How To Use Instagram Collection Ads To Promote Your Brand

Instagram ads have become every social media marketer’s weapon of choice, and it’s no wonder why. The social networking app commands over a billion active users each month, with 81% of users shopping on the platform. It’s safe to say there’s a big chance your dream customers are hanging out on Instagram, which is why Instagram advertising holds the key to unlocking your brand’s selling power. And what better way to do this than with Instagram collection ads?

In this post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about creating an Instagram collection ad. 

What are Instagram collection ads?

Collection is an engaging ad format for displaying products on Instagram. It enables users to discover, browse and purchase products and services from a mobile device. When users click on an item within a collection, they land on Instant Experience, an e-commerce full-screen storefront within Instagram. Stunning, fully customized ads combine image and video to create a seamless shopping experience. 

Benefits of using collection ads on Instagram

If you’re wondering how to entice users to land on your website and make a purchase, look no further. Collection ads are a foolproof way to boost your site traffic, promote your brand, and smash your sales targets.

Elevate your brand

Integrating collection ads into your social media strategy can work wonders for your brand. Not only will you be able to engage with potential shoppers in a visually immersive way, but you can make your brand more memorable by using stunning templates to maximize the user experience with your product.

Engage with dream customers

With collection ads on Instagram, you can show off multiple products in Feed and Stories, taking customers on a journey from browsing to purchasing. The real cherry on the top is that a user can make a speedy purchase without ever leaving Instagram. 

Boost site traffic and drive sales

Collection ads are a perfect way to drive people to your mobile site to shop. The ads are also customizable, so you can target people who show real interest in buying from a brand like yours. Your Instagram collection ad can even crop up in Explore, where over 200 million users visit daily. 

Instagram collection examples

To see a collection ad in action, check out some popular Instagram collection ads examples below.

Best practices

One of the biggest strengths of using collection ads on Instagram is that on the user’s end, looking at your products can feel like they’re flipping through a mini-magazine rather than a digital ad. 

Best practices to make that happen:

• Let your brand speak with engaging images.
• Don’t forget about the user experience when displaying your products.
• First impressions count. Your headline won’t be visible in the ad so let the photos do the talking.
• Include a powerful call to action at the bottom of your collection ad.
• Track your ad performance and hone in on ads that are working; discard the ones that aren’t.

Good to know: You can link at the product level, but deep linking with other elements like call to action (CTA) buttons isn’t supported. It might be worthwhile to use a link-shortening platform like Linkhawk. With Linkhawk, you can customize your links with your own CTA button and track them on personalized link boards.

How to create a collection ad on Instagram

Since Facebook owns Instagram, you’ll need to go through the Facebook Ad Manager  tool to create an Instagram collection ad.

First, have everything ready before setting up the ad. 

What to do first: 

• Pick your ad images or videos. 
• Choose a goal for your campaign and include Instagram as a placement (if you opt to use a Catalogue Sales objective, a catalogue is required).

Set up your ad:

1. Go to the Ads Manager and click create.
2. Pick an objective that supports collection for the Instagram feed, then click continue.
3. Pick where you want to drive people to (website or app). If you pick app, link people to your products within the app.
4. Choose your campaign’s target audience.
5. Select Instagram as the platform for your ad. Either do this by editing your placements or selecting automatic placements to optimize your campaign.
6. Input the budget and schedule for your ad set, and then select continue.
7. Select Collection under Format.
8. Choose from one of the following Instant Experience templates: shopfront, storytelling, and customer acquisition. Alternatively, build a custom one.  
9. Add the images and type your Instant Experience details.
10. Hit submit.

Congratulations! You’ve just created a collection ad on Instagram. After it gets approved, it’ll be up and running on Instagram.

Instagram collection ad specs

Here’s what you need to do to hit the sweet spot for Instagram collection ad specs. 

• Cover image of image/video: must have a ratio of 16:9 to 1:1
• Text: 90 character limit
• Media size: 1280×720 pixels per image; video 600×600 pixels at least
• Supported file tips: Jpg, png, gif

Are collection ads worth it?

Instagram collection ads are a fantastic add-on feature to your marketing strategy. When done right, they’re a tried and tested way to inspire product discovery and drive sales through an immersive, visually engaging mobile experience. All in all, introducing collection ads into your social media strategy is so worth it. And if that’s not enough to convince you, there’s always our Instagram advertising guide. It’s a great resource to learn more about how the Instagram ad world works.