Instagram is my personal favorite social media platform. I spend far too much time on it. And because of my frequent use and the fact that our phones are always listening, I get targeted with a lot of specific, relevant ads. And when one piques my interest enough for me to view the profile or offer, I’m often instantly annoyed and frustrated.
Why?
The profile or post has no location information or is located in a different state.
No location information
This morning I clicked on a makeup-artist-for-hire sponsored post. The about section of the profile read: DM me for bookings.
That’s it.
No website, no phone number, and most importantly, no location. If I was looking for makeup services, I would have to send a message to find out if they were in my area and wait for a response before I could even ask if they were available on the date I needed. In that time I could find other makeup artists in my area and book them instead. Do you see the issue here?
Located in a different state
This one kills me, because often, it’s a restaurant that wants my business and the food in the sponsored post looks phenomenal. But once I get to the profile, I find it’s out of reasonable driving range (assuming the location was easily found on the profile, that is.) And no matter how good that taco may look, it’s not fly-to-Austin good.
The reason this gets frustrating is not only because I’m missing out on a good meal. It’s because the business owner spent money on ad views and didn’t spend time figuring out who should be viewing the ads. It is a waste of money and effort to promote their business.
Fortunately, there are easy solutions to these issues.
- Make sure your location is known. Don’t hide it or make people search for it. There are multiple places to share location information on any social media platform: about section, geotagging posts, hashtags. Use them.
- Select your location when creating your audience. Social media ads allow you to really drill down and find potential customers by demographics. If you have a physical location, only target those within a reasonable driving distance of your business.
For more reading on the subject, I recommend these two articles:
How to Advertise on Instagram: A 6-Step Guide to Using Instagram Ads
How to Create Your Social Marketing Budget
If you like food, dogs and makeup, follow account director Nadia Zerka on Instagram at @nadiazerka.