Branded content, according to Instagram refers to the creator or publisher’s content that features by a business partner for an exchange of value. For instance, think of a business partner paying the creator or publisher.
Simply put, Instagram branded content posts are created by influencers to promote a business or brand for compensation in the form of money or products or services.
If you partner with an influencer to promote your brand, you can have a paid partnership label under the influencer’s Instagram handle, making it easily recognizable.
Instagram branded content has shown a lot of engagement.
According to a Facebook for Business survey;
41% of users said that branded content helps them research a product or service
44% of users said that a brand’s content helps them find out about a product or service
42% of users said that branded content helps them discover new products or services easily
You can turn your Instagram branded content posts into ads to reach a wider audience. As of now, there are two types of branded content ads on Instagram- Feed ads and Stories ads. However, you need to be tagged as a business partner in a post to be able to promote that post as a branded content ad.
Why use Instagram branded content ads?
Here are some reasons to consider running Instagram branded content ads for your business;
Boost the reach and engagement of branded content
Branded ads are shown to Instagram users like any other Instagram ads ensuring that it grabs the attention of more users than just the influencer’s following.
Provide transparency to users
Instagram branded content ads make it easy for people to recognize your collaborations with influencers and it means a lot to Instagram users. As branded content ad comes with a “Paid Partnership” tag along with your brand name, it helps build credibility. You don’t have to rely on your influencers to use transparent hashtags.
Offers a great shopping experience
Shopping tags and branded content ads help your audiences to purchase products without leaving the Instagram app.
Helps optimize better
You can use Facebook Ads Manager to see the results and ad metrics for your Instagram branded content ads. With the helpful insights for your campaign, you can optimize your ads for better results.
How to set up a campaign?
a. Manage Instagram Influencer partnership
You need to set up branded content approvals before you start collaborating with Instagram influencers. Tap the three-line icon at the top right of your Instagram business profile and choose Settings from the pop-up menu. Next, tap the Business option and then select Branded Content.
You can then see your branded content approval settings on the next screen. By default, you can approve tags manually. If you can toggle this option off, anyone can tag you as a business partner in branded content.
View and approve requests from influencer from the Tag Requests section to tag your brand as a business partner. So, if you approve a request, that influencer will show up in the Approved Business Partners section.
b. How do influencers tag your brand and make their content eligible for ads?
Firstly, your Instagram influencer partner must be a registered creator and have access to branded content tools. Do note, creators must comply with Instagram policies to become eligible for branded content tools.
Here’s how influencers send tag requests when they create branded content posts. They can also make their content eligible for ads.
c. For Branded content post in the feed
For a feed post, the influencer taps Advanced Settings and then Tag Business Partner. They then search for your business partner account and send you a tag request. Once you approve an influencer as a business partner, they’ll be able to tag your brand in their posts directly.
Additionally, influencers need to select the Allow Business Partner to Promote the option to make their organic Instagram posts eligible for branded content ads.
d. For Branded content post in the Stories
Influencers can tap the link icon at the top of the screen and then select Tag Business Partner whenever they create a branded Instagram story. The influencer can then send you a tag request or tag you directly as a business partner. Also, they will be able to see the option to allow your brand to promote the content as an ad.
2. Choose a branded content post to promote
After your influencer partner has shared a post, tagged you, and allowed you to promote it, you can create an Instagram branded content ad.
It is important to select the organic branded content post you wish to promote carefully. You should know what type of content the influencer posts on their account and the type of response they receive on such posts. Choose the best-suited influencer post to meet your objectives such as increased app installs or sales.
Check the Facebook Page Insights or Facebook Brands Collabs Manager to view insights for organic branded content that you’ve been tagged in.
To set up Brand Collabs Manager
This is a dedicated tool from Facebook that takes content partnerships between brands and influencers on Facebook as well as Instagram to the next level.
Brand Collabs Manager helps you find Instagram influencers having similar audiences to yours. It also shows insights for organic Instagram branded content posts.
Go to https://www.facebook.com/collabsmanager/signup/brand, to sign up for Brand Collabs Manager. You can then select the Facebook page connected to your Instagram account, fill up the details, and click Submit when you’re done.
You can then see the Brand Collabs Manager dashboard. From the insights tab, you can see the reach and engagement data for any organic branded content posts from all the influencers you have partnered with.
Additionally, you can use Facebook Page Insights to view data for organic branded content posts. Simply click the Insights tab on your page and select Branded Content on the left.
Click on the Posts tab to view reach and engagement for your branded content posts. Find reach and engagement for branded content Stories posts on the Stories tab.
3. Create a branded content ad to promote your influencer’s post
Define your campaign goal before setting up your Instagram branded content campaign. This will help you determine the metrics involved in achieving your goal. For instance, if your objective is to increase app installations, the number of clicks on your app download will matter more than the reach of your post. You can then calculate the performance of your campaign more effectively.
After you decide on what your goal is and what content to promote, go to Facebook Ads Manager, and create a new ad campaign. Select your campaign objective. You can choose Brand Awareness, App Installs, Traffic, Reach, Video Views, Conversions, and Page Post Engagement (feed only) as objectives for Instagram branded content ads.
Next, set your ad set. Define your audience and choose your ad placements, opt for Manual Placements, and choose only the ones that apply to Instagram Feed, Explore or Stories.
4. Remove your tag from a branded content post
At some point, you may want to be untagged or removed from an Instagram branded content post. Here’s how you can do it.
a. From Facebook
Go to your Facebook Page Insights and click on the branded Content tab. Then find the branded content post and click on it or the Review Post. Select Remove Tag and then click Confirm on the Remove Tag.
b. From Instagram
For a feed post- Tap on the three dots at the top-right corner of the tagged post and select Remove Me From Post.
For a Story post- Tap on the three dots on the bottom right corner of the tagged story post and select Remove Me From Post.
Final Thoughts
Influencer marketing is an effective way to boost social media engagement. Instagram influencers help boost the credibility of brands’ content with the help their audience reach on the platform.
Instagram branded content ads help you expand the reach of the content beyond the influencer’s following and improve the chances of reaching your target audience.