Should You be Running Instagram Ads on a Product if Nobody Knows Who You Are?

Should you be running ads on a product if no one knows who you are? Let’s just get right into it: no.

It’s not that we don’t want you to take risks or succeed, but there are good reasons why you shouldn’t do this, and we’re going to outline four of them for you right now.

We only want to help you succeed, and by waiting to run ads after you’ve done some of the things we’re going to talk about, you’ll be able to do just that. If you don’t wait, you might lose money. You’ll also end up disappointed and discouraged.

Why you shouldn’t run Instagram ads on a product if nobody knows who you are

1. You won’t make many sales

Have you ever bought a product from someone you didn’t know, someone who others didn’t know? Probably not. If you have, you were probably very hesitant.

Why would you not buy from someone you don’t know or someone who is known by only ten people? Why do you buy hesitantly? The answer is simple. You don’t trust that person or brand.

For example, say you were a new brand, but you already had a digital course prepared for when you launched your blog. You launched your blog, and now you have twenty followers on Instagram.

Obviously, you’re looking to make money right away, so you run ads on Instagram targeting your ideal clients. However, you don’t make any sales. Why is that? Because nobody knows you.

People aren’t apt to buy something from someone that they don’t know. They’re not sure if you’ll give valuable content, if you’re trustworthy, or if you’re a fake. If no one knows who you are, you aren’t going to make any sales.

2. You’ll be ignored

Let’s assume that you’re running an ad on Instagram for a new planner you’re selling. You make a video, and you know it’s great. You say all of the right things, and use the correct trigger words that’ll get someone to buy. But once again, you don’t make any sales.

The reason being that the top of your post says “ad” and you’re an unfamiliar face. People don’t care about another random person who’s trying to sell them something. They’re not going to stop to watch your video.

However, have you ever stopped to watch an ad? Is it safe to assume that the ad you watched or read on Instagram was from one of your favorite bloggers or entrepreneurs? You stop to watch because you know them. You don’t stop for the random people that you don’t trust.

3. It’s a waste of money

If no one is going to watch your ad or buy your product because they don’t know who you are, you’re going to waste money. You don’t spend money on something you know doesn’t work, right? This is the exact same thing. You need to know how Instagram works.

If you’re putting in one hundred dollars to run ads targeting people that are ideal clients but didn’t know you existed before then, you’re not going to get those one hundred dollars back. You spend money on ads to make money, but if you do this, that won’t happen.

You’re throwing money down the gutter. You need to be patient and wait for the right moment to invest in an ad for the product you’re selling.

If you’re going to spend money on ads, run them on the posts that only offer value. Boost the posts that let people sign up to your email list to get something free. Boost the pictures that will get people to know you without having them put in their credit card numbers.

Those are the posts that you want to be putting in money for. This will allow people to get to know you, and one day, buy from you.

4. You need real and loyal followers first

What I’ve been saying this whole post is that you can’t run ads on a product yet. You can, however, run ads on free content.

You’ll be spending money on these ads, and you won’t make any in return with them, but that’s how you have to begin. You have to let people get to know you first. Get people to your blog posts, to your videos, to your website, and on to your email list.

You don’t want to sell something to someone right away because no one will buy. However, if you’re offering a free download planner to overwhelmed college kids, then people will join your list. The people who join your list are the ones that are going to get to know you.

Those are the people that after a few months, you will target with the ads, and then sell them your product. There’s never a guarantee that they will buy, but they’re more likely because they already know and love you.

Before you run ads on a product even though no one knows you exist, you need to have real, loyal, and rabid fans first. People need to get to know you first before they can trust you. They need to trust you first before they can buy from you.

You only need 1,000

Most people will tell you that you only need 1,000 subscribers and fans to finally be able to sell them a product. Once you finally reach those loyal fans, you can finally offer them a product.

You can’t just have subscribers, however, never send them emails, and then one day pop back up and sell them something. You have to offer them free value, free videos, and great content first.

If no one knows how you teach or that you actually care about them, then people aren’t going to buy anything from you. First, offer free value, and next thing you know, people will be begging to buy from you because they love and adore you now.

Once you’ve gotten to that stage with your followers, make your greatest product, and sell it to them. That’s when you can finally run ads on Instagram on your product!