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COPY this Ad: How to Make the Perfect Instagram Ad

Today, we’re back with another AdCheck, this is a series where we look at the good and the bad of ads across the Internet, to help you make your campaign creative better.

So, today we are looking at an ad from one of my very all-time favorite brands, Jeni’s Ice Cream. And before you stop me and say, “Whoa, hey, they’re not eCommerce,” they sell ice cream online. You’re welcome. All the flavors. It’s unbelievable!

We are going to be looking at an ad of theirs that I found on Instagram.

Jeni’s Instagram Ad for Mother’s Day

This is a bright and cheery, beautiful ad that ran within the Instagram news feed, and the copy says:

“We spoke to your mother. She says forego the flowers and send ice cream instead. Shop our Mother’s Day gift guide now, and secure your place as her favorite kid.”

And you can see this ultra-bright, really beautiful stop-motion video that they have, scrolling through what looks like probably a recent promotional marketing material, a print catalog of all their different flavors and it’s gorgeous. I’m hungry just looking at this. And then on top of it they’ve got a person’s hand flipping the pages, and these gorgeous flowers, and it’s almost like an opening video, but not.

In our book, this is almost as perfect as it gets, and in social advertising, almost perfect IS perfect.

What’s Working?

So, let’s dive into exactly what’s working and how you can use these strategies in your own campaigns.

So the first thing we want to talk about is the gif, the visual.

It’s absolutely gorgeous. Not only do people love an overhead shot, but this is something that’s pretty easy to recreate on your own, no matter what your budget is. We’re guessing that they probably shot this as a video and then in post turned it into a stop-motion gif-type asset, but the big thing we want to point out is this rogue hand model.

Add people: Now, we have found through multiple, multiple campaigns, ad creatives, different companies, different platforms, Facebook, Instagram, whatever, you name it, that putting a human, even a random hand, even a random leg, even the back of a head, makes a difference.

So, if right now, you’re just solely running product shots that don’t have a person in them, I beg you, put a person in them. Go out back, take some photos with one of your employees if you can’t hire a model. Point is, is that people sell more than non-people product shots. 

Further, I love how they had such a creative way to show product diversity. Maybe you don’t have a printed out, beautiful marketing material like this, but I’m sure that if you sat down and thought about it, you could find a way to creatively show what you’re selling, and showcase it, and make it engaging.

Look at how this carries you all the way through, just the act of opening a book, turning the pages. It’s like you don’t want to stop watching until they’re at the end, so A+ creative.

Also, we love a marble backdrop 🙂

Conversational Copy (that converts)

The second thing we love is that the copy is conversational.

There’s a lot of times that creative can be interchangeable between Facebook and Instagram, but Instagram is clearly a more casual platform, and so your tone of voice should match that.

What we really love is that it’s cheeky, but it’s also instructional, and do not underestimate the power of telling a customer exactly what they should do. You’d be surprised. They don’t always know, so telling them, you know, “Buy this for your mom. Forego the flowers. Send her ice cream instead,” it plants that seed, it plants that idea in your customer’s head, and you’d be surprised.

They listen. They want to listen to you, so tell them. Tell them what you want them to do.

A Perfect Call to Action

Our third and final absolute love letter to Jeni’s ad for Mother’s day would be their Call to Action.

And what could be better than a conversational CTA? They make it clear and defined, but they make it kind of funny, and it doesn’t feel as heavy-handed as just, “Buy this today.” If there’s a way that you can make it conversational while including a CTA, do that!

Again, customers like being told what to do. Even if they say they don’t, they really do. Add the CTA. Make it conversational if you can.

Instagram Ad Takeaways

So to wrap up and rolling through the must-haves for an incredible ad if you want to follow Jeni’s is:

1.) Put people in your product shots.

2.) Match your tone of voice to the platform that you’re advertising on.

3.) Include a clear Call To Action. Bonus points if you can make it conversational.

If you haven’t had Jeni’s Ice Cream, please do so immediately. It will blow your mind, especially the peanut butter with dark chocolate sea salt flakes. You won’t regret that.

After looking at this you’re like, “Oh my god, we would love to make an ad that looks like that, but we just don’t have the time and we don’t know how to get started,” please let us know. We would love to make ads like this for you, go here to get in touch with us.

Now, I’m going to go order some ice cream, and you should do the same.

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