Interactive stories ads are an awesome feature to use for business. Let’s take a look at how you can incorporate this feature into your marketing strategy!

Looking at the numbers

According to Instagram, 500 million Instagram accounts are using Instagram Stories every day. Fullscreen, ephemeral and native stories are helping businesses tell bigger, faster and stronger brand stories. 

Interactive elements, like polls and questions, bring people closer together by enabling direct participation in the shared expression. Instagram also said that 60% of businesses on Instagram Stories use an interactive element in their organic story – hashtag, @mention or poll sticker – every single month.

Starting in March 2019, Instagram brought the organic features we love to Facebook ads too! Now, businesses can engage with audiences beyond their followers by using interactive elements in stories ads, starting with the polling sticker.

Let’s take a look at Interactive Stories Ads

Interactivity adds a whole new dimension to the world of stories ads on Instagram that help bring people closer to brands. Interactive ads on Instagram Stories, allow businesses to be more engaging and playful in order to build better connections. 

Not only do they help stories ads stand out, but they can generate more impact for your campaigns by encouraging people to watch longer. When the feature was being beta tested on Instagram, 9 out of 10 beta campaigns found that the polling sticker increased 3-second video views. That’s a pretty great start for a brand new feature!

Facebook advertisers in the beta launch have seen success using the polling sticker in ads. Brands like Dunkin’ Donuts achieved a 20% lower cost-per-video-view using the polling sticker, and Next Games’ polling ad drove 40% more app installs. Whoa!

How to create an interactive Instagram story ad

Creating an interactive stories ad is simple! 

Preparing your ad creative

You will have to use a single card that is 9:16 ratio creative for your ad format. No other format will work at this time.

Setting up your ad in Facebook ad manager

1. In Ads Manager, set up your ad with a desired objective, audience, budget, schedule, and choose Instagram Stories as your only ad placement. 
2. Choose an identity for your ad, this can be your business’s Facebook Page or Instagram Account.
3. Select Single Image or Video for your ad Format.
4. Then, upload the creative you want to use in 9:16 ratio format. Add text if you’d like.
5. Where you upload your creative and edit your ad’s text, check the box Add an interactive poll.
6. Enter a Question and two Options for your poll. You can also adjust how the position of the sticker in your ad.
7. Check the box for Add a website URL.
8. Add a website URL.
9. Finish editing your ad, and select Submit.
10. Your ad will be reviewed and once it’s been approved it will appear in people’s Instagram stories.

To view the results of your interactive ad

After creating a polling sticker ad in Ads Manager, you’ll be able to see the following insights on how people interacted with your poll:

• A total number of poll respondents.
• The total number of votes for each response.
• The percentage split between the two possible poll responses.

These metrics can be viewed in Ads Manager alongside all other ad metrics that are typically reported for Instagram Stories Ads.

To see ad metrics related to Instagram

1. Go to Facebook Ads Manager.
2. Click on the campaign name that contains the ad you’d like to see ad metrics for.
3. Click View Charts.
4. You should see a section at the top that includes Performance, Demographics, Placement, and Delivery data. Click Placement. If you selected Instagram as a placement, you should see it listed.

You can view additional metrics related to Instagram from the table at the bottom of the same page.

1. In the table at the bottom of the page, click Breakdown and select Placement from the list. You should now see a line item called Instagram that shows Feed or Story and Mobile.
2. To view specific metrics related to Instagram, look at the metrics listed next to Instagram.

To see more results directly related to Instagram, click the Columns dropdown. You can choose additional columns from the list or click Customize Columns to add additional ad metrics to the table.

Try out the polling sticker to co-create a product, spark a conversation with your community, crowdsource insights for product development, gamify your ad or run a contest!

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References

Facebook. (2020). Create instagram polling sticker in ads manager | Faceboook business help centre. Retrieved February 21, 2020, from https://www.facebook.com/business/help/292906701405923?id=1997185213680277

Facebook. (2020). View metrics related to instagram ads on ads manager | Faceboook business help centre. Retrieved February 21, 2020, from https://www.facebook.com/business/help/959491960754687?id=1997185213680277

Instagram. (2019). Drive possibilities with instagram stories ads | instagram for business. Retrieved July 8, 2019, from https://business.instagram.com/a/stories/overview?ref=igb_blog 

Instagram. (2019). Dunkin instagram ads case study | instagram business | instagram for business. Retrieved July 8, 2019, from https://business.instagram.com/success/dunkin. 

Instagram. (2019). Interactive stories ads: connect with customers through interactions | instagram for business. Retrieved July 8, 2019, from https://business.instagram.com/blog/bringing-interactivity-to-instagram-stories-ads/