Instagram boasts over 1 billion active monthly users, making it one of the most influential social media platforms globally. Even more compelling is the fact that over 500 million users engage with Instagram Stories every single day, highlighting the growing dominance of short-form, immersive content.
On average, users spend just under an hour per day on Instagram, with a significant portion of that time dedicated to viewing and interacting with Stories. This trend presents a unique opportunity for brands to capture attention in a format that users are actively consuming.
For business owners and marketers, this means that Instagram Stories are not just a content feature, they’re prime advertising real estate. Story ads are full-screen, visually engaging, and placed in a feed where users are already highly engaged, making them ideal for impactful marketing.
At our agency, we’ve leveraged this strategic placement through highly-targeted Instagram Story ad campaigns. Our in-house team has consistently generated exceptional returns on investment (ROI) by crafting Story creatives that align with audience behavior and platform trends. In the following sections, we’ll walk you through exactly how we do it, and how your business can do the same.
Content
How Do Instagram Stories Work?
Instagram Stories are featured prominently at the top of the app’s home screen, giving them immediate visibility as soon as users open the platform. These Stories include content from your friends, influencers, and brands you follow, making them a highly-viewed and frequently accessed part of the Instagram experience.
To view a Story, users simply tap on a profile photo in the Stories bar, and the content opens in full-screen mode. Each Story displays the photos, videos, and interactive elements (like polls or questions) that the user has shared within the past 24 hours, playing automatically from the oldest to the newest post in chronological order.
This seamless and immersive experience encourages fast consumption and high engagement, making Instagram Stories an incredibly effective format for sharing updates, and for advertisers, a powerful way to connect with audiences in a native, non-disruptive environment.
What about running ads?
When a user begins watching Instagram Stories, they have full control over the experience, tapping the right side of the screen advances to the next Story segment, tapping the left takes them back, and swiping left moves them on to the next user’s Story. This intuitive navigation keeps users actively engaged and in control of the content they consume.
Recognizing the popularity and high engagement of Stories, Meta (formerly Facebook), Instagram’s parent company, introduced Story ads directly into this feed. These ads appear seamlessly between organic Stories, designed to match the format and flow of regular user content.
On average, every third Story a user views is a sponsored post (ad). This high-frequency placement offers businesses a powerful opportunity to reach their target audience in a native, full-screen format, without disrupting the user experience. When executed effectively, Story ads can feel like a natural part of the feed, boosting visibility, engagement, and conversions.
Telling your story?
You have 15 seconds to let your audience know exactly what you are promoting. What do you do ?
- Get to the point.
- Use strong visuals to capture attention.
- Clearly define your call to action.
A great example of this is displayed by Lacoste in a recent campaign. They gamified the colour options of their bed linen to get customers to engage further with their story. Instead of 15 seconds they managed to get customers spending 45 seconds viewing their product.
Constructing Instagram Story Ads
ATTENTION
Because users are unable to return to the ad, so it is crucial to get the message of your ad across in the first few seconds. Use Strong imagery that commands attention
BRANDING
Make sure that you place your brand name/logo in the story for brand recognition. This is important as it improves customer recall and helps them to find you if they didn’t click.
FORMATS
Typically you will want to shoot your content in 1080×1920 and a 9:16 aspect ratio for Instagram stories. This will allow your ad to blend in with the Instagram story feed.
The Format can be image or video.
The duration is 15 seconds per clip (read below for info on incorporating multiple clips in a story ad)
Instagram have also added full screen support to traditional ads that meet the Instagram feed aspect ratios. Here Instagram will automatically support this content on Instagram stories.
The pixel matching technology will select a background gradient to turn the Instagram feed ad into an Instagram story.
We think this is a great innovation from the platform , however the format sticks out like a sore thumb and screams ADVERT, which may not be the approach you want.
Using Carousel Ads For Stories
Instagram now offers two types of carousel ads. Allowing you to select which is best based off the content you have available at your disposal.
When implemented correctly, you can increase the time your audience engage with you from 15 seconds +
To read more on Instagram Carousel ads for stories click here
Why Instagram Story Ads?
If you have skipped to the bottom of the blog for the 15 second summary or whether you want to confirm your existing knowledge, here it is:
✅ 40% Lower Cost Per Thousand Impressions CPM (You can reach more people for less)
✅ Our cost per click was around 30% cheaper using Instagram stories. (More people will see your offer/product)
✅ On average a higher ROAS than traditional placements.
✅ 1080×1920 format Instagram story ads converted a lot better than full screen supported format.
✅ Many businesses lack the skills / interest to tailor content specifically for 1 placement. Those who leverage this will really benefit.
Using the accumulated knowledge from managing over 7 figures in client ad spend, our team are able to design custom advertising strategy that delivers a positive ROI. Turning your ad spend into sales.
