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Instagram Story Ads

Instagram Story Ads were only introduced in March 2019. This caused a lot of excitement among advertisers as the story format is very immersive. Around 50% of brands that use Instagram have made story posts. Time spent on Instagram rose to around 28 minutes when they introduced the story format.

What are Story ads?

Stories are available to Instagram users at the top of their news feed. An Instagram Story Ad will display inside Instagram stories. Usually you will see a Story Ad as you are transitioning from one story to another. It is not easy to tell a Story Ad apart from a normal story post so they tend to work very well and be accepted by the Instagram community.

As with all ads on Instagram a Story Ad will have the word “Sponsored” on it. Whether you go for an Image Story Ad or a Video Story Ad they will be full screen to the Instagram user. There are around 500 million Instagram users looking at stories every day so you have a huge marketing opportunity with this ad format.

It is best to use Story Ads if you want to promote a limited time offer. Why? Because all stories will disappear from Instagram after 24 hours. You can use a number of different call to action buttons with Story Ads and here is the complete list:

  • Apply now
  • Book now
  • Call now
  • Contact us
  • Download

When you create a Story Ad you will be able to create a target audience (or use a previously saved one) and also specify how often your audience will see your Story Ad. You can enhance your Story Ad with filters, video effects and add text to make your ad really appealing.

Stories Image Ad

If you choose to go with an Instagram Stories Image Ad then you will be able to add up to 6 images and a swipe up facility that will guide your viewers to a destination URL (your website or online store). The ad will last for five seconds.

Here are the important specifications for a Instagram Stories Image Ad:

  • The recommended resolution for an Instagram Stories Image Ad is 1080 X 1920 pixels
  • The resolution should be a minimum of 600 X 1067 pixels
  • The correct aspect ratio is 9:16
  • Image format can be either PNG or JPG
  • The maximum size of any one image is 30 MB

One of things that you need to be careful about with Instagram Stories Image Ads is the amount of text that you overlay on any image. If you go to far with this then Instagram will not accept your ad.

Stories Video Ad

When people are browsing through stories nothing captures their attention more than a video. One thing to bear in mind though is that when users are viewing stories they don’t usually turn on the sound. So you need to be able to deliver your advertising message with a Stories Video Ad with or without sound. The video length is 15 seconds.

Here are the important specifications for a Instagram Video Image Ad:

  • The recommended resolution for an Instagram Stories Video Ad is 1080 X 1920 pixels
  • The correct aspect ratio is 9:16
  • Use either the MOV or MP4 movie format
  • The minimum resolution of a Stories Video Ad is 720p
  • Video size must not exceed 4GB