With an advertising audience of more than a billion people, Instagram has proven itself as an effective tool in reaching a variety of audiences.

And since 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business, marketers are expected to create Instagram ads that deliver above-average ROI and higher engagement than other social platforms.

So if you’re wondering—“how do I get more followers on Instagram?”—you’ve come to the right place.

Today, we’re going to cover how to create Instagram ads that will convert your followers into customers.

Develop a Cost Per Follower Model

The first thing you need to do is determine how much you’re willing to pay per follower on Instagram. To do that, you’ll need to determine a follower per customer model.

For example, say for every 100 followers you get one customer. This is important because the goal here isn’t just to get followers, it’s to get qualified followers. If you’re spending money and gaining a good number of followers but no customers, you may need to rethink your strategy.

Next, Determine Your Audience

In order to get qualified followers, you need to build the right audience to advertise to.

Create a Persona

First and foremost, you’ll need to define your buyer persona.

This will allow you to attract the right followers and serve ads to those with the appropriate characteristics.

As long as you create ads they want to see, you’ll see your follower count continue to climb and eventually, those followers will become customers.

Remember, you want your persona’s to be as detailed and specific as possible. Give your personas names, jobs, and hobbies and interests. This will help ensure you’re targeting the right people and that your messaging resonates as much as possible.

Build Your Audience

Now, it’s time to build an audience.

What does that audience look like? You can look at everything from demographics to specific interests and everything in between. Or perhaps they’re just based on a remarketing audience that already exists based on your CRM.

All of this data is crucial in getting the right people to engage with your brand and follow you.

You’ll want to have a mix of audiences that are new to you and a mix of audiences that are built from data.

The new audience can be somewhat broad, tied to location, interests, or other demographic information you’ve determined based on your customer personas.

You can also build audiences based on existing customer lists, and can build Instagram ads from your Facebook advertising account.

Use Existing Audiences

The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to build new audiences from scratch.

There’s plenty you can glean from the reports and built-in analytics Facebook Audiences provides.

To get started, open Facebook Ads Manager and go to “Audiences.”

Click “Create audience” and click on “Custom Audience” from the drop-down menu.

After the first window appears, select “Engagement” as the type of custom audience. Then choose “Instagram Business Profile” in the next window that pops up.

From there, select the correct Instagram account.

Next, enter “5” in the “In the Past Days” box. Enter a short and descriptive name for your audience and click on “Create Audience.

From here, Facebook will begin tracking a custom audience for anyone who double-taps, comments, saves your content, sends you a direct message, or clicks on the link in your bio.

At the end of the day, a solid blend of new audience targeting and utilization of your current audience databases is what you want to go for.

If your CRM has been uploaded to Facebook, you can pinpoint the exact people to target and build your following on Instagram based on your existing mail lists.

That way, you can create Instagram ads that your followers will see on a regular basis.

Create Your Ad

Now that you have your audience built-in, you need to design an ad that appeals to them.

Aim for Shock Value

If you want to create Instagram ads that truly stand out, don’t be afraid to go for adding a little sprinkle of shock value…within reason of course.

You need something to make your audience stop and take notice. Something they seldom see on their Feeds and will capture their attention long enough for you to communicate your offer.

A few examples include images that feature people, and anything with a bit of movement.

While it doesn’t have to be a full-blown video ad, including video ads in your strategy is always a good idea. These tend to keep people’s attention the longest, which means those viewers are more likely they are to become followers.

Be Honest About Your Offer

You don’t want your audience to have to put the pieces together themselves. Make it clear.

If you want people to follow you, give them a good reason…and one that can’t be missed.

Are you going to be hosting an event on your Instagram page? Perhaps you’re giving away a free class or product? Or will you simply be providing valuable content that addresses their pain points?

Tell them what they’ll expect by following your page, and how regularly engaging with your content will benefit them in the long run.

Remember, the goal of the campaign is to get more followers. The tactics you use to get those follows will be similar to those of an email opt-in. And successful opt-in campaigns usually start with a great offer.

Try messaging like “Follow this Account for a Discount” or “Follow this Account for a Free Workshop.” Decide what will most appeal to your audience, and give it to them in exchange for the follow.

Test, Measure, Optimize, Repeat

As with any paid social campaign, you’ll be able to uncover opportunities for improvement once it launches.

From turning off certain ad types and channels to excluding or including certain audiences, an agile approach is key to making sure your return is worth the investment.

Keeping an eye on your results is integral to adjusting your strategy and getting the most from your Instagram ads budget.

Does “Shop now” convert better than “Learn more”? What about the length of body copy or hashtags? Or different color schemes or graphics?

Wrapping Up

And that’s how to create Instagram ads for your business!

If you still find yourself asking—“how do I get more followers on Instagram?”—be sure to use this list as a guide so you can identify growth opportunities you may be overlooking.

After all, Instagram, alongside other Facebook-owned apps, is the future of online marketing.

Without further ado, it’s time to set forth and create Instagram ads that will take your business from zero to hero!