Instagram, one of the most famous social media platforms based mainly on visuals, is currently used by more than one billion users and the number is only growing. That, needless to say, represents a great opportunity to reach the audience you haven't reached yet. 

One of your marketing goals might be to generate quality leads and Instagram may be the channel you want to use. Now the key question is how to effectively leverage this platform so that you generate valuable leads at a reasonable cost. There are ways.

How to Get Started

First of all, you need to consider if Instagram is a channel for you and your type of business. If you can't think of a way to showcase your products or services, tell your personal story or share something from “behind the scenes” in a VISUAL way, Instagram may not be a good fit for you. 

Similarly, if your audience is not present on Instagram, consider other channels for your communication mix. Try to look deeper into LinkedIn or Facebook which represent opportunities to generate leads too. 

📖 Download the Beginner's Guide to LinkedIn Advertising

On the other hand, if you figure out a way to leverage its visual style, Instagram is a great fit for connecting your potential customers with your brand. 62% of people say they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories. That's just one placement. If you effectively leverage all of what Instagram offers, people will love you – and your brand.

Let's finally jump straight into ways to effectively generate more quality leads through Instagram.

1. Run a Lead Generation Campaign

If your goal is to get high-value leads, you can set up a campaign that aims to bring you exactly that. The premise is that you have a nice looking Instagram profile and that you already have some posts and Stories published and respond quickly to the comments and messages. Your profile needs to be very well prepared before you decide to jump into the campaign activities. Another premise is that you are willing to invest something into your lead generation activities. 

All set up? Great, let's move on.

Log into your Facebook Business Manager account and go to Ads Manager. What would you do in Facebook interface you may ask? Instagram is owned by Facebook and offers you great advertising features in their central interface – Facebook Business Manager. In other words, you can run campaigns for both Facebook and Instagram from one place. 

Are you in the Ads Manager? Cool. Now when you run a new campaign, take a look at what shows up.

“What's your marketing objective?” Facebook asks. This way, Facebook makes sure to optimize your campaign. 

📖 Read more about the campaign optimisation in our Beginner's Guide to Facebook Advertising‍

Next, in the “Placement” section, choose “Edit placements” and pick only Instagram.

This way you make sure your campaign will only run on Instagram. You can even dig deeper and choose specific placements like Stories or Feed in the bottom section.

Finally, and most importantly, you set your ad. This is something people will interact with, so make sure you arrange that as best you can. 

Making sure that your ad is engaging is a crucial part of every campaign. Instagram is, as already stated, based on visuals.

📖 Read more about ways to engage your audience on Instagram

The great thing about lead generation ads is that once the user clicks on your ad, she is redirected to a native form that collects any information you desire – be it first name, email, phone number or anything else. 

The user does this, of course, based on her consent and in exchange for some value that you offer. Without motivating the user to complete the form, your lead generation ad won't work. You need to find a reason or value for which users will be willing to give their information and will be happy to continue communicating with you.

Figure out first what are the key motivators for your audience in order to create a stunning lead magnet – content that your audience wants to download while leaving you contact details.

Once the user fills out the form, you can find leads in your Facebook Business Page (Publishing tools -> Forms Library) where you can download them and make sure your sales process begins. 

If you feel like running ads in the Facebook Business Manager is too complex, try out our tool that simplifies this process so that even non-marketers can run their campaigns effectively.

2. Connect with Your Followers

We've introduced a really sophisticated way to generate leads on Instagram – through Facebook Business Manager or tools like groost. But the fact is, that you can collect the low hanging fruit too! 

Connect with your followers (or followers of your competitors).  For example, you could have a nice chat with them, get to know more about their needs and offer a solution if it fits. This way you can directly generate demand for your product or service, get people to call or demo, offer educational content or sell conference tickets – all depending on your business and its goals. 

Instagram offers an interface for messages which you probably know – take advantage of that! Get in touch with those who already know your brand or may be interested in getting to know it. It really can be that straightforward…

For this to work, you may want to have a nice looking (and converting) landing page in place and tools for webinars or apps like Calendly or e-books that you provide in exchange for users' information. These are all pieces of content that will help you while communicating with your potential customers. Instagram, will then help you connect with users and redirect them to your content that will eventually convert them into leads.

We've covered some of the key tactics you can use to generate leads on Instagram. Try them out and let us know how you did. 👋