How to Promote Your Local Business with Instagram Ads and Stories

Did you know that 90% of Instagram users have at least one business account they follow? If you own a local business, this means that you have a huge opportunity to reach and engage your target audience on this popular social media platform. But how can you stand out from the crowd and attract more customers to your local store or service? One of the most effective ways is to use Instagram ads and stories to promote your local business. Instagram ads allow you to target your ideal customers based on their location, interests, behavior, and more. In this blog post, we will show you how to create and optimize Instagram ads and stories that will help you increase your brand awareness, generate leads, and drive sales for your local business. You will learn how to:

• Set up an Instagram business account and connect it to your Facebook page
• Choose the right objectives and formats for your Instagram ads
• Use location-based targeting and hashtags to reach your local audience
• Create engaging and authentic Instagram stories that showcase your products or services
• Measure and improve your Instagram marketing performance with analytics and insights

Ready to get started? Let’s dive in!

Why Instagram Ads and Stories are Effective for Local Businesses

Instagram is not only a place to share your photos and videos, but also a powerful marketing tool for your local business. With over 1.2 billion monthly active users, Instagram can help you reach your potential customers, showcase your products or services, and build trust and loyalty with your audience. Here are some of the benefits of using Instagram ads and stories for your local business:

• Instagram ads allow you to create and run targeted campaigns that match your goals and budget. You can choose from different ad formats, such as photo, video, carousel, collection, and stories ads, and use location-based targeting and hashtags to reach your local audience. You can also track and optimize your ad performance with insights and analytics.
• Instagram stories are vertical movies or photographs that last 24 hours and then disappear. They are a great way to create a sense of urgency, showcase your personality, and increase your engagement. You can use stories to share behind-the-scenes content, announce new products or offers, answer questions, or share customer testimonials. You can also use stickers, filters, text, music, polls, and swipe-up links to enhance your stories and drive action.

Some best practices and tips for creating engaging and effective Instagram ads and stories for your local business are:

• Know your audience and tailor your content to their interests, needs, and preferences. Use language and visuals that resonate with them and reflect your brand identity.
• Have a clear goal and call to action for your ads and stories. Whether you want to increase your brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales, make sure you have a specific and measurable objective and a way to track your results.
• Be creative and authentic and use high-quality images and videos that capture attention and tell a story. Use different formats and features to showcase your products or services in different ways and add value to your audience.

How to Set Up Your Instagram Business Account and Profile

Before you can start promoting your local business on Instagram, you need to have a business account and profile. Here are the steps and tips to set up yours:

• Create an account. You can either sign up with your email or phone number, or log in with your Facebook account.
• Switch to a business account. Go to your profile settings and tap on “Switch to Professional Account”. Choose “Business” as your category and follow the instructions.
• Optimize your profile. Make sure your username, bio, profile picture, and contact options reflect your brand and what you offer. Use keywords, hashtags, and emojis to make your profile stand out and attract your target audience.
• Link your account to other platforms. You can connect your Instagram account to your Facebook page and other social media platforms to share your content and reach more customers. Go to your profile settings and tap on “Account”. Then, tap on “Linked Accounts” and choose the platforms you want to link.

How to Create and Run Instagram Ads for Your Local Business

Once you have set up your Instagram business account and profile, you can start creating and running Instagram ads for your local business. Here are some tips and steps to follow:

• Ad Type: Pick the ad style you want. Instagram offers various options like photo, video, carousel, collection, and stories ads. Each has its pros and cons based on what you want to achieve. For instance, photo ads are straightforward and effective, video ads are engaging and dynamic, carousel ads are interactive and versatile, collection ads are immersive and shoppable, and stories ads are full-screen and captivating.
• Objective and Format: Choose your ad goal and style. Options include reach, traffic, conversions, video views, and lead generation. Each comes with specific requirements and choices, depending on your aim and budget. For example, reach ads aim to display your ad to as many people as possible, traffic ads drive people to your website or app, conversions ads prompt specific actions, video views ads increase video views, and lead generation ads gather information from potential customers.
• Targeting and Budgeting: Specify who sees your ad and set your budget. Use options like location, demographics, interests, behaviors, and custom audiences to refine your delivery. For instance, location targeting shows your ad to people in a specific area, demographics targets based on age, gender, and language, interests target hobbies and preferences, behaviors target actions and habits, and custom audiences target those who have interacted with your business.
• Create and Run: Build and launch your ad using tools like the Instagram app, Facebook Ads Manager, or Facebook Marketing API. Each platform has its features, so pick the one that suits your expertise and convenience. The Instagram app is handy for on-the-go ad creation, the Facebook Ads Manager offers a web interface, and the Facebook Marketing API is for programmatic interface users.
• Measure and Optimize: Evaluate and enhance your ad’s performance using tools like Instagram Insights, Facebook Ads Manager, or Facebook Analytics. Each tool and metric offer valuable data. For instance, Instagram Insights shows Instagram performance, Facebook Ads Manager covers multiple platforms, and Facebook Analytics gauges the overall impact on your business.

How to Create and Share Instagram Stories for Your Local Business

Instagram stories are a great way to promote your local business on the platform, as they allow you to:

• Create a sense of urgency, as they disappear after 24 hours
• Showcase your personality, as they are more casual and authentic than regular posts
• Increase your engagement, as they encourage your followers to interact with you and your content

To create and share Instagram stories, you can use different types of content, such as:

• Photos, which are simple and effective for showing your products, services, or behind-the-scenes
• Videos, which are dynamic and captivating for demonstrating your processes, testimonials, or tips
• Boomerangs, which are fun and playful for highlighting your offers, events, or features
• Live videos, which are interactive and spontaneous for answering questions, hosting interviews, or giving tours
• Reels, which are short and creative for showcasing your skills, tutorials, or challenges

To enhance your Instagram stories, you can use different tools and options, such as:

• Stickers, which are versatile and engaging for adding location, hashtag, mention, or emoji
• Filters, which are artistic and attractive for adding color, mood, or theme
• Text, which are informative and clear for adding captions, headlines, or calls to action
• Music, which are catchy and memorable for adding sound, rhythm, or emotion
• Polls, which are fun and interactive for adding feedback, opinions, or preferences
• Swipe-up links, which are convenient and effective for adding website, landing page, or product page

To measure and optimize the performance of your Instagram stories, you can use insights and analytics, such as:

• Impressions, which show how many times your story was seen
• Reach, which show how many unique accounts saw your story
• Replies, which show how many messages you received from your story
• Exits, which show how many times someone left your story before it ended
• Taps forward, which show how many times someone skipped to the next story
• Taps back, which show how many times someone went back to a previous story
• Swipe away, which show how many times someone swiped to another account’s story
• Shares, which show how many times someone shared your story with others
• Saves, which show how many times someone saved your story to their collection

By using these metrics, you can identify what works and what doesn’t for your Instagram stories, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Read More about : How to create a winning Social Media Strategy for Instagram Ads .

Conclusion

In this blog post, we have shown you how to promote your local business on Instagram with ads and stories. You have learned how to:

• Set up an Instagram business account and profile that reflects your brand and what you offer
• Choose the right objectives and formats for your Instagram ads and use location-based targeting and hashtags to reach your local audience
• Create engaging and authentic Instagram stories that showcase your products or services and drive action
• Measure and improve your Instagram marketing performance with insights and analytics

We hope you have found this blog post helpful and informative. If you want to learn more about how to grow your local business with Instagram, we invite you to follow our Instagram account, visit our website, or contact us for more information.