First, let me tell a Story about You and Me

You can skip this intro if you don’t really like intros that much! (Just joking, plz read it)

Let’s admit it, whenever we’re taking a picture of ourselves, we always want it to look at its best. So we always find the best angle, the best lighting, the best background, the best everything and we’re not stopping until we’re satisfied! After taking a hundred shots, you finally found the perfect one.

You’re happy and can’t wait to post it! After posting, you’re now waiting for people to see your picture. However, you can’t wait that long so you leave it to do much more important and productive things. After doing said productive and important things, you check out the picture  you posted earlier. After checking it out, you discover your worst nightmare.

What!? What’s this!? It’s 20 likes less than I expected! What Blasphemy is this!? Nooooo!
Alright, that may be a little bit overdramatized, just a little bit. However, we often get disappointed if we don’t meet the expectations we set for ourselves.

That personal scenario, the same concept also applies in business, specifically in advertising in Instagram. We work hard in getting the right content, the right image but only a few likes is what we sometimes get.

So today, you’ll find out Powerful Ways in gaining more likes on your Instagram Ad!

Hold On a Minute!

Before we get started, we’re already assuming that you’re posting high quality content. Not just HD pictures and videos (though HD quality are important too). The content itself is quality. So what do I mean by that? Well, that’s the hard part.

We all have different skills and different opinions. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you work hard, you create good content and vice versa. So what I myself consider as high quality content is a work that I’m fully satisfied with. You may have a different opinion and that’s perfectly fine! What matters is that you think what you’re making is quality. If it’s still not working, then it’s time to get started!

1. Step-up your Caption game!

– Before we start doing outside things, let’s try and sprinkle a little bit of flare in your content. If you’re not putting captions, start putting them now.

Captions are a great way to capture attention. Even better if it’s visually appealing. It’s just really easy to look at a picture and just skim through it. With captions however, you have to read, not just look, forcing your audience to commit to your ad. It gets even better if you leave an impression on your audience.

Granted, this will not work on every single person who sees your ad. But I have no doubt that this will increase the number of people who engage with your ads, thus likely gaining you likes.

If you however, have been putting in caption but there’s nothing changing, maybe you’re not doing it optimally. Try to not overdo it since it will lose its flare if people constantly keep seeing captions. Also try asking questions or putting in a call-to-action. Maybe even lessen your caption a bit with a minimalist approach.

2. Tagging Photos

– Another flare you might want to consider is tagging Photos!

This are great if you’re advertising your products! It’ll get more people to know your business. These tags might not be as big as, let’s say hashtags. But they certainly look appealing!

Just be sure if your content is suited for tagging. Irrelevance will just divert people away from you and will make you worse off than you started with!

3. #HashtagOptimization

Hashtags are a big part of Instagram Culture. They have been used ever since the beginning. Now, hashtags might have blown up in the past, where it’s getting used all over the place like in Facebook and Twitter. But after that blow up, they became rather… irrelevant.

Luckily, hashtags are still in full swing in Instagram! So, I’m sure that most of you, if not all, already use hashtags. But! Are you doing it effectively?

First, you want to research the most trending hashtags. An easy way to do this is just type in your search bar a hashtag, then various hashtags will pop-up. You can maybe add a few letter or a word to narrow down what your ad is all about.

Also, don’t bombard your ad with hashtags! Instagram has better algorithm and ever and will mark your post maybe as a spam. So bombardment is a no, no. Maybe around 5 will suffice.

3. Be consistent on the most Optimal hours

Now we’re getting outside of the actual content itself. If you’re posting something, before saying how well made and hard work you put through your ad, is there anybody even present to see your ad? No matter how good it is, nobody is there to look at it, won’t gain you traction!

There are days within most people are active in Instagram. That also goes with other social media platforms. And within those days, there are also hours where people are more active. And within those hours there are minutes when people are most active!! No, not really, but you get the point.

This also depends on where you’re from and what country or countries you’re trying to appeal to. Obviously, 2pm in UK is not 2pm in US. Also, you’re mostly likely to research which day and hours are most optimal to post. But keep in mind that all countries are not the same so be sure to check your target country when you’re researching.

 

 

 

 

One last note is: be consistent. You’ve got your day, your hours. However, you just post like two times in the first week. And then like eight times in the second week. No! Be sure to keep the gaps close because consistency is key very important in the Algorithm’s eyes.

4. It’s not you…. It’s your audience!

We often give more attention to our actual content, making it the best as possible. And that’s typically how it should be! Your content is your core after all. However, in some cases, we risk other factors to consider as well since your focus is on your content and all. That’s where your audience comes in.

If you’re doing your best and is still not getting the results you desire, maybe you’ve been targeting the wrong people. With Facebook’s Ad manager, you can really narrow down your target audience.

With this in mind, if your current target is not working, try new ones. Yes, I know it’s a risk, even potentially losing all what you have worked for. However, if you’ve been trying and trying, doing everything you can and are still not getting results, maybe it’s worth the risk.

You may narrow down, or expand, or even change to other demographics. But, one key note is that this is only for testing. Your aim is to know if different demographics are more suited for your content.

5. Start Events

No, not real life events. Actually, those could work too! But not for now, we’re sticking to the Instagram only. What I mean by starting events is to start or cook something up. And… That’s it!………

I know, I know, I’m just joking. It’s a little vague but hear me out. What I mean by those are Ad stories, do a giveaway, run a contest,  partner up with an influencer, and other “events.” Basically, something that will grab people’s attention and get them interested like the ones I mentioned

Those are most of the “events” being used by people in Instagram. And they seem to work! It’s not necessarily something big, but it’s something that people can look forward to or receive something in return.

6. Stop Making Ads!  
Last but not the least, stop making Ads. So what do I mean by that? What I mean is, don’t make your ad look like ads.

Let’s be honest. Most of us, more than we’d like to admit, skip more ads than pay attention to them. Why? Because they blatantly look like ads! It’s not so often that we pay attention to ads because in our minds, they just want something from us. And to those that do get our attention,  those are the ones that don’t look like ads.

They feel more natural and organic.Let’s imagine that you’re just randomly passing by a mall. You encounter two salesman that day. one constantly tries to sell his product that’s apparently the BEST in the world. While the other initiates a conversation with you and attempt to establish a connection.

It’s most likely the latter that you’d want to buy from. So be the same way! Instead of focusing on selling, focus on establishing connections with your audience. I’m not saying that don’t sell your products, no! That’s just a terrible idea. But just sell them in a way that doesn’t make you look like that all you care about is your product being sold.