Instagram Ads success story · Film studio

How Universal Pictures drove 11% incremental ticket purchases with Instagram reminder ads.

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For the opening weekend of its film Twisters, the studio ran Instagram reminder ads for the two weeks before the premiere. People who tapped Remind me got notifications from Instagram around the release, and a conversion lift study counted the extra tickets sold.

Business: Universal Pictures
Market: United States
Goal: Opening-weekend ticket sales

Full movie theater audience in red seats watching the screen

The results.

Meta did not publish a comparison campaign. Both figures are among audiences who saw the ads; the conversion lift study compares them with a similar group who did not.

11%incremental ticket purchases among audiences who saw the ads
63%opt-in rate among audiences who saw the ads

Meta Conversion Lift study, June 6-July 28, 2024. Ads shown to US audiences aged 18 and over in Feed, Stories and Reels on Instagram.

The challenge.

Universal Pictures is one of Hollywood’s major film studios. For a summer release, the opening weekend sets the story: strong early ticket sales bring press, word of mouth and a longer run in theaters.

The difficulty is timing. A trailer can make someone want to see a film weeks before it opens, but that interest fades by release day. The studio needed to keep intent alive from the first ad to the moment the film reached theaters.

Run reminder adsTwo weeks before the premiere, in Feed, Stories and Reels.
People tap Remind me63% opt-in rate among audiences who saw the ads.
Instagram sends nudgesThe day before, the day of and the day after.
Measure ticket salesConversion lift study: 11% incremental purchases.

What they did.

Instagram reminder ads · Video ads in Feed, Stories and Reels · Advantage+ campaign budget

Reminder ads with one button: Instagram ads built as reminder ads carry a Remind me button. People who tap it opt in to notifications from Instagram as the event approaches, bridging the gap between promotion and launch.
Two weeks of build-up: The ads ran for the two weeks before the premiere, as one part of a wider campaign with several touchpoints.
Three nudges at the right time: Instagram sent push notifications the day before, the day of and the day after the premiere, reminding people to buy tickets.
Where people already watch: Ads reached US adults, including people interested in movies, in Feed, Stories and Reels on Instagram. Advantage+ campaign budget moved spend to the best-performing ad sets in real time.

Why it worked.

Our read on the decisions behind the numbers, and what any business can take from them.

Interest captured, not lost: A tap on Remind me turns passing interest into a commitment the person made themselves. A 63% opt-in rate shows how many people wanted that nudge.
Timing beats frequency: Instead of showing more ads, the campaign reached people at the three moments that mattered: just before, during and right after the release.
Notifications cut through: A notification from Instagram lands outside the feed, where it does not compete with every other post and ad.
Measured on tickets: A conversion lift study counted extra ticket purchases among people who saw the ads, not just views or clicks.

How we would run this play for your business.

You do not need a national budget to use the same ideas. This is how Overtop Media Digital Marketing puts them to work in our instagram ads management.

Any date that matters: Grand openings, sales, product drops, events and webinars all have a date. We build reminder campaigns that start one to two weeks ahead.
Video that earns the tap: Short vertical video that shows what is coming and why it is worth a reminder, made for Stories and Reels.
A last nudge on the day: People who engaged get a final ad on the day, and buyers are excluded so spend goes to people still deciding. Our Instagram ads management sets this up.
Search on launch day: Launch-day interest also shows up in search. Our Google Ads management captures it.