At Dealer Authority, we pride ourselves on being social media marketing experts. That expert knowledge comes from years of experimentation, A/B testing, and digital triumphs. One of our most recent A/B tests shown some light on the best way car dealers can use Instagram Story Ads to promote their inventory.
It’s easy to rely on the platform to give you the best suggestions of ad types that will create the results and conversions you are looking for, but a dedicated social media expert will always test what will convert best.
Our social media marketing team is always testing our dealers’ ad types, and Instagram Story Ads is no exception. The results from this most recent test may surprise you.
Facebook Isn’t Always Right
When building out creative for ads that will populate on Facebook and Instagram, Facebook suggests that a particular ad size be designed to get the maximum performance. Their suggestion looks like this:
Our Senior Social Strategist, Brian West, decided that it was time to test more than one ad type to qualify the dealer’s Instagram Story Ads’ performance. He created the suggested ad type of 1080×1080 and a fully-screen story ad that looks like this:
Not All Ad Types are Created Equal
The ad types shown above ran for 30 days, spending $5 per day, with a total 30-day spend of $107.46. There was a clear winner at the close of the 30 days – the full-screen, 1080×1920 ad size. The link clicks to the full-screen ad were 750% more than the square format. Surprisingly, Facebook suggests the square design for Instagram Story Ads when the full-screen ads’ user experience is more pleasant and engaging.
Go with Your Gut and the Data
Facebook is an ever-evolving platform, so it’s always a best practice for your digital marketing budget to test and measure the ‘new’ best practices that Facebook suggests. Remember, to stand out on customers’ timelines, you must grab their attention to stop them from scrolling – not blend in. If all Facebook advertisers follow the same creative guidelines, how can their clients stand out from other competitors in the timeline? They can’t.
Is your dealership considering Instagram Ads?
Instagram is a fantastic branding tool for your car dealership. The user-base may be predominantly Millennial, but don’t discount the millennial market for new sales for your dealership. Besides having better starting salaries as they entered the workforce, especially for those Millennials that are between the age of 22 through 26, 63% of Instagram users are using the social media platform at least once a day. This data increases the likelihood of an Instagram user engaging with your dealership’s content and ads.
Ready to learn more about Instagram?