Since Instagram was bought out by Facebook, it’s become one of the most well-known and used social media platforms in the world. As of June 2018, it’s consistently had over 1 billion active users. While you can’t target every single user with your sponsored clothing ads, it’s hard to avoid the results that do come from it.
Related reading: 50 Of The Craziest Billboard Ad Designs You Have To See To Believe
Links right in the post
It doesn’t make you work to buy the product. Everything is provided upfront. Companies like Zaful show products in their advertising with a direct link to their website. If you go to their pages by just typing in the link, you don’t go directly to the products. They carefully select what is going to be in the advertisement to showcase it as soon as you enter their website through the link. That’s why the two-piece set and clutch are some of the first products you see on the website. The goal is for the audience to be intrigued enough by the products to consider buying it.
Video Ads
While photos are effective, other companies opt to use video to showcase their products on Instagram. These clothing ads are unique because they’re not like traditional commercials. They take aspects of different styles and use them to create their own. Take POP Fit as an example of effectively using video ads. This style of advertisement uses bright colors, flashy text, and a variety of models to showcase the product. They don’t stop with just one sale. Instead, they market just about everything about their leggings. They even promote their product as free, as long as you pay shipping and handling. The max time allowed is one minute, and POP Fit doesn’t hesitate to use every second to sell itself to users.
Instagram Story Ads
Stories are a great way to get your Instagram sponsored clothing ad in front of more audiences. These ads blend in well with other stories because they appear right after you finish looking at one user’s story. They don’t appear after every single story, but it’s still worth your time. Story ads provide something that most Instagram ads don’t: a sense of urgency. Yes, traditional ads can have limited time offers, but users have less than ten seconds to fully absorb the product being sold to them. If you get them interested within that time and get them to go back after the time runs out, you’ve increased your chances of a sale.
Companies like Berness and Of Her Own Kind use the ads to show specific clothing they want to sell. Both companies take similar approaches by opening directly to the outfit, with one small difference. When you click on Berness’ link, it opens to a pink version of the same product. If you click on Of Her Own Kind, it opens to the exact same color. Both tactics work in their own way. If you show a variety of colors, there are more options to choose from. But if you open right to the product, they can buy it directly.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Carousel and Collection Ads
Instagram has two special types of sponsored ad called Carousel and Collection. They’re similar to posts with multiple images attached to it, with a few key differences.
Carousel ads are the most similar to traditional posts. When you use it, you’re putting multiple pictures in a slide show style. The main difference is it’s a sponsored ad. This isn’t that different from other posts, and that’s what makes it work. You want people to not see your ad as something different from anything on their feed. It should blend in because that’s how you get them to click on the links. If your target audience is attracted to the clothing in a sponsored ad, then they’ll be more willing to buy it.
Companies like Hazel and Olive Boutique show the same model in a variety of outfits in their carousel ads. Notice how ‘Learn More’ appears in a new color every time you swipe. It not only catches the user’s interest but actively compliments the outfit she’s wearing. It’s the little details that can help your carousel ads stand out more amongst other sponsored clothing ads.
Collection ads are pretty similar but are more popular on Facebook. The style is still used on Instagram, but it isn’t as common as a Carousel ad. When you see a collection ad for clothing ads, it’s a picture of someone in a full outfit. When you click on the ad and scroll down, you’ll see each piece separately advertised for sale. From there, any user can click on it and buy it from the website. It can produce the results you’re looking for because it’s even more direct than just having a link to the site. It skips two steps instead of one.
Paid Partnership Ads
It’s easy to find sponsored ads on Instagram because they have several add-ons like links or flashy images. For companies not interested in having that image but still want to have a presence online, they use direct sponsorships with popular Instagram users. It’s not hard to find at least one of these posts on your timeline, but they’re not as aggressive about their product.
A recent example is Kendall Jenner’s Calvin Klein sponsorship. She posted a short clip where she talks about her life experience and how she does it in her Calvins. There’s no link to Calvin Klein’s page or the products she’s wearing. It’s almost a television commercial, where you’re expected to do find the products yourself. Kendall is far from the only person sponsored by Calvin Klein.
If you look at Calvin Klein’s main page, there’s a whole row of celebrities wearing Calvin Klein outfits. Major celebrities like Shawn Mendes, A$AP Rocky and Yoo Ah-In all have different audiences but are sponsored by Calvin Klein. It lets their followers see the clothing in action by someone they respect. Not even all the celebrities have sponsorship labels attached to their Instagram posts because of certain legalities.
Lines like ‘Paid Partnership’ are commonly seen on posts like these, but Calvin Klein manages to get around it and still produce the results they want. This company is far from the only one doing this. Major Instagram staples such as Fashion Nova have also become popular because of this tactic. Nowadays, it’s hard to find someone on Instagram who doesn’t know what Fashion Nova is, and it’s all because they use celebrities like Cardi B and Kylie Jenner to see their products.
[convertkit form=3285107]
