Growing your followers on Instagram is very beneficial for any business. If done right – avoid buying fake followers - your business will get excellent brand recognition, better online credibility and you can easily convert the followers into loyal customers.

Relying on the same methods e.g. hashtags, influencers to get more followers has become harder; the competition is quite stiff. With over 1 billion active Instagram users creating content on the platform, it’s easy to get buried under so much saturation. You have to work smarter by embracing effective social media marketing strategies. Using Facebook marketing tools to retarget your Instagram audiences is one way you can rise above the noise.

Ready to find out exactly how to go about it? Read on as we explore how to use Facebook Ads to gain Instagram followers

Social Media Retargeting Using Facebook Ads.

Retargeting is a social media marketing strategy that enables you to advertise to your Engagement Audiences (Facebook Custom Audiences) on Instagram. Advertising to custom audiences is highly effective for businesses looking to gain new followers on Instagram.

Note : To use Instagram retargeting, you must have a business account

But what are Facebook Custom Audiences ?

These are social media users you can group using Facebook marketing tools who have;

• Interacted with your posts, videos, or ads
• Visited your Instagram business account.
• Visited and used your website or mobile app
• Purchased products from your online channels or have used your online services i.e. existing customers

Your services, and products are still fresh in their minds making them a relevant audience to use social media advertising on.

Let’s look at how to perform the whole process

#1 Creating Your Custom Audience

First, you need to create custom audiences based on the different ways Instagram users have engaged with your account

• Head over and log into your Facebook Ad Manager.
• Navigate to the Audiences screen, click on the Create Audience button and select Custom Audience from the drop-down menu.
• You will see a list of Custom Audience Types. Click on the Engagement option.

There will be various Engagement Options available. Here, you need to choose who you want to retarget. The options include users who have:

• Watched Your Videos
• Visited your Facebook Page
• Engaged with Your Lead Generation Ads
• Engaged with Your Instagram account, posts or Ads

#2 Re-Targeting Users that Have Engaged With Your Videos

Random viewers can easily become your followers. They’ve already shown interest in your video content and can pay attention to what you promote. You can add the users you want to be retargeted to your Custom Audiences based on their view time. The options include people who have watched your video:

• 3 more seconds
• 10 or more seconds
• 25%
• 50%
• 75%
• 95%

#3 Re-Targeting the Audience That Has Engaged With Your Lead Generating Ads

Below are the options to specify when you’re retargeting Lead Forms depending on the type of engagement:

• Users who have opened your Instagram’s lead generation forms
• Those who opened and went the extra step of submitting the lead form on Instagram
• Users who opened your Instagram’s lead form but didn’t submit on the platform

#4 Re-Targeting the Audience That Has Engaged With Your Instagram Profile

These are people who got interested in your content and visited your profile. They were one step away from being your followers, it’s very important to retarget them. Retargeting options include:

• All users who have engaged with your Instagram profile and content like posts and Ads
• Users that have visited your profile
• Users who have engaged with your content or ads through likes, commenting, save, tapping call-to-action buttons, sharing ads and posts through direct message
• People who have sent messages to your business account
• Users who have saved your Ads or organic posts

After setting your preferences for retargeting, you should select the time frame for the Custom Audience

Select a name and click Create Audience to save. It will start populating accounts and get saved in the Assets Library section.

#5 Set up Your Facebook Ads

Lastly, set the Ad to reach the Custom Audience.

• First create a new campaign and ad set
• Go back to your Facebook Ad Manager and click on Create Campaign.
• Set the objectives to Traffic and Conversions.
• Scroll down to Custom Audiences
• Select the Custom Audience you created.
• Finish setting up the remaining options for your Ad
• Launch your ad

Now sit back, relax and watch how social media advertising can boost your followers.