Instagram Story ads are a HUGE opportunity for brands, but they’re totally different from newsfeed ads and need to be treated as so.

Today, we’re going to be talking about the perfect length for an Instagram Story ad and how to instantly connect with your customer through Stories.

We’re going to look at an ad from Parabo Press, and if you haven’t heard of them, they’re an awesome service that takes the photos from your phone and turns them into a plethora of awesome gifts that you can order online.

Framed photos, actual just prints, large format prints, photo books. You get the gist. It’s really super cool.

So let’s take a look at the ad above.

What’s Working?

Native Stories: First off, I love native stories within Instagram. I think that there is nothing more engaging and nothing better that keeps the customer within that stories world. I also love perfectly polished Instagram stories, but I do think that there is something to be said for something that feels very natural.

You know, more than likely someone’s more willing to watch all the way through because they could be confused that maybe it’s someone they know. So that’s definitely working for it. I think the other thing that’s working for it is that it’s an intriguing offer – Get free prints.

Now that’s going to lead me to what they could do better.

What Could Be Better?

Sound on/off: Never assume that somebody has the sound on, especially with Stories, and we find this again, and again, and again, that … I mean think about this, without the sound on this ad, it’s a complete waste of money.

Nobody is going to gather what’s going on by just looking at that ad, so you have to do a text overlay. And I know sometimes you’re like, “But it doesn’t need it.” It always needs it on an Instagram Story, even if it’s something as simple as swipe up.

Write the offer: But that leads me to the second thing. This is, I’m assuming, an offer that they’re running. So “get free prints while just paying for shipping.” That should be what you write on the Instagram Story itself. Do it in a native font, do it in a custom font, whatever you want to do just make sure that it’s in writing so that someone who doesn’t have their sound off can still get the benefit of that ad, can still be intrigued, can still be curious, it’s going to inspire a swipe up.

Again though, without that text overlay you don’t gather any of that.

Make it 10+ seconds: The last and final point is, this ad goes by so fast, too fast.

You have 15 seconds. You don’t have to use all those 15 seconds, but as a general rule of thumb, we always say, never less than 10. And that’s just because you might have more to say, you might have more to offer.

Give your customer a little bit more time to watch if they want. If they only watch for five seconds, then they can decide that they only watch for five seconds, but give them enough that if they want to keep watching if there’s content to view.

Key Takeaways

So I hope that when you are approaching your next Instagram Story creative for your ads you remember these three things.

1.) Don’t ever assume that your customer has their sound on.

2.) Use a text overlay, always, always, always, there are no exceptions.

3.) You’ve got 15 seconds, don’t be afraid to use it.

If you read this and you’re like, “Whoa, whoa wait. I didn’t know I could advertise on Instagram Stories.” You can! And we can help you, so click here to get in-touch with us.