What Makes a Good Instagram Ad Creative?

A Great Instagram strategy also has a mix of paid and organic content. With paid content, more is at stake. Because at the end of the day, you have stakeholders to answer to and ROI to show. With so much at play, it is valid that you want to know whether your Instagram ad creative is good enough or not. But how do you find it out? 

In this guide, we will dive deep into some of the common characteristics of successful ads and what they have in common. Treat this as a checklist to figure out if your ad creative has them or not.

7 Common Attributes of Instagram Ad Creatives

On analysing multiple Instagram ad creative, we found that every single one that performed well had one or more of these elements in it. So, what are these attributes that take a normal ad creative to a great one? Let us check it out!

1. High-quality, compelling visuals

These stunning visuals by Kirtilals are a testament in their own right, no text copy required. They have portrayed their elegance beautifully with visuals!

But wait, have you ever seen an ad with a stock image that has people enraptured? Me neither!

A study even suggests that high-quality product images usually have 94% higher conversion rates than low-quality images. So it is a safe bet to assume that if we want our ads to work better we need to create images that people want to look at.

Many marketers use psychological factors in their product imagery to persuade people to buy their products. For example, product images showcasing happy people tend to sell more. Which must be why every time we see an ad, it always has enthusiastic people in it.

Some of the common best practices you can follow when choosing the visuals for your ad are as follows:

• Use bright lighting to highlight your product.
• Colors have the power to induce emotion. When choosing colors for your ad, make sure you are sending the right message.
• When using blur and focus, use them strategically to display your product. Focussed objects tend to draw the attention of the human eye.

Instagram is a visually motivated platform with people constantly in search of aesthetic images. So if you don’t get on the race, you are bound to lose.

2. Did You Consider the Buyer Persona?

No matter how sophisticated your Instagram ad creative looks, if it does not match the preferences of your buyers, then it is of no use. Because if the intended audience does not care for your ad creative, then what does it matter?

So, when creating your ad, ask yourself the following questions:

• Does your ad speak to the preferences and interests of your audience?
• Have you addressed their pain points in the ad?
• Have you answered the question of “How does it help me?” for your users?

If your ad does not answer these questions, then it is time to rethink your Instagram ad creative.

3. Video That Does Not Require Audio

This Madgicx Instagram ad is a perfect example of how you can watch video ads without audio, thanks to their closed captions.

This is for the video ad marketers out there. If you love making and publishing video ads, then check if you are following this simple factor.

Do you make your video ads understandable even on mute? If you said no, then you are missing out in a major way. 

Statistics have shown time and again that people prefer to watch videos on mute. Either on the subway or when killing time in a boring class, people prefer to watch videos without audio. We also have to take into account people with hearing disabilities who might not get the message. If your audio is tied in deeply with conveying your ad message, then you are in deep trouble.

So, to efficiently convey your message even without audio, use the following options:

• Keep content to a minimum.
• Try to convey the whole brand message with the visuals.
• Use closed captions to give users context on the audio.

4. Follow Ad Safe Zones

People tend to watch Instagram on different devices such as smartphones, laptops, or tablets. And sometimes a portion of your Instagram ad creative might get cut off on some devices. This way, your audience might not be able to see the whole ad and potentially miss out on something important.

To avoid this scenario, Instagram came up with a safe zone guide. When placing important elements within these zones, the chances of it getting cut become zero.

So, before you post your ads, make sure that your ad creative follows these guidelines.

If you are unfamiliar with these zones, then here is a detailed guide for you to follow.

5. A Persuasive Copy

In this ad example, Freshluxe has utilized only a limited space for ad copy, but they have targeted customer pain points and delivered the message clearly.

Even though copy constitutes a very limited portion of ads, its impact is substantial. With the right approach to copy, you can convey your ad message powerfully and persuasively.

To create a good ad copy that converts, you can use some well-established frameworks that are proven to yield results. Some of the frameworks are as follows:

1. Awareness – Interest – Desire – Action (AIDA): 

If your end goal is a specific action, such as subscribing to a newsletter, then the AIDA framework is best for you. In this method, the writer takes a systematic approach from making the user aware of the product to gently urging them to take action in the following way.

Awareness: In the awareness part, you make your user aware of your product or service. Some marketers even switch this part out for attention, where they write an attention-grabbing hook to get their audience’s attention.

Interest: In this part, the writer speaks about why the product could be of interest to the reader. This could be like “Why is the product relevant to me?” and so on.

Desire: Now this is the part where the writer introduces the reward (a promo code or coupon), the reader will receive upon completing the action as a means of stimulating the desire.

Action: Here comes the last part where the writer then gently nudges the reader in the direction of completing the action (Eg, visiting a website, subscribing to a newsletter, and so on).

2. Problem – Agitate – Solution (PAS):

This framework is an excellent way of getting your audience to relate to your product. They have a problem, and you have a solution. With clever copywriting, you put two and two together, making people relate to your brand. And this is how the framework tackles this situation:

Problem: More often, the user might not even be aware that they have a problem. Your audience might not even be aware that it is possible to achieve the teeth-brightening effect with a toothpaste. But if your charcoal-based toothpaste can achieve that effect, then you need to highlight this problem.

Agitate: Let’s take the same toothpaste example. For a normal teeth-brightening session, you would have to go wait at the dentist and get it done, possibly spending half a day there. Not to mention facing the absolute dread of going to the dentist. Sounds agitating, right? Aim to get a similar reaction out of your users in this phase of your copy.

Solution: Now, this is where you offer the solution. Tell your audience to forsake the dentist appointment and get shining white teeth from the comfort of their home. Now, imagine the impact of this solution for your user. Pair this with a good CTA, and your copy will be unstoppable.

6. Include Brand Elements

Check out the above example by Cisco Duo, where they have skillfully utilized their brand elements such as logo and colors.

There are millions of businesses on Instagram striving to make their mark in the minds of their user. Out of all this competition, how do you make sure that your audience can spot you from a mile away?

Easy! With your branding elements! Every aspect of your ad needs to have your brand marked over it. Have a brand tone? Write your copy in the same tone! Does your brand have its own signature colors? Use them in your ad! Add your logo within the safe zone. And finally, own your ads!

7. Pair Everything Up With A Good CTA

Everything at last boils down to a Good CTA. If your CTA is not convincing enough to make people want to take action, then your ad has not served its purpose. So, when writing a CTA, keep in mind the following factors:

• Make your CTA button stand out from the background with bold colors.
• Use action-oriented language when writing a CTA. (Eg, Get Offer Now!)
• Make use of your brand tone when coming up with a CTA.
• Invoke a feeling, a sense of urgency with your Call To Action
• Add supporting text below it, to give an additional push towards clicking on the CTA (Eg, No credit card required!)
• If you are strapped for time and can’t think of innovative CTAs, then utilize this free CTA generator.

Conclusion

With good ad creative comes great engagement and an even better ROI. But creating a high-quality one is no easy feat! You require a lot of design skills, an understanding of your audience, and consumer psychology.

But with Predis AI, you can take all the guesswork out of creating your ads and get conversion-worthy ads in a matter of minutes. How?

• By using our intelligent AI program that allows you to generate stunning ads without any design experience.
• If you are someone who loves doing it from scratch, then our library of ad templates can act as a starting point for you.
• Want to collaborate with your team when working on your ads? Predis AI has got you covered!
• Having trouble brainstorming content ideas for your ad? Predis AI has you sorted!

Don’t believe us, get your own free account today and see how Predis AI can transform your ad creation process!