Do’s and don’ts of Instagram advertising Instagram is an excellent network for improving and increasing brand visibility and engagement. Instagram is an established social media network, but is still new as an advertising platform to many marketers. You can engage your audience with creative visual content and encourage them to share it further. However, with all social media marketing, creating an authentic feed that continuously grows organically comes with its own set of rules for businesses. Here are some dos and don'ts to help your brand be successful on Instagram: Do’s: Make use of hashtags: Instagram is highly driven by the use of hashtags. Make use of 2-3 relevant hashtags, which will allow your ad to be found easily. Strategic use of hashtags allows businesses to improve their brand visibility quicker when compared to other social media channels. The use of hashtagss is appreciated when it comes to brand visibility, but over using of hashtags should be avoided, because it misleads your followers and makes you look desperate. Use stunning visuals: Instagram is completely based on visual content, and in such case the value of images and videos uploaded goes higher. Make use of stunning and creative images to make your followers stop at your sponsored content. Make your posts look professional and polished. If you are able and skilled to take professional photos and videos, then do it yourself, or hire a pro to do this task for you. Use a related call-to-action: When creating Instagram ads, you can add a CTA button near the image. This button offers various choices for presenting the call-to-action. Make use of a relevant CTA for your advertising campaign. The main objective of including a CTA with the ad is to gain a wider reach and increase the number of desired actions. When creating an Instagram Ad, you have the option of using different call-to-action buttons. Available CTA’s include “Learn More”, “Download”, “Watch More”, “Shop Now”, etc. Don’ts: Post irrelevant content: Posting regularly is an important aspect of establishing brand image, but posting irrelevant content on Instagram is big NO NO. Don’t ever post irrelevant content just for the sake of higher engagement. Keep your posts related to your brand, or closely related to the interests of your target audience and followers. Content is everything, so even if you're going for more of an engaging post to boost attention, remember not to violate your brand's purpose. Over complicate your images: Instagram is all about visuals, and using simple, beautiful images helps you win the battle. Make sure the images posted on Instagram are simple, relevant and compelling. Don’t ever use complicated or irrelevant images for higher engagement. The use of complex images full of ad copy or buried under filters can make images lose their authenticity and value. Link to a page that isn’t mobile responsive: Instagram is a completely mobile driven platform and linking any unresponsive page can be disastrous. Make sure pages you link to your ad are easy to navigate and aesthetically pleasing on a smart phone or tablet.