Almost every brand is turning to Instagram to market their products, so you can bet your competitor is on there too. Hundreds (if not thousands) of other brands are all competing for user attention, so relying on a purely organic strategy is no longer enough.
Instead, you need a smart mix of organic and paid efforts—a robust social media advertising strategy to back up your everyday posts.
Instagram advertising boosts your brand visibility to help you reach the right audience. And with better visibility comes a better chance of driving sales, especially with the platform’s shopping features. In fact, in 2025 we found that 29% of consumers make purchases directly on Instagram.
With that said, let’s find out how to do Instagram ads the right way.
What is Instagram Advertising?
Instagram advertising involves the use of paid content to reach your target audience on the platform. These ads may show up as sponsored Stories, Reels, or in-feed posts to users we target. Users will see relevant Instagram ads based on demographic data or browsing history.
Businesses can create and manage their Instagram ad campaigns from the Meta Ads Manager. This campaign will be the overarching strategy with a well-defined goal, such as brand awareness or app installs.
Each campaign may consist of ad sets that define the audience and delivery settings. Additionally, each ad set will have individual ad elements, such as visuals and captions, known as the ad creative (this is simply the image, video, and text people actually see).
Why You Should Advertise on Instagram
Organic social media strategies might seem cost-effective at first, but they rely on a lot of trial and error. And they can only get you so far when you’re up against ever-changing social media algorithms.
This is why it’s so important to focus on a social media strategy that incorporates both organic and paid tactics. This way, you get the best of both worlds. You’re actively engaging with your audience through organic posts, while also reaching out to an even larger audience that might not know about your brand yet through Instagram ads.
This is good news because social media is where a lot of buying decisions happen. Through a Survey, we found that social media has influenced 76% of all users’ purchases. This “influence” comes from paid ads, influencer posts, and brand content. And it’s even more pronounced among younger generations: the figure rises to 90% for Gen Z and 84% for Millennials.
As a visual medium, Instagram ads give you a great way to show off your product. And with Instagram shopping, you can make it easier than ever for users to convert to customers.
On top of this, Instagram continues to see higher engagement than most social platforms. The 2025 Content Benchmarks Report found that brands see the highest average daily engagement on Instagram. Ads let you tap into this power, helping you drive targeted engagement through strategic paid content.
How Much Does Instagram Advertising Cost?
The cost to advertise on Instagram depends on several factors like devices, demographics, and day of the week. Other factors, like whether your ad is running during a major televised event, will also influence cost.
Here are some key factors that will influence the cost of Instagram advertising:
Bidding strategy:
Your ad costs will vary depending on your bidding strategy. For example, the cost of each click (CPC) will be very different from the cost of every thousand impressions (CPM).
Audience targeting:
Targeting a niche audience may result in lower costs compared to broad audience targeting. This is because your ads only show up for people who are highly likely to take action.
Ad quality and relevance score:
You can see lower ad costs with a higher ad quality and relevance score. Meta determines this based on your audience targeting, offer, and ad creative.
Seasonality and competition:
You’re likely to experience higher ad costs during seasons with higher competition, particularly peak shopping seasons.
Ad placement:
Instagram typically charges based on impressions for Story ads, while in-feed posts may incur charges based on clicks or impressions.
To make the most of your marketing budget, you need a smart strategy. Dedicate money to ads and campaigns only if they’ll help your bottom line.
A pro tip for beginners:
Put money behind posts and content that you already know perform well organically. Test everything to see what performs best and dedicate most of your ad spend to that. Make sure to measure your ad success and take note of anything that didn’t do as well as you’d hoped.
On average, a CPC model typically costs between $0.01 and $0.25. With a CPM model, the costs can vary from $0.01 to $4.00. But keep in mind that these are only estimates, and your actual spending will depend largely on the factors highlighted above.
How to Create Instagram Ads in Meta Ads Manager?
Ready to get into the nuts and bolts? The Meta Ads Manager is your control center. Don’t worry, we’ll walk you through the key steps one by one. To create ads for Instagram, log in to your Facebook Page, go to your Ads Manager account, and click the “Create” button to build a new campaign.
Step 1. Choose your ad objective
Start by choosing an objective that clearly matches what you want to achieve (e.g., more sales, more website visitors). Meta gives you six options: awareness, traffic, engagement, leads, app promotion, and sales. Make sure to choose an objective that supports Instagram as an ad placement. For this example, we’ll choose the traffic objective.
Step 2. Name your Instagram ad campaign
After selecting your objective, give your campaign a clear name. This is the best way to keep track of your ads within the Ads Manager. You can also toggle on the “A/B test” button to automate a split test for different ad variations. You’ll also select Advantage Campaign Budget to automatically distribute your ad budget across your ad sets, or you can manually allocate spending.
Step 3. Decide on your ad format
Before we dive deeper, make sure you know which ad format you want to use. Deciding on your format early on will give you more clarity on how to serve your ads.
You get to choose from three main ad formats:
In-feed ads:
These are ads that show up as sponsored content within a user’s regular Feed. They may include single image ads, carousel ads, and even videos.
Story ads:
These are ads that show up as sponsored content while a user browses through their Stories Feed. They can be still images, videos, or multi-product listings.
Reel ads:
These are ads that show up as sponsored Reels while users browse through organic Reels content.
Step 4. Design your ad creative
Once you’ve decided on a format, it’s time to prepare the ad creative (your visuals and copy). Having these ready early on will help you speed up the campaign creation process.
For in-feed ads, use visuals that instantly catch the eye. Write short but engaging captions.
Story ads are great for retargeting existing customers. Use attractive visuals with compelling text overlay that can get users to take a pause.
For Reels ads, make sure to use videos that blend in seamlessly with organic content. Clear in-video captions are great for engaging viewers who watch with the sound off.
Step 5. Choose your conversion location
Meta now requires you to choose a conversion location. This is the place where your desired business outcome will take place. For instance, traffic ads will give you the option to send traffic to your website, get people to call your business, etc. Let’s choose to send traffic to your Instagram profile for this example.
Step 6. Define your ad budget and schedule
You have full control over when you’ll run ads and how much you’ll spend. Choose between a daily budget (runs indefinitely) and a lifetime budget (runs for a set amount of time). If you choose a lifetime budget, you can also select a specific schedule for your ads (e.g., only weekdays).
Step 7. Target your audience
And now, we get to the good part! Targeting your audience is how you’ll optimize your strategy. You don’t want to waste money by trying to target anyone and everyone.
There are three types of audiences you can potentially advertise to:
Core audiences:
Targeted based on demographics, interests, and behaviors (e.g., people aged 18 to 25 interested in art).
Custom audiences:
You can target website visitors, customer lists, or app users. This is a great way to retarget users who are already familiar with your brand.
Lookalike audiences:
New users who are similar to your most valuable audiences. You define a lookalike source (like an existing Custom Audience) and Meta finds similar new people.
Step 8. Choose your ad placements
This is where you’ll decide where to display your ad. Meta recommends using Advantage+ placements where the platform decides the best placement for you. This is a great option if you’re new to Instagram advertising. Otherwise, choose the Manual placements option to customize it to your unique preferences (e.g., excluding Stories or Reels).
How to Boost an Instagram Post?
Boosting an existing post is the easiest way to advertise on Instagram. Here’s what you need to do:
Step 1. Choose an existing post to boost
We recommend going through individual post insights to see which ones drive the most engagement. This indicates that the post resonates with your audience. Once you’ve decided on the post, tap on Boost post.
Step 2. Select your goal
What’s the purpose of boosting your post? Do you want more people to visit your profile, message you, or visit your website? Choose the goal that best fits your business objectives.
Step 3. Define your audience
Who should see your ad? Instagram gives you the option to target users similar to your existing followers or manually enter your own targeting options if you want to reach a different audience.
Step 4. Set a budget and an ad timeline
Set a budget to limit your daily ad spend and avoid overspending. Additionally, set a duration for your ad so it will automatically stop showing up once the campaign ends.
Step 5. Launch your ad and track metrics
You can then preview your ad and add funds to start boosting your post. Once the boosted post is live, keep a close eye on its performance.
Best Practices for Successful Instagram Ad Campaigns:
So, you’ve set up your campaign, now how do you make it good? Here are the best practices we’ve learned for making your ads connect with your audience.
Use Compelling Visuals and Copy:
Highlight offers and benefits immediately within the visual instead of burying them in the caption.
Focus on benefits instead of features. Help the audience understand what they get out of the deal.
Lean into original and entertaining content to humanize your brand.
Use clear and concise copy to get your point across.
A/B Test Ad Elements and Placements:
More often than not, your ads won’t work out the first time around. Successful Instagram advertising needs a lot of testing and refining.
Make sure to turn on the A/B test option during your ad setup to see how different creatives or placements generate reactions from your audience.
Consider Seasonalities and Trends:
Be strategic with your ads so that you’re offering the right products at the right time (e.g., Mother’s Day gift packages).
Pay close attention to trends, but avoid relying too heavily on them. because 33% of consumers find following every trend “embarrassing.”
Design for Sound-Off Viewing:
Many people prefer to watch Reels and videos with the sound off. If you’re relying on sound alone to share your message, you could be missing out.
Design your video ads for sound-off viewing and use closed captions or subtitles to engage a more diverse audience.
Instagram Advertising FAQs:
Can I advertise on Instagram without a Facebook page?
Yes, you can boost posts without a Facebook ad account. However, you still need a Facebook ad account to run full-fledged ad campaigns on Instagram.
How much does it cost to run an Instagram ad?
The CPC typically ranges from $0.01 to $0.25, while the CPM can vary from $0.01 to $4.00. But the actual cost varies based on factors like bidding strategy, timing, and ad quality.
How long should I run an Instagram ad?
You should run an Instagram ad for at least a week, although two weeks is ideal, so the platform has enough time to optimize performance. The ideal duration will also vary based on your campaign type and goals.
What's a good CTR for Instagram ads?
A good CTR (Click-Through Rate) typically ranges between 0.5% and 1.5%. This will vary based on your industry and the ad format you use.
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