Mastering Instagram Ads management can be a tricky concept for beginners. Not only do you have to come up with compelling, eye-catching campaigns to captivate your audience, but you also need to ensure you’re using your targeting and analytics tools correctly, too.
While it does take a little work to get your head around Instagram Ads management for the first time, it’s well worth the effort. Though organic campaigns on social media platforms can definitely help you to boost your presence online, paid ads can turbocharge your visibility and unlock endless new opportunities for sales.
In fact, Ads on Instagram reach around 96.6% of Instagram’s active user base every month, ensuring your business can connect with anywhere up to 2 billion possible customers.
Figure out how to leverage your ad strategy correctly, and you can see your revenue growing faster than ever.
Here’s everything you need to know to get started.
Table of Contents
What Are Instagram Ads?
The first step in getting to grips with Instagram Ads Management is understanding what Instagram ads actually are.
Essentially, they’re paid-for posts you can use to boost your visibility with specific target customers on Instagram. Used as part of a comprehensive Instagram marketing campaign, Instagram ads can improve your online presence and enhance brand awareness.
Depending on the strategy you choose, your ads can show up in the feeds and Stories of your users, as well as on the Explore page.
At first, they generally look just like any other Instagram post, but they do include a small “sponsored” label to help users identify them.
Instagram Ads are available to Business accounts on Instagram, and they can include images, carousels, videos, and collections (dynamic product galleries). They also come with some extra features compared to normal posts, such as CTA buttons, links, and product tags.
The Benefits Of Using Instagram Ads
So, why should you consider using Instagram Ads as part of your social media strategy?
Simply put, they’re an excellent way to increase your number of fans and followers and improve your chances of driving more traffic to your website and products. Instagram ads can deliver exceptional benefits, particularly when they’re paired with a consistent calendar of high-quality organic content.
Perhaps the three biggest advantages of using Instagram Ads include the following:
- Wider reach: Instagram Ads are designed to give your content a boost over the standard posts shared across the platform. They give you instant access to greater visibility across Stories, Reels, feeds, and even the Explore page. The increased reach you get means you’ll not only benefit from higher levels of brand awareness but can also potentially attract a wider variety of fans and followers back to your page.
- Targeted advertising: The great thing about mastering Instagram Ads Management is it will allow you to target specific customers with your campaigns. Since the Instagram platform is owned by Facebook, it comes with all of the same precise targeting features offered by the Facebook platform. You can adjust your focus by pinpointing customers based on their interests, locations, demographics, preferences, and behaviors. There’s even the option to target people who have already used your products and services.
- Increase in revenue: The more followers you have on Instagram, interacting with your posts and connecting with your brand, the more opportunities you’ll have for sales. The increased visibility and focus you’ll get from your Instagram Ad campaigns can help to drive more clients to your store and significantly increase your revenue. If you create and manage your ads correctly, they can give you a huge boost in profits and a significant return on investment. You can even use analytics to improve your ad performance over time.
How To Start Advertising On Instagram
There are two different ways to go about Instagram Ad Management, depending on your specific needs.
There’s a very simple option for beginners and a slightly more complex method – both of which will give you access to the excellent targeting capabilities from Facebook (now Meta).
Method 1: Use Instagram Boost
Probably the easiest way to launch your own Instagram Ad campaign is to use the “Boost” feature on Instagram. It works a lot like the Facebook Boost option, which allows you to promote an existing post on the platform using the Instagram Ad management tools.
If you already have a post on Instagram that appears to be performing well and earning a lot of engagement, promoting it with the Boost service is a great way to take advantage of the momentum and showcase your content to some new people.
You’ll need either a creator or business account on Instagram to use this service.
Plus, you also need a Facebook Business page connected to your Instagram account. To do this, you’ll need to go to Business.Facebook.com and create an account. Once you have an account, you can add your Facebook pages and your Instagram assets from within the Business Settings section.
Once you have everything set up, choose the post you want to boost on your Instagram profile, and click on “Boost Post.”
This will take you to a page where you can choose a goal for your new ad campaign: such as collecting more profile visits, website visits, or more messages.
Next:
- Define the audience you want to target: You can allow Instagram to select your audience automatically based on the follower data it has about you, or you can select your audience manually by entering your own targeting options. You can also choose if you want to run your boosted post just on Instagram, or on Facebook and Instagram at the same time.
- Choose budget and duration: Next, decide how much you’re willing to spend on your boosted post each day, and how long you want your ad to continue running for. You can choose a set number of days for your ad’s duration, or let it run until you decide to pause it manually, if you prefer.
- Review and post: Finally, review your ad in the preview section, and click the “Boost Post” button when you’re ready for it to go live. The Facebook team will review your ad and approve it. From there, you can monitor the results of your campaign by clicking on your Instagram profile, and choosing the “Promotions” tab.
Method 2: Use The Meta Ads Manager
The alternative approach to boosting a post, is creating a new ad from scratch, using the Meta Ads Manager.
This gives you a lot more options when it comes to leveraging all of Instagram’s great targeting and reporting abilities, but it does require a little more work.
Step 1: Create Your Ad Campaign
The first step is creating your new Instagram ad campaign. To do this, log into the Meta Ads manager system, and click on the “+ Create” button.
Step 2: Choose Your Objective
Next, you’ll be able to set a goal for your campaign. You can choose whether you want to pair your ad with an existing campaign, or start something new from scratch. To launch a new campaign, you’ll have to choose from 6 objectives:
- Sales: Finding people most likely to purchase your goods and services
- App Promotion: Promoting an app to encourage downloads and installs
- Leads: Collecting leads for your business that you can nurture into sales
- Engagement: Increase likes, comments, views, and shares on your posts
- Traffic: Send people to your Instagram Shop, website, or app directly
- Awareness: Reach as many people as possible within your target audience
Choose the goal that appeals most to you, then click the “Continue” button.
Step 3: Name Your Campaign
After you pick an objective for your campaign, you’ll need to name your ad. It’s worth choosing a relatively specific name based on the goal you’re trying to achieve. This will help you to keep track of your campaigns more easily going forward. Click “Next” once you’ve entered your name.
Step 4: Set Your Budget & Schedule
Next, decide how much you’re going to spend on your ad, and how long you want it to run. Click on the “New Ad Set” option from the left-hand-side menu, and enter your budget. You can choose between a daily budget, with a maximum daily spend, or a lifetime budget. This outlines how much you’re willing to spend across the full course of your promotional campaign.
The “Ad Scheduling” section allows you to choose between running your ads non-stop, or only promoting them at certain times of day. As you adjust your schedule and budget, you’ll see the “Estimated Daily Results” and “Audience Definition” modules appear in the right-hand column, to help you determine the potential reach of your campaign.
Step 5: Define Your Audience
Now you’re ready to start targeting your audience. You can use an audience you’ve already got saved to Instagram if you’ve used the Instagram Ads Management system before. Or you can create a new audience from scratch. You’ll be able to refine your audience based on demographics, interests, and behavioral factors, as well as location, age range, gender, and more.
Step 6: Select Ad Placements
Once you’re done picking your audience, you can decide where your ads are going to appear. There are two options to choose from here:
- Manual placements: Where you can choose exactly where you want to ad to show up, and where you don’t want it to appear.
- Advantage+ placements: This allows Instagram to show ads to your audience wherever they’re most likely to generate the best performance.
If you opt for the manual choice, the Ads Manager system will show you the technical requirements for each placement. Make sure you optimize your ads accordingly.
Step 7: Create Your Ad
Now you’re ready to start creating your new Instagram Ad.
Select the New [Goal] Ad option from the left-hand menu, and you’ll be taken to a new screen where you can customize your content with Instagram’s tools. You can edit the name of your ad, choose from a range of ad types like collections, video posts, shopping ads, and so on, and add creative elements.
You’ll be able to implement images, headlines, videos, and Call-to-Action buttons to your ads, using Instagram’s creative tools. Plus, there’s also the option to add web links, copy, and tracking parameters on this screen. If you want to be able to track ad conversion rates, click on the “Facebook Pixel” option in the tracking section.
Once this pixel is added to your site or app, it’ll give you a behind-the-scenes look at how your audience is interacting with your business.
Step 8: Publish Your Ad
Once you’re happy with your ad and how it looks, click on the “Publish” button in the bottom right of your screen. This will send your ad to be approved by the Facebook team, after which point it’ll start running according to your timeline and budget.
Make sure you keep track of your Instagram Analytics page, so you can determine exactly how well your ads are performing.
Finishing Thoughts
Mastering Instagram Ads Management might seem like a tricky concept.
However, it’s relatively easy to get your first campaigns up and running in as little time as possible. Whether you choose the Meta Ads Manager option or the Boost service, you’ll be able to start promoting your posts in no time.
Remember, it’s always a good idea to keep a close eye on your metrics and analytics over time, so you can determine which of your ad campaigns are generating the best results.
