How to Set up Instagram Ads? | 5 Easy Steps

If you have a paid social budget, you should seriously consider advertising Instagram Ads. Paid Social Advertisements reach over 1.2 billion individuals, or 20% of the world’s population over the age of 13, according to 27% of users. 

In this article, you will get a deep understanding of Instagram Ads as well as a full explanation of how to promote on Instagram. You will be able to set up Instagram Ads with help of a step-by-step tutorial to create your first Instagram Ad in only a few taps.

Table of Contents 

• What are Instagram Ads?
• How much do Instagram Ads cost?
• Key Types of Instagram Ads
  • Image Ads
  • Video Ads
  • Carousel Ads
  • Collection Ads
  • Explore Ads
  • IGTV Ads
  • Shopping Ads
  • Reels Ads
• How to choose the Best Instagram Ad Type?
  • What is your Goal?
  • Who is your Target Audience?
  • What has performed best on Organic?
• How to Advertise on Instagram?
  • Instagram Advertising Method 1: Promoting a Post-in-App
  • Instagram Advertising Method 2: Creating Instagram Ads using Facebook Ads Manager 
• 4 Best Practices for Instagram Ads
  • Design Mobile-First Ads
  • Keep Branding and Messaging Upfront
  • Use Sound to Delight
  • Pitch, Play, and Plunge
• Conclusion

What are Instagram Ads?

Businesses can pay to have their posts served to Instagram users through Instagram Ads. Instagram advertising appears in Users’ Feeds, Stories, Explore, and other areas of the App, similar to Facebook Ads. They appear to be normal postings, but they always have a “sponsored” label to highlight that they are advertisements. They also frequently include more elements than a standard post, including Links, Call-to-Action-Buttons, and Product Catalogs.

How much do Instagram Ads cost?

Since the cost of Instagram Ads is very reliant on a variety of factors, there is no Standard or Benchmark price. Some cost considerations are as follows:

• You’ve chosen your Target Audience.
• Your industry’s competitiveness.
• Season of the year (costs often go up during holiday shopping periods in Q4 such as Black Friday).
• Positioning (costs can differ between Facebook Ads vs Instagram Ads)

Create a draught campaign in Ads Manager and look for the Audience Definition and Estimated Daily Results components, which will tell you if your budget settings will be sufficient to reach your desired audience within the timeframe you specify.

It’s important to note that there is no “best practice” for determining how much to spend. You can begin by investing a few dollars every day and gradually increase your investment based on your success. You can set Daily Budgets or Lifetime Spending Limitations to control the prices of your Instagram Ads. In our 5-step approach below, you’ll understand this approach.

Key Types of Instagram Ads

Because of the variety, you can select the ideal Ad type for your specific business aim. Each Ad format has a unique set of call-to-action choices, which are detailed below. On Instagram, there are a variety of advertising forms available, including:

1) Image Ads

Businesses can utilize single photos to promote their Brand, Products, and Services using Image Advertisements. Campaigns with captivating visual content that can be expressed in a single image are best suited for Image Advertisements. High-quality photography, as well as Design and Art, can be used to produce these images. Text can be added to photos as well. For the best results, Instagram recommends reducing overlay text as much as possible.

Instagram Stories Ads are full-screen picture or video advertisements that display in the middle of a user’s Story.

Instagram Stories is a popular feature of the App, with more than 500 million people seeing them every day. As Stories Advertisements take up the entire mobile screen and feel far more immersive than in-Feed Ads, engagement is generally higher.

The greatest Instagram Stories Ads are those that blend in with the rest of the feed and don’t stand out as Advertisements. Businesses may use all native Instagram Stories elements including Filters, Text, GIFs, and Interactive Stickers while creating Stories Advertising.

2) Video Ads

Video Advertisements on Instagram, like Image Ads, allow businesses to provide customers a more in-depth look at their Brand, Products, and Services. 

Although in-Feed Video Advertisements can last up to 60 minutes, shorter ones are usually more effective. More recommended practices for designing Instagram Video Advertising may be found here.

3) Carousel Ads

Users can swipe through a succession of Images or Videos in a Carousel Ad. They can display in both the Instagram Feed and Instagram Stories, with a call-to-action button or a swipe-up link that directs viewers to your website.

Carousel Ads can be used to:

• Showcase a group of products that are connected.
• Tell a story that is divided into several parts.
• Up to ten photos or videos can be shared.

4) Collection Ads

Carousel and Shopping Ad types are combined in Collection Ads. Products from your product catalog are displayed in Collection Advertising. Users can buy things immediately from the Ad, making collection Ads ideal for E-Commerce businesses. When a person clicks on the Ad, they are taken to an Instagram Instant Experience Storefront, where they can learn more about the product and buy it.

5) Explore Ads

Explore Ads show on the Explore Tab, which is a section of the website where users may find New Content and Accounts based on their Instagram usage habits. More than half of all Instagram users visit Explore at least once a month, so it’s a wonderful location to be noticed.

Instagram Explore Advertising appears after someone clicks on a Photo or Video from Explore, not in the Explore Grid or Topic Channels. Businesses can be included alongside culturally relevant and trendy content on users’ Explore Tabs, which are updated on a regular basis. Explore Advertising allows you to use Images and Videos.

6) IGTV Ads

IGTV Ads are Video Advertisements that appear after a user clicks on an IGTV video in their feed to watch it. Videos should be no more than 15 seconds long and geared for vertical full-screen viewing. They’re displayed midroll (in the middle of the video), with the option to skip them.

Users with Instagram Creator accounts in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia can now see IGTV Advertising, with more countries to follow soon. Creators can choose to have Instagram Ads broadcast in their IGTV videos and receive 55% of the Ad income produced from each watch if they opt-in for the deal.

7) Shopping Ads

With 130 million monthly users tapping on Shopping Posts, it’s no surprise that Instagram’s E-Commerce tools have improved dramatically in the previous two years. Users can now View and Purchase things without ever leaving Instagram thanks to the App’s new Shopping functionality (limited to businesses with Instagram Checkout enabled).

Users are directed to a product description page within the Instagram App when they click on Shopping Instagram Ads. They can then make a purchase on your mobile site. You must first create an Instagram Shopping catalog in order to run Shopping Advertising.

8) Reels Ads

Instagram has announced the opportunity to advertise within Reels, following the successful introduction of the App.

Instagram Ads appear between Reels and are comparable to Stories Ads (full-screen vertical videos) in that they can last up to 30 seconds. To be well-integrated with organic Reels, they should contain sound or music.

How to choose the Best Instagram Ad Type?

With so many distinct Instagram Ads types to choose from, choosing which one to utilize for your campaign might be difficult. The good news is that Ads Manager is well-suited to testing, so you can try out different formats to determine which one performs best before launching a full campaign.

Use these questions to help you limit down the formats.

What is your Goal?

Determine the most essential outcome for your Instagram Ads campaign using your Social Media Marketing plan. Answering the following questions would help you to have clarity:

• Do you want to increase the number of visitors to your website?
• Is it possible to get Video Views for a new product?
• Is it possible to Raise Brand Awareness for a new company?
• Are you looking to increase E-Commerce Sales, App Downloads, or Email Signups?

After you’ve defined your goal, you may choose from a variety of possible formats based on the objectives and call-to-action options available for each Ad type. For example, Advertising on Stories, IGTV, and Reels, are better for generating Video Views, whereas Shopping and Collection Ads are better for driving E-Commerce purchases.

Who is your Target Audience?

Some Ad types may be better than others depending on who you want to target with your Instagram Ads. Consider your Target Audience’s habits and actions. 

• Do they enjoy watching a variety of videos? 
• Do they shop a lot on the internet?
• Do people spend more time browsing through their feed or viewing Stories and Reels?

Choose Ad types with objectives and call-to-actions that are natural to your Target Audience.

What has performed best on Organic?

Your organic followers are likely to have a lot of characteristics with the people you’ll be targeting with Instagram Ads. So, have a look at your Organic Feed to see what forms of content have done well, since this can give you a decent idea of what paid formats would appeal to your audience.

How to Advertise on Instagram?

Promoting a Post and using Ads Manager are the two methods for launching an Instagram Ads Campaign. Promoting an existing post is simple and can be done immediately from the Instagram App, but it lacks the Personalization Capabilities that Ads Manager offers. You’ll go over both strategies in detail below.

Instagram Advertising Method 1: Promoting a Post-in-App

The most straightforward way to begin advertising on Instagram is to promote an existing Instagram post. This is comparable to the Boost Post feature on Facebook. If a post is performing well in terms of Engagement, promoting it within the App is a quick and easy way to scale its success and show it to new people who aren’t already following you.

To do this, you’ll need an Instagram Business or creator account. You’ll also need a Facebook Business Page linked to your Instagram Account using Facebook Business Manager. Then all you have to do is click Promote on the post you want to make into an Ad.

You’ll be asked to select an Audience, a Location, a Budget, and a Length for your Ad to run. Finally, press the Create Promotion button. Now, Facebook will examine and approve your Advertisement. Once it’s live, keep an eye on the outcomes of your Ad under your Instagram profile’s Promotions area.

Instagram Advertising Method 2: Creating Instagram Ads using Facebook Ads Manager 

You may use Facebook Ads Manager to develop ad campaigns that make use of Instagram’s Rich Ad Targeting, Creative, and Reporting Capabilities (remember that Facebook owns Instagram). The below 5-step tutorial will walk you through the process, despite the fact that it will take a little extra time.

Step 1: Choosing the Objective

To begin, go to Ads Manager and select +Create from the drop-down menu. To begin, select a Campaign objective from the list below.

After you’ve chosen your goal, you’ll be asked to give your campaign a name. To maintain track of your campaigns, give them a specific name based on the campaign objective.

Here’s a quick rundown of what each of these goals is attempting to accomplish.

• Brand Awareness: Raise user awareness of your company or items if they haven’t heard of you before.
• Reach: Show your Ad to as many individuals in your Target Audience as possible.
• Traffic: Drive Traffic to your Website, App, or any other URL you want.
• App Downloads: Persuade consumers to install your App.
• Engagement: Increase the number of Comments, Likes, Shares, and Event Reactions, as well as make claims on your Ad.
• Video Views: Get Video Views from users who are most likely to watch it.
• Leads: Obtain personal information from users who are interested in becoming leads (i.e. email signups).
• Messages: Encourage consumers to message your brand’s account.
• Conversions: Increase the number of sales or sign-ups on your website or app.
• Sales from your Online Store Catalog: Promote Sales from your Online Business Catalog.
• Traffic to your Store: Direct users to your physical location.

Finally, you’ll be able to enable Campaign Budget Optimization. This option instructs Facebook’s algorithm to allocate your spending among Ad sets. If you’re unsure whether or not to employ Campaign Budget Optimization, take an expert opinion. 

Step 2: Choosing the Budget and Scheduling

You’ll decide how much you want to spend and how long your campaign will run in this step.

You’ll have two choices for your Budget:

• Set a Daily Budget, which is handy for advertising that is always on.
• Set a Lifetime Budget for your entire campaign, which is useful for commercials with a definite end date.

You can opt to Display Advertisements continuously (which is the most common) or only at specific times of day (for example, if you’re a food delivery service and only want to broadcast ads in the evening when your audience is most likely to request delivery).

The Audience Definition and Estimated Daily Results modules in the right-hand column will give you an estimate of the expected reach for your chosen budget as you alter these variables. Ideally, your ad set should lie somewhere in the middle of the green range.

Step 3: Identifying the Audience

The second stage is to determine who you want to target. You can either create a New Audience or use an existing one in this stage.

Saved Audiences are beneficial if you have your own bespoke Audience data (for example, Previous Website Visitors) or previous audiences from successful Campaigns. You can establish a new audience based on Demographics, Interests, and behavioral targeting if you don’t already have one.

You can also choose Dynamic Creative at this point. If you select this option, you can upload individual Visual Assets and Headlines, and Facebook will automatically combine them in ways that are ideal for your Target Audience.

Step 4: Positioning your Ads

You can choose where your advertising will appear in the Placements section.

There are two possibilities:

• Automatic Ad Placements: Ads will be displayed to your audience wherever they are most likely to perform well.
• Manual Ad Placements: You have complete control over where your Ad appears (and does not appear). You can use Manual Placements to limit your advertising to just appear on Instagram (rather than Facebook). Ads Manager will display the technical requirements for each Placement while previewing it. 

Here’s where you’ll find your manual positioning options:

Step 5: Creating your Ads

It’s now time to make the Real Ad. Begin by selecting a Facebook Page and an Instagram Account to go with it. You can then choose your chosen Ad format. 

Then, under Ad Creative, fill in the rest of the information.

• Unless you’re repurposing an existing post, pick your Photos or Videos.
• Fill in the blanks with your Ad copy.
• Choose a method of Payment.
• Click Confirm after you’ve reviewed your Ad.

You’ll also select the call-to-action button and input the URL to which individuals who click on your Ad will be directed.

It’s critical to pick the Facebook Pixel in the Tracking area if you want to measure Conversions from your Ad. Your Facebook Pixel will allow you to see insights into how your audience interacts with your business after clicking on your Ad after it is connected to your website or App. To launch your Instagram Ads, click Confirm when you’re ready.

4 Best Practices for Instagram Ads

You now know everything there is to know about creating and running Instagram Advertising. The next stage is to create eye-catching visual elements for your Instagram Ads. Here are some pointers on how to create eye-catching Instagram Ads.

1) Design Mobile-First Ads

Since 98.8% of social media users enter the website using a Mobile Device, it’s critical to build your creativity for Mobile Viewing rather than Desktop Viewing. Here are some pointers for creating mobile-first ads:

• When filming Video Content, keep in mind that vertical (916) is easier to crop to 45.5 than landscape.
• Reduce the amount of text in your Instagram Ads.
• If you do use text, make sure it’s in a large font size that’s easy to read on a Mobile Device.
• To rapidly attract viewers, use Animations and Motion Graphics in your Videos.
• Make your Videos as short as possible (15 seconds or less)

2) Keep Branding and Messaging Upfront

Your Ad’s initial few seconds will influence whether or not a viewer will stop scrolling and watch the entire thing. That’s why it’s critical to start your commercial with the most Vital Message and Brand Recognition inside the first three seconds.

3) Use Sound to Delight

40% of people use Social Media with the sound turned off. As a result, it’s critical to build your Adverts for viewers who don’t have sound turned on, as well as to use sound to pleasure those who do. Here’s how you can do it:

• Without music, use Visual Elements to convey your tale and deliver your core message.
• Any Voiceover or Scripted Audio can be captioned.
• To deliver your crucial message without sound, use text overlay.

4) Pitch, Play, and Plunge

Facebook suggests combining a variety of creative types that work together to capture attention and reward interest:

• Pitch: Short assets that quickly convey the advertising concept and grab attention.
• Play: Assets that allow interested audiences to engage in light exploration and interactivity.
• Plunge: Immersive Assets that allow users to go deeper into your campaign concept.

Conclusion

This article introduced you to Instagram Ads and took you through various aspects of it which you can consider to run a successful Ad Campaign. You got a deep understanding of how to set up Instagram Ads. If you want to integrate data from Instagram Ads to carry out an insightful analysis of your Marketing Campaign and Strategies, then Hevo Data can be the one-stop-shop solution for your needs!

VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO EXPLORE HEVO

Hevo Data provides its users with a simpler platform for integrating data from 100+ sources such as Instagram Ads & Instagram Business for Analysis. It is a No-code Data Pipeline that can help you combine data from multiple sources. You can use it to transfer data from multiple data sources into your Data Warehouse, Database, or a destination of your choice. It provides you with a consistent and reliable solution to managing data in real-time, ensuring that you always have Analysis-ready data in your desired destination.

Want to take Hevo for a spin? SIGN UP and experience the feature-rich Hevo suite first hand. You can also have a look at the unbeatable pricing that will help you choose the right plan for your business needs.

Share your experience of learning about Instagram Ads! Let us know in the comments section below!