Instagram Story Ads were introduced back in March, 2019. This feature caused a lot of excitement among marketers and advertisers as the format is very immersive with big potentials. Since then, around 50% of brands on Instagram have made story posts and time spent on Instagram rose to 28 minutes immediately after the introduction of the feature.
Okay, but what are Story Ads?
Stories are available to every Instagram user at the top of their feed. An Instagram Story Ad will display inside these stories. You will usually encounter them when you are transitioning from one story to another. These Story Ads work well and are accepted by the community since it is hard to distinguish from regular stories.
You will always see the word “Sponsored” on Instagram Story Ads, as with any other sponsored content on the platform. Both video story ads and image story ads are displayed full screen to an Instagram user. Considering the fact that around five hundred million Instagram users look at Instagram stories every single day, it is an incredible marketing opportunity for businesses.
Limited time offers work better with Story Ads because all stories disappear from the website after 24 hours. Here is the complete list of call to action buttons for your Story Ads:
- Download
- Contact us
- Book now
- Apply now
- Call now
When you make your Instagram story ads, you can either create a target audience or use a previously saved one. You can also specify how often you want your audience to see your Story Ads. You can enhance these Story Ads with filters, texts and video effects for a truly appealing and convincing ad experience.
Instagram Story Ads (Image)
If you choose to go with an Instagram Story Image Ad, here are the things you should know. You can add up to 6 images and a swipe up facility to guide your viewers to your destination website. The ad’s duration will be 5 seconds.
These are the important specifications you should meet for your Instagram Story Ads (Images):
- 1080*1920 pixels is the recommended resolution for your image ad.
- You should have a minimum of 600*1067 pixels resolution.
- 9:16 is the correct aspect ratio.
- 30 MB is the maximum image size per image.
- You can either use PNG or JPG.
There is also a limit on the amount of text you can overlay on your images for the Story Ads. So be careful about this. If you go too far, Instagram won’t accept your ad.
Instagram Story Ads (Video)
When users browse through stories, nothing captures their attention more than a video. One thing you should keep in mind though is that when people view stories, their sound is usually turned off completely. So it is advisable that you deliver the advertising message of your Story Ads without any sound. The ad’s duration will be 15 seconds.
When people are browsing through stories nothing captures their attention more than a video. One thing to bear in mind though is that when users are viewing stories they don’t usually turn on the sound. So you need to be able to deliver your advertising message with a Stories Video Ad with or without sound. The video length is 15 seconds.
These are the important specifications you should meet for your Instagram Story Ads (Videos):
- 1080*1920 pixels is the recommended resolution for your video ad.
- You should have a minimum resolution of 720p videos for your Story Ads.
- 9:16 is the correct aspect ratio.
- 4GB is the maximum video size you can have on your ad.
- You can either use MOV or MP4 movie formats.
Now you know the most important tips for successful Instagram Story Ads! Use them whenever you need, and watch your business grow!