How to buy promotion on instagram


How to Boost Instagram Posts and Reels

What is Instagram promotion (a.k.a. Instagram boost)?

How to promote an Instagram post

How to promote an Instagram post or Reel in Hootsuite

What types of Instagram posts can you boost?

Instagram post promotion cost

Benefits of promoting an Instagram post

5 tips for Instagram post promotion

Do you have a great Instagram post or Reel you want more people to see? Are you looking to boost engagement on your existing posts? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then it might be time to promote your posts and Reels. Instagram promotion (a.k.a. Instagram boosting) is a great way to get your content in front of more people and rake in those precious likes, comments, and shares.

In this post, we’ll give you some tips on how to promote Instagram posts for maximum reach and impact. Plus, some top-secret industry tips you won’t get anywhere else.

Let’s get started!

Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a fitness influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.

What is Instagram promotion (a.k.a. Instagram boost)?

Instagram promotion is the act of paying to have your post seen by more people. When you promote or “boost” a post on Instagram, it will appear in the feeds of users who don’t follow you. Promoted posts can also appear in the Stories or the Explore tab.

Instagram boosts and promoted posts are a type of Instagram advertising. You’ll have the ability to target your audience by interest, location, and more.

The benefit of promoting your post is that you can reach a larger audience and get more engagement on your posts, which can lead to more followers.

Promoted Instagram posts also give you insights into how well your content is performing and who is seeing it, beyond just your regular audience.

How to promote an Instagram post

To promote or boost an Instagram post, you’ll need to have an active Instagram Professional account. Once you have that setup, follow these steps. (And also watch our video, below!)

1. Go to your Instagram Feed and click the post you want to boost. Then, click Boost. Keep in mind, Instagram recommends only boosting posts with images smaller than 8 MB to ensure the best quality.

Not sure which posts to boost? We recommend boosting posts that are already performing well. You might also want to check out our guide to Instagram ad design to find out which types of visuals perform best as ads.

2. Next, fill in details about your ad like the Goal, Audience, Budget, and Duration. The goal is the results you hope to see from this ad while the audience is who you want to reach with your message. The budget is how much you’re willing to spend on this ad per day. The duration is how long you want your ad to run.

3. Once you finish these steps, click Next. If you haven’t already connected your Instagram account to a Facebook Page, you’ll be prompted to do that now. Choose an existing account or click Skip to move on.

4. Complete your boosted post by clicking Boost post under Review.

From there, your ad will be submitted to Instagram for review and begin running once it’s approved!

Want to see the exact process? Just watch the video below:

Did you know you can also create Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns directly through Hootsuite? Follow this guide to learn more.

How to promote an Instagram post or Reel in Hootsuite

If you already use Hootsuite to manage your Instagram ads, you’re in luck! You can boost Instagram feed posts and Reels directly from your Hootsuite dashboard.

To boost an Instagram feed post, follow this step-by-step process:

  1. Go to Advertise, and then select Instagram Boost.
  2. Select Find a post to Boost to see a list of your organic Instagram posts.
  3. Choose the post you want to promote, and select Boost next to it.
  4. In the Boost settings window, select the ad account you want Meta to charge for the boosted post, and select Save.
  5. Enter the rest of your Boost settings.
  6. Choose an objective (engagement, video views, or reach). Meta uses this information to show your post to people who are likely to take the action you want.
  7. Choose your audience. If you want to customize the audience, select Edit and specify which attributes to target, like location, gender, age, and interests.
  8. Choose whether you want Meta to promote your Instagram post on Facebook, or just Instagram.
  9. Set your budget and the length of your promotion.
  10. Select Boost on Instagram.

You can review the performance of your boosted Instagram posts in Hootsuite at any time by going to Advertise, and then selecting Instagram Boost.

  • Select an ad account from the list to see all Instagram Boost campaigns associated with it. From here you can see reach, amount spent, and engagement for each campaign.

You can also boost Instagram posts and Reels from Streams:

  1. In an Instagram Stream, find the post or Reel you want to boost
  2. Click the Boost post button below the preview of your post or Reel
  3. Enter your boost settings

And that’s it!

Pro tip: You can also boost Instagram posts from Composer and Planner. See the detailed instructions in our Helpdesk article.

Start your free trial. You can cancel anytime.

What types of Instagram posts can you boost?

You can boost any type of Instagram post, including:

  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Carousels
  • Stories
  • Posts with product tags

Boosted posts will appear in the Stories or the Explore tab. If you have an Instagram Professional account and Promote is available, you’ll see Boost Post as an option when you upload a post to your Feed.

Bonus: You can also boost Instagram Reels with a few clicks using Hootsuite. Watch our video below where we go over how you can promote your Instagram Reels:

Instagram post promotion cost

One of the biggest benefits of IG promotion is that the cost is completely up to you. Promoted posts can cost as little as $0.50 per click, and you can set a daily budget so you never spend more than you’re comfortable with.

If you’re unsure what kind of budget to use for your promoted post, try setting up a draft campaign in your Instagram Ads Manager. Here, you’ll be able to see Audience Definition and Estimated Daily Results metrics which will give you an idea of whether your budget settings will be sufficient to reach your target audience.

Benefits of promoting an Instagram post

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms with over 1 billion monthly active users. Of those users, 90% follow business accounts, which gives you an opportunity to reach a highly motivated audience.

On top of that, Instagram has high engagement rates with posts averaging around 1.94%. By contrast, Facebook and Twitter have engagement rates of 0.07% and 0.18%.

Promoting your content on Instagram can help you reach a larger audience, get more engagement, and encourage people to take action on your posts.

There are a few reasons you might want to promote an Instagram post:

  • To increase brand awareness: If you’re trying to reach new people who are likely to be interested in your products or services, promoting a post is a great way to do that.
  • To get more engagement: Promoted posts can help you get more likes, comments, and shares, which can lead to organic reach and new followers.
  • To drive traffic to your website: If you’re promoting a post with a link to your website, you can track how many people are clicking through to your site. Promoted posts can also lead to more sales or sign-ups.
  • To reach your target audience effectively: Instagram’s targeting lets you choose who sees your promoted post. You can target by location, age, gender, interests, and more to better reach more interested customers.
  • To collect data on marketing strategies: Every boosted post will come with data on how well it performed. You can use these metrics to see what’s working and adjust your strategies accordingly.

 

5 tips for Instagram post promotion

It’s easy to promote Instagram posts to get your content in front of more people. But as with any paid promotion, there are a few things to keep in mind to make sure you’re getting the most out of your investment.

Here are a few tips for promoting Instagram posts.

1. Use Instagram-specific features

While Instagram made its name as a photo-sharing app, today it’s so much more. Promote Instagram posts using all of the platform’s features, from Stories to Reels to Live.

The more you make use of Instagram’s features, the more chances you have of ranking in its algorithm. Not only will this help you reach more people, but it will also help you build a more engaged following.

2. Think about your target audience

One of the benefits of boosting Instagram posts is that you already have a built-in audience. But that doesn’t mean you should take them for granted.

Before you promote your Instagram post, take a step back and think about who you’re trying to reach.

  • Who are you speaking to?
  • What are their interests?
  • What kind of content do they respond to?

If you don’t know the answer to these questions off the bat, try digging into your Instagram analytics to see how your previous posts were received. If you notice your Reels get the highest engagement or that carousel posts have the most shares, promote those first.

Your Hootsuite dashboard contains all the information you need to tailor your promoted Instagram posts to your audience. Use Hootsuite Analytics to figure out what time of day to promote your post and measure the impact after its live.

3. Promote carousel posts

Research has shown that carousel posts increase engagement rates on Instagram. Static carousel posts can boost engagement by as much as 5%! Add a video to that carousel, and you’re looking at an almost 17% increase.

To make the most of this format, try creating a carousel post of 8-10 images or video clips. On the first slide, ask your audience a question or include a powerful call to action. This will entice users to swipe left to see the rest of your content.

Don’t forget, you can create Instagram carousel ads quickly and easily with Hootsuite! Plus, track, optimize, and grow your Instagram presence directly from your dashboard.

4. Make use of product tags

If you’re set up for Instagram Shopping, you can promote Instagram posts that feature product tags. Doing this will drive people directly to a product details page on Instagram, where they can learn more about the product and make a purchase.

This is an especially effective way to promote your products if you’re running a promotion. Promote Instagram posts with product tags to let your audience know that there’s a special deal going on, and make it easy for them to take advantage of it.

Learn how to set up Instagram shopping here.

Source: Instagram

5. Promote your best posts

Image and video quality is an important part of the Instagram user experience—and it’s also a major ranking factor in the Instagram algorithm.

That means, if you want your content to be seen by more people, you need to make sure that the images and videos you’re promoting are high quality. Promoting your best posts will ensure that, not only is your audience seeing your best content, but that it’s well-received. (We learned this the hard way after spending $100 to promote a post that didn’t really have anything to do with our usual content)

When you’re looking for posts to promote, consider the following:

  • The quality of the image or video
  • The engagement (likes, comments, shares)
  • The overall reach (how many people saw it)

Pick your best posts and share them with the world!

Manage Instagram alongside your other social channels and save time using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule, publish, and boost posts, engage your audience, and measure performance. Try it free today.

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How does it work and how to get started?

With over a billion active users every month, Instagram is one of the biggest platforms for a brand to build a relationship with its customers. In fact, we at InVideo also leverage our Instagram channel to make video creation easier for our audience.

If you want to:

- Increase brand awareness and recognition
- Grow your Instagram followers
- Find new customers
- Boost sales 
- Create a community

Then this guide to Instagram promotions is for you. 

In this blog, you’ll learn exactly how the Instagram promotion feature works and we will also show you how to create thumb-stopping videos to promote your brand using InVideo’s online editor. Make sure to check out our Instagram channel to get an understanding of how these videos can help elevate your brand’s online presence.

Here’s what we will be covering: 

(1) What are Instagram Promotions? 
(2) How do Instagram Promotions work? 
(3) Best practices to promote Instagram posts
(4) Types of posts to promote on Instagram
(5) Bonus - How to create thumb-stopping IG videos to promote your brand

Let’s get started!

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(1) What are Instagram Promotions?

Instagram Promotions is a feature that allows you to convert regular Instagram posts, stories or highlights into sponsored ones for a fee. Such posts typically look similar to organic feed posts or stories, but can be identified by the “Sponsored” tag that appears below the Instagram handle.  

You can also add a call to action that’s clickable for feed posts or has a swipe-up option for stories. You can set a budget and the duration of the promotion, and choose your target audience for your boosted post based on factors such as location, demographic, interests. Many businesses use Instagram Promotions to make their content more visible and reach a wider audience than what their current following is.

Instagram Promotions vs Instagram Ads

While both features are used to increase brand visibility and engagement, here are the key differences between Instagram Promotions and Instagram Ads. 

#1 - Post creative

Instagram Promotions can only be used to boost the visibility of an existing post or story on your feed via the Instagram app. This is similar to the “Boost Post” feature on Facebook. 

Instagram Ads must be created and posted from Facebook Ad Manager. 

#2 - Audience targeting

Instagram Promotions allows you to select your target audience based on age, location and broad interests.

Instagram Ads offer more detailed options to refine your target audience, with multiple sub-categories under behaviours, interests and other demographics.

(2) How do Instagram Promotions work?

In this section, we’ll cover exactly how to promote an Instagram post and an Instagram story. Before we begin, keep in mind the Instagram promotions feature is only available to business accounts. So, if you don’t already have a business account, create one before proceeding.

You can also convert your existing Instagram account into a business account with the following steps:

Step 1: Log onto the Instagram app and go to your profile by tapping on the profile icon on the bottom right.

Step 2: Click on the three bars on the top right. Next, click on “Settings”.

Step 3: Click on “Account” and scroll to the bottom of the page. Then click “Switch to professional account” and follow the prompts to finish setting up your business account.

A. How to promote an Instagram post 

You can select any post from your feed to promote, but the best strategy is to choose from among your top performing posts. Then, follow the steps below:

Step 1 

Log onto the Instagram app and go to your Instagram profile by tapping on the profile icon on the bottom right. Then tap on “Promotions”.

Step 2

The app will automatically suggest one of your top performing posts to promote. You can go with this suggestion, or tap “Choose a post” to select a post of your choice from your feed. Once you’ve chosen the post you wish to promote, click the ➔ icon (Android) or “Next” (iOS) at the top right corner to proceed.

Step 3

Select your goal from the options listed.

If you want people to see more of your content and follow you, select “More Profile Visits”. 

If you wish to direct people to your website, select “More Website Visits”. You will then be given the option to add your website URL and an appropriate call to action to your post.

If your business provides a service and you wish to generate more enquiries from potential customers through direct messages, select “More Messages”. 

Then, click the ➔ icon (Android) or “Next” (iOS) at the top right corner to proceed to the next step.

Step 4

Next, select your target audience for your promoted post. If you choose “Automatic”, your post will be targeted at people who match the profiles of your current followers. 

Alternatively, you can customise your target audience based on location, age, gender and interests by selecting the “Create Your Own” option. When you’re done, click the ➔ icon (Android) or “Next” (iOS) at the top right corner to proceed.

Step 5

Toggle the sliders to choose the amount of money you wish to spend to promote your post (Budget) and the length of time the promotion will run (Duration). Click the ➔ icon (Android) or “Next” (iOS) at the top right corner to proceed.

Step 6

In this final step, you will be able to review your post. If your business account has not been linked to a Facebook business page, you will have to add a payment method in the “Payment” section before you’re able to proceed. Next, select “Create Promotion” and you’re done!

Once you’ve created a promotion, your post will be labelled as “Under review”. You will receive a notification in your Activity Feed once your promotion has been approved by Instagram. Once the promotion begins running, you can use the Promotions button on your post to view insights into how it is performing.

B. How to promote an Instagram Story

You can promote active stories and stories that have been featured in your highlights or archived. However, keep in mind that you can use only certain tappable elements such as hashtags, mentions, polls and location tags. Stories with GIFs, emojis, music and other such elements are not eligible for Instagram promotions. 

Follow the steps below:

Step 1

Log onto the Instagram app. Tap on your profile picture to access your story. Then tap on the three dots on the bottom right and select “Promote”.

If you wish to promote an older or archived Instagram story, go to your profile and tap on the three bars on the top right. Select “Archive” from the drop down menu to access your archived stories.

Step 2

Select your goal from the options listed. You can choose whether you’d like to generate more profile visits, direct people to your website or encourage more enquiries from potential customers through direct messages. Click the ➔ icon (Android) or “Next” (iOS) at the top right corner to proceed to the next step.

Step 3

Next, select your target audience for your promoted story. If you choose “Automatic”, your post will be targeted at people who match the profiles of your current followers. You can also customise your target audience based on location, age, gender and interests by selecting “Create Your Own”. When you’re done, click the ➔ icon (Android) or “Next” (iOS) in the top right corner to proceed.

Step 4

Toggle the sliders to select the amount of money you wish to spend to promote your Instagram story(Budget) and the length of time the promotion will run (Duration). Next, click the ➔ icon (Android) or “Next” (iOS) in the top right corner.

Step 5

In this final step, you will be able to review your Instagram Story promotion. If your business account has not been linked to a Facebook business page, you will have to add a payment method in the “Payment” section before you’re able to proceed. Next, select “Create Promotion” to complete the process.

Your Instagram Story promotion will run once it has been reviewed and approved by Instagram. The active story on your profile will disappear after 24 hours. However, it will still run as a promoted story for the duration that you have set. 

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(3) Best practices to promote Instagram posts

Now that you know how to promote a post or story on Instagram, here’s a look at some actionable strategies to make the most out of your Instagram promotions.

1. Share relatable content

On social media, you’re competing against a barrage of content for a user’s attention. You have only a few seconds to grab a customer’s attention—if they cannot relate to your content, they will just scroll past your post without a second thought. This is why it’s vital for your Instagram feed to be relevant to both your brand and your target customers. Etsy is a great example of how to tailor your content to your buyer’s persona. The brand appeals to crafters, those interested in home decor, and DIY-ers by showcasing a mix of art, craft and home improvement tutorials, eye-catching items purchasable from its website, and interviews with Etsy sellers that create a personal connection with the audience.

2. Use Instagram Insights to know which posts to promote

When selecting an Instagram post from your feed to promote, choose one that is already doing well with your audience. Such posts have a greater chance of benefiting from a wider reach and grabbing the attention of more users. The Instagram Insights feature, which is accessible from your business profile, can help you identify past posts that have got the most engagement, and give you an understanding of what kind of content works for your audience demographics. Sponsored posts similar to content that has performed well in the past are more likely to do well.

3. Include a CTA 

When promoting a post, include a CTA directing users to take a particular action such as purchasing your products, visiting your website, or sending in queries via direct message. This can increase conversions from the post. 

4. Set up targeting manually

Instagram offers an automatic audience targeting function that promotes a post to users who fit the demographics of your current followers. However, customising each metric manually allows greater control over who will see your post. You can determine your target audience based on location, age, gender and interests by selecting the “Create Your Own” option. This is also useful when you wish to reach a new audience whose demographics may differ from that of your followers.

5. Post consistently

Instagram’s algorithm favours accounts that post consistently—at least once each day. The more consistently you update your feed, the more likely you are to gain organic reach, which will also help your sponsored posts perform well. As you post more content, it’s also important to analyse their performance to determine what kind of content works best with your followers. You can also experiment with publishing posts at different times to figure out the ideal time to post for maximum engagement.

6. Test different types of sponsored posts to see which work best

When you’re starting out, promote a few different types of posts and analyse their engagement. This will help you identify the type of promoted posts that are most likely to give you the best response. For example, you might experiment with different aesthetics, such as a standalone image post, a video post or a text-based post to see what gets your audience’s attention.

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(4) Types of posts to promote on Instagram

If you’re looking for inspiration to get started, we’ve got you! Read on for some ideas on the best kind of Instagram posts to promote to grow your business.

1. Product posts

If your goal is to boost sales, consider promoting an Instagram post that showcases your best selling products or one that introduces a new product launch. Remember to use clear, eye-catching images to make your products the focus of your post. You could also use some of InVideo’s product templates to create a scroll-stopping video in minutes. Finally, include a CTA with a clickable link directing users to make a purchase or visit your website to view more. 

Check out this example of a completely customisable product post template for a beverage brand that can be an ideal fit for promotions signup here.

2. Brand introductions

According to statistics from Instagram, 50% of users are more interested in a brand after seeing an ad for it on Instagram. Promoting posts that introduce your business and its services can help familiarise potential new customers with your company and build brand recognition. If you’re looking to create an eye-catching promo video for your brand, InVideo has tons of templates plus a super intuitive video editor to help you get started. This template advertising a beauty product delivery service is a great example of how you can create a snappy, engaging video to let customers know more about your brand.

Check it out here or browse through more brand promo video templates here.

3. Events or sale announcements

Posts announcing an event or a sale are a no brainer when it comes to Instagram promotions. This will help get the word out and could increase your chances of having people sign up for your event or purchase items that are on sale. It’s important to add a clear CTA indicating where users can sign up, buy tickets or view the products that are on sale. Don’t forget to add important details such as the time, date and venue in your post. For example, this Fall clothing sale template informs viewers about the event and includes a CTA at the end.


Click here to use this template or choose from over 200 sales templates here. 

4. Contest or giveaway

People tend to trust brands recommended by others, and who doesn’t love a freebie? Leverage this by running a contest or giveaway on your Instagram feed and asking your existing follower base to tag a friend in order to be eligible for the prize. This can be a good way to grow your following for free. You can also increase engagement by asking your followers to like, save or share your post.

The freelancing platform Upwork, for instance, held a contest asking followers to share their freelancing success stories using the hashtag #UpworkSuccess, with a $1000 visa gift card as the prize. The entries not only helped create audience engagement but also served as positive testimonials to the company's services.

5. Instagram Stories

The Instagram Stories feature allows you to post vertical images and videos (of up to 15 seconds). You can also add links that users can view by swiping up on a story, a useful tool since feed posts do not support clickable links. Unlike Instagram posts, which can get buried in your feed, they appear at the top of every user’s Instagram home page. While feed posts are shown based on an algorithm, Stories are shown chronologically, which means they can be leveraged for top of the mind recall.

Since each Story only stays on your profile for 24 hours, you have the freedom to experiment with different kinds of content and don’t have to worry about sticking to a particular aesthetic. You can use Instagram Stories to promote posts from your feed, share behind-the-scenes action with customers, interact with users through polls and question stickers, and much more. If you want to save your Stories for longer, you can add them to your profile as Highlights.

Did you know one-third of the most viewed Instagram Stories are from businesses? With Instagram Story templates from InVideo, you can create some unique, eye-catching Stories for your brand even if you’re a complete beginner. If you need further inspiration, we’ve put together 51 Instagram Story ideas to get started with.

Create scroll-stopping Instagram stories in minutes

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6. Influencer collaborations

Tying up with influencers to promote your brand can give you access to a wider reach, open up your business to new followers, boost brand recognition, and generate sales. Promoting Instagram posts featuring influencer collaborations could help you reach an even wider audience and get more engagement from users who might be familiar with the influencer and therefore be prompted to click on your post.  

However, when choosing an influencer to collaborate with, remember, it’s not just about the follower count. It’s also important to work with somebody whose values are in sync with those of your brand and whose followers match the demographics of your target customers.

For example, H&M recently collaborated with models and body positivity advocates Nouri Hassan and Paloma Elsesser to promote their new range of swimwear under their #ComeBackStronger campaign.

(5) Bonus - How to create thumb-stopping IG videos to promote your brand

Now that you know how to promote an Instagram post or story, we’re also going to show you how to create awesome, scroll-stopping videos to share. With the super intuitive, and easy to use video editor from InVideo, you can add text, choose from a media library of 8M+ royalty-free video clips, royalty-free music and sound-effects, and edit your video in minutes, even if you’re a complete beginner!

Just follow the steps below.

Step 1

Log onto Invideo.io. Select “Premade Templates” to choose from our library of 5000+ handcrafted templates and customise them for your brand. If you wish to start from scratch, select “Blank Canvas”.

Step 2

Next, scroll down to choose your video’s aspect ratio. Wide (16:9) and Square (1:1) are ideal for feed posts while Vertical (9:16) is a good option for Instagram stories.

If you selected “Premade Templates”, scroll down and click on a template of your choice. Then click “Use this template” to start editing.

If you selected “Blank Canvas”, click “Make a video” to begin editing your video.

Step 3 

You can edit the existing text in the template and customise the images and colour palette by selecting the corresponding options on the “Layers” panel on the right.

Step 4

Click on the “Video” or “Image” icons on the left to add more stock photos and footage to your video if you wish. If you want to upload your own photos or videos, click “Uploads”.

Step 5

Add music from the InVideo audio library by selecting the “Music” icon on the left. You can also choose to retain the music that comes built-in with the template as indicated in the bottom scene panel.

Step 6

When you are happy with the results, click on the “Download & Share” button on the top right to save your video.

Conclusion 

That’s it! You’re all set with the best strategies to promote your Instagram account.

If you’re serious about growing on Instagram and creating engaging videos, sign up for a free account on InVideo and access over 5000+ templates that allow you to make thumb-stopping videos in minutes!

For more expert tips on how to ace Instagram marketing for your business, check out our ultimate guide to leveraging Instagram to grow your business here.

How to Run Instagram Ads: A Step-by-Step Guide

Instagram is not only one of the most popular social networks, but also an effective advertising platform.

How to get started with targeted ads on Instagram
  1. If you don't have a Facebook page for your business, create one.
  2. If you don't have an official Instagram account, you need to create one and link it to Facebook.
  3. Prepare images or videos to be used in advertising. nine0008

Sign in to Ads Manager and click Create.

How to properly set up Instagram ads through Facebook

1. Choose a promotion objective

Not all Facebook ad objectives are suitable for promoting on Instagram. Among the proposed options, we recommend the “Conversions” goal. In this case, you will be able to optimize ads for a certain cost per conversion.

2. Set up ads

Go to the "Ad group" tab. Choose where you want the ad to go - it's a website, app, Messenger, or WhatsApp. In the case of messengers, the user will go from the advertisement to the correspondence with your account. nine0003

Next, set up the audience.

For users who were on the site

If you already have a Facebook pixel installed on your site and it has collected enough data about visitors, you can use this information to target ads to an existing audience. To do this, click "Create" - "Custom Audience" . You can read more about remarketing on Facebook in the article on ppc.world. Other targetings can be skipped - they will only reduce the already existing "warm" base. nine0003

But this audience can be expanded thanks to a smart Facebook algorithm that selects users with similar behavior. To do this, click Similar Audience .

For new users

Geotargeting . You can select people who live in the selected place, who have recently visited it, or travelers:

Find the area itself through the search (regions, settlements) or specify using a marker. The range is also configurable. Several places can be marked. nine0003

Gender, age, languages ​​ . Everything is clear here. To set up targeting, proceed from your knowledge of the target audience of your business.

Demographics and interests . This group of targetings is called "detailed targeting" on Facebook.

Start entering the estimated interest of your target audience in the field. Facebook will immediately offer tips, and also inform you about the hypothetical size of the audience when you hover the cursor:

If you click on the button "Recommendations" , Facebook will offer you several related interests that it thinks you can add to your targetings:

If you want to target more precisely, there are two more settings:

  1. "Narrow audience" - so you add a strict condition (users have all the specified interests at the same time).
  2. "Exclude people" - this is how you remove people with a particular interest from the audience.

    In menu "Links" you can add people who have interacted with your Facebook page, app, or event invite:

    Specify placements and budget . Facebook has a large number of placements for placing your ads. In this case, we are interested in Instagram.

    In his case, he will also have to make a choice: show your ads in the social network feed, Stories, on the "Interesting" tab on Instagram, or in several places at once. Stories ads are primarily a visual impact tool. If you need to use a lot of text, opt for the Ribbon. nine0003

Below you can select the type of mobile devices on which ads will be displayed. As a rule, this is useful for mobile app sellers on Android or iOS.

Set the budget (daily or for the entire duration of the campaign), as well as the start and end of the campaign, if applicable.

We recommend starting with a small budget, after the test, evaluate the results and make changes.

3. Create ads
  • Go to the "Advertising" section on the left. nine0008
  • Specify identification data - how your company will be presented in advertising.
  • Select a format.

Please note that only Single Image or Video and Carousel options are available for Stories (images are displayed one after the other).

Carousel is good for advertising several products at the same time. "Selection" - for a spectacular and versatile presentation of one product. In many cases, however, a minimalistic solution with a single media file will work. nine0003

Select pictures and videos. Facebook provides stock images and allows you to use them in your ads. However, unique photographs - high-quality and natural, evoking emotions - are now more valued in advertising.

We recommend that you run a split test: choose several options for images, so that later you can choose the most converting one.

Next, fill in the ad with text and other data. Facebook will show you how the ad will look in the preview. nine0003

Done! If you have filled in all the required fields in the settings and deposited money into the balance, the ad will be sent for moderation.

A step-by-step guide to launching advertising on Instagram for beginners

Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, was recognized as an extremist organization by a court decision dated March 21, 2022, and its activities in Russia are prohibited.

Instagram is one of the most popular social networks. As of April 2020, Mediascope estimates its monthly audience in Russia at 61 million people, 28 million of which check the feed daily. This is the fourth most popular social network, users spend an average of 30 minutes a day on it. nine0003

72% of users have an average or higher income level, 10.5% work in managerial positions. Instagram ads are the right tool to tell these people about your products and services.

WEB-Index Mediascope about the audience of Instagram

Instagram belongs to Facebook, so you can run ads here in two ways: through the Facebook advertising account and through the Instagram application itself. If you run ads through the Facebook advertising account, then you will have access to all the features of this tool: retargeting pixel, dynamic creatives, detailed statistics. When launched through the application, there are fewer opportunities, but the interface is simpler and it will be faster to launch ads. In this guide, we'll take a look at both tools. nine0029

Content:

Preparation
How Advertising works on Instagram
Records We Connect the Business Profile
We fill out the account

We run the advertisement through the Instagram
Publication
Moving the History of the Proceeding Settlement Settlement. Facebook
Creating a campaign and choosing a goal
Setting up an ad group
Making an ad

Subtleties of advertising on Instagram

We will summarize

Read also:

Promotion on Instagram yourself

Full guide on how promotion on Instagram

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How advertising on Instagram works

Advertising on Instagram is targeted. This means that you describe the target audience - its interests, geography of residence, demographic characteristics - and the social network looks for such and users and shows ads to them, and not to everyone in a row. nine0003

We have a step-by-step guide to working with Instagram for business. Let's recap the key steps you need to take to get your account ready to run ads.

Registering an account

If you plan to launch advertising through your Facebook account, then you may not need an Instagram account - a company page on Facebook is enough. But if you want to communicate with users directly on Instagram and show them more information about the company and products, then register an account for this. nine0131 
You can create an account through an application on a smartphone or in a browser on a laptop or computer. To do this, you need mail, phone or Facebook account.

Registering an account in the app

If you don’t have the Instagram app on your smartphone yet, download it from the store:

Instagram on Google Play

Instagram on the App Store

to which you want to link your account. Enter the verification code, create a password, and enter your date of birth. nine0003

Registering an account in the browser

Open the registration page in the browser. You can log in to the social network with your Facebook account or create a new one. To do this, enter your phone number or email address, create a username and password. On the next screen, enter your date of birth, then the confirmation code that you will receive by mail or SMS.

The easiest way to use Instagram is from a mobile device, so we recommend downloading the app anyway.

Connecting business profile

A business profile is a commercial Instagram account linked to a company's Facebook page. It differs from the usual one in a set of additional features:

  • You can view statistics of publications and stories, detailed information on account subscribers: their geography and demographics, the number of subscriptions and unsubscriptions for the last week.
  • You can add information about the company: opening hours, address, phone number.
  • You can add a button for communication: when you click on it, the user will see your mail or be able to call immediately. nine0008

Compare what a regular profile and a business profile look like from the side of the account owner:

Regular profile

Business profile

burger menu in the upper right corner → "Settings" → "Account" → "Switch to professional account".

Instagram will clarify which category you belong to: "Author" or "Business". The first option is suitable if you are a blogger and develop a personal brand. If you have a company or a store, use the second one. nine0003

Specify which category your goods and services belong to, specify contact information. Then link your Facebook account and specify the business page that your Instagram profile will be linked to. If there is none, you can create it here.

Filling the business page will not affect the operation of the advertisement. It is worth paying attention to two points:

  • When creating a page on Facebook, indicate the correct category of your business, Instagram will use it for the business profile. nine0008
  • If you run ads through your Facebook account without an Instagram account, the system will use the cover and title of this business page in the feed, so it's better to choose a good avatar and name.

Creating and filling an account

Account name, avatar, name and description

Advertising can also be launched from an empty profile, but if a user becomes interested in an ad and opens a page with nothing on it, he may lose interest and leave. Therefore, we recommend filling in information about yourself - adding an avatar, name and profile description. nine0003

Pay attention to the avatar and title - this is what the user will immediately see in the feed of publications and stories. We recommend choosing those that will reflect the essence of your business, while being quite simple. For example:

Choose a suitable name - it will be displayed in the search under the account name. The name can contain up to 30 characters. It is worth adding keywords here: occupation, niche, geography and other characteristics that do not duplicate the account name. For example, “Land Law Lawyer” or “Fast Flower Delivery in St. Petersburg”. nine0003

Add a description for the account, it can be up to 150 characters long. Tell us what you do, add information about promotions and special offers, if necessary, indicate the hours of operation or the exact address.

A good description will help develop both the business account and the individual author. The account of the Keep Looking network is displayed one of the first on the request "Beauty salon". And the founder of the Generation Z online school develops a personal brand and tells why it is worth subscribing to.

First publications

If you have a new account, before launching an advertising campaign, place posts on a couple of scrolls with detailed information about goods or services, delivery terms, prices, and benefits. Show the product from different angles, share customer reviews.

These publications are needed to convince the user who went to your profile from advertising to buy your product, sign up for a service or order a service. So pay attention to the images, videos, and text you will be using. nine0003

In addition to posts, you can also post several stories at once and add them to Highlights, a feed of saved stories. Stories can be divided into groups, for example: product information, delivery information, reviews. Or a separate group for each category of goods or services.

For most products and services, keep in mind that the easier it is for a user to get additional information about your offer, the more likely the ad will work. The design of the profile in this regard works like a good landing page design - it does not convince by itself, but helps the visitor make a decision in your favor. nine0003

If you have a physical product, like Dodo Pizza or Boca furniture studio, tell us about it in the feed. If you have services, share cases, work principles or stories of employees like the Huge agency:

Dodo pizza feed

Boca furniture studio feed

Huge agency posts feed

As a result, you have an account with a suitable name, name and description, contacts are filled in, there are first publications and saved stories - it is easy for potential customers to understand what you offer and whether they are interested in it. Great, you are ready to start advertising. nine0003

Running ads through the Instagram app

If you have connected a business profile, you can run ads directly from the app on your smartphone. It’s convenient — it’s just a few clicks before the ad starts. On the other hand, there are fewer options available than when working with the Facebook account.

You can only promote posts and stories through the app that you already have in your account. So first post all the content you plan to promote. Please note that you can't promote IGTV posts right now. nine0003

Promoting the publication

Destination

Open the publication that we will use in advertising and click "Promote". If you are running ads for the first time, the application will tell you more about where you can send traffic: to your profile, to a website, or directly to direct. The first option is suitable if you want to attract new subscribers. The second is if you are promoting the site. The third is if you want to immediately engage the audience in communication, for example, so that they request a catalog. nine0003

Ivan's is an online course for students and recent graduates. On his Instagram account, he publishes useful materials on the subject of the course: potential students sign up, get acquainted with free materials, gain confidence and then pay for the course. The account has both native posts with tips and life hacks and commercial posts promoting products.

Ivan connected a business profile and filled out the feed:

On the one hand, advertising on Instagram for Ivan is an account development tool. So when promoting native publications, he specifies the profile as the destination: users see useful content and subscribe to the account. On the other hand, it is a source of traffic to the site. So in commercial publications, he sends customers to a landing page: users see an interesting offer and go to the site. nine0003

If you select a website as a destination, the application will pull up the address specified in the profile settings. Here you can also edit the call to action if you are sending traffic to the site. By default, it is "Details", you can choose another one, to do this, click on the small "Edit" link in the "Your site" item.

Select the appropriate text on the button and click Finish. Then - "Next" in the upper right corner on the screen for choosing a destination.

Room

Let's move on to setting up the audience that will see your ad. You can trust the algorithms and select the "Automatic" option, then the social network will look for users who are similar to the account's current subscribers. This is a convenient option if you have an organic and active base that is interested in your products and services - in this case, Instagram understands which users to look for.


If you don't have many followers yet, or if they follow you because of contests and not for your content, it's better to set up the audience yourself. To do this, select "Create your audience". Here you can specify the geography, interests, and demographics of your audience. nine0003

Specify the geography of potential customers in the "Locations" section. In the "Regional" tab, you can specify all the cities or countries that you plan to cover. In the "Local" tab, you can specify a specific address and the radius around it, from 1 to 30 kilometers. Convenient if you are looking for clients for a local business, such as a coffee shop or a beauty salon. Or if you have a limited delivery radius.

In the "Interests" section, in the free form, enter the interests for which you want to reach users. For example, "travelling", "cars", "raising children". Select the appropriate item, and the system will suggest similar interests. nine0029

Specify the age range and gender of the audience. For example, ads can be shown to women between 18 and 35 or men over 30.

Sometimes Ivan publishes entries that are aimed at readers from Moscow, and sometimes at those who live in the regions. When promoting different posts, it uses different geography settings. But interests usually do not change, its subscribers are actively interested in self-development, career, business.

"Places" is a mandatory section, "Interests" is an optional section. The application will tell you how many people match this set of descriptions. If the potential audience is small - usually less than 2500 users - the system will tell you that the potential reach is too narrow. Advertising in this case may be ineffective - few people will see it. To fix this, you can expand the geography and age range, or add additional interests. nine0003

Add a name and click "Finish" - the audience will be saved and you can use it for future campaigns.

Budget & Duration

Specify the daily budget for the campaign - from $80 to $20,000 - and the duration in days - from 1 to 30 days. low budget and short duration.


Ivan promotes each post from three to six days. He thinks so: less than three days is too short, the algorithm may not find the right audience. More than six days is a long time, the same people can come across the same post several times. And in the range from three to six, it is optimal: even if the algorithm shows campaigns to the same people, they will constantly see different content. nine0003

There are exceptions: if Ivan publishes a very important and viral post, or he announces a new product or event, then he runs the ad longer, up to 14 days. In this case, reach is important to him, and he does not worry about repeat impressions.

The campaign is ready to start. You can click "Promotion Preview" and see how users will see your ad in the feed, in stories, and in the "Interesting" section.

Add a PayPal card or account from which you will pay for advertising. Click "Payment", select a country and enter payment details. If you run ads from Russia, then keep in mind that the system will additionally charge VAT - 20% of advertising costs. That is, if the total campaign budget is 10,000 rubles, then in fact you will pay 12,000 rubles. nine0131 
Click Create Promotion. The ad will go for moderation.


Promoting a story

Promoting a story works according to the same principle — choose one of the published stories, indicate the platform to which you want to lead customers, describe the audience, set the budget and send it for moderation.

You can promote a story that you have posted within the last 24 hours, that is saved in your Instagram Highlights or is archived. Open the story, click on the three dots in the bottom right corner and click Promote. nine0003

There are several restrictions when promoting a story:

  • You cannot promote stories with clickable elements: hashtags, polls, user marks.
  • Stories that may violate the rights of others, such as gifs or masks from the Instagram collection, cannot be promoted.
  • You can't promote stories that were published too long ago, the statute of limitations is about two years.

Tracking performance

You can track the results of your ads in the Promotions section of your profile page. For each promotion, the application will show the number of impressions, audience parameters, budget expenditure. nine0029

We launch advertising through the Facebook account

To launch advertising through the Facebook account, you need to set up a campaign, an ad group and the ad itself. At the same time, only Instagram must be specified in the placement settings of the ad group, then ads will not be shown on other sites. Let's go in order.

Read also:

A guide to launching Facebook ads for beginners

Understanding the intricacies of advertising on Facebook

Follow

If you haven't run ads on Facebook yet, first create an account. On any social network page, click on the arrow in the top bar and go to the "Facebook Ads" section. On the new page, click "Create an ad" in the top menu and accept the non-discrimination policy. After that, the "Manage ads" item in which your account is located will become available in your menu.

Click "Create" in your advertising account. During the launch of the first advertising campaign, the social network will ask you to specify additional parameters: your country of residence and time zone, the currency in which you will pay for advertising, and details of your PayPal card or account, QIWI wallet, Yandex. The money from which you will pay. nine0003

Creating a campaign and choosing a goal

The first step to launch an ad is choosing a goal. There are three categories to choose from: Awareness, Considerations, and Conversions.

Awareness is fine if you just want to talk about a new product. For example, Coca-Cola can announce a new flavor of soda in this way: they don’t so much need the user to go to the site, but so that he remembers the new label and remembers about it in the store.

"Consideration" is suitable if you want the user to become interested in the product and somehow interact with the advertisement: watch the video, go to the site, like it, install the application that you are promoting. nine0003

"Conversions" is suitable if you want users to perform a specific action on the site: register for an event, put an item in a cart, leave a request. For ads to work effectively, you will need to set up the transmission of events from your site to your ad account.

The logic of the algorithm depends on the goal you choose — which user it will show ads to. For example, if you select the "Traffic" objective, then the algorithm will show the ad to those users who are more likely to click on a button or link. It works like this: the system will show ads to the first group of users and mark those who take the desired action. And then, according to various parameters, it will look for others who are similar to them in profile and behavior and will also follow the link with a high probability. nine0003

Alexey has an online flower shop with a pickup point on Taganskaya. Instagram for him is a way to attract customers to the site, talk about products. Alex uses the "Traffic" objective to get as many clicks to the site as possible. Let's see what other settings he uses for promotion.

Add the name of the campaign. For campaigns, ad groups, and ads, it's best to use names that you can refer to in the future. If all campaigns are called "Advertising", then to find the right one and fix something in it, you will have to make a lot of clicks. Use a clear description in the title, such as "Outreach campaign in Moscow, August" or "Traffic to the site by interests / Regions". nine0029

Check whether you will conduct an A/B test as part of the campaign. If yes, then you will be prompted to create different ad groups that may differ in design, placements, and audiences.

Specify how you plan to manage the budget: at the level of the entire campaign or each individual ad group in this campaign. That is, set a general limit for all groups at once, or a separate limit for each group. If you choose to optimize the budget of the entire campaign, then specify the daily or total campaign budget and the bidding strategy you want to use. nine0029

If this is your first time setting up ads, click the "Set up ad account" button. Facebook will ask you to enter your country, currency, and time zone. If you have already created advertising campaigns, click "Continue".

Set up the ad group

The next step is to set up the ad group. Ads in the same group will have the same audience and placements. If you want to create ads for a different audience segment, you can create a new ad set within the same campaign. For example, one ad group for school supplies might be for students and another for their parents. nine0003

Enter a name for the ad group. Choose where you plan to send traffic: to a website, to an app page, or to a conversation in Messenger or WhatsApp.

You can check "Dynamic creatives" if you have multiple options for images and accompanying text. The advertising system will show users different options and determine the most effective ones.

Specify the parameters of the audience to which you want to show ads: their geo-, demographic characteristics. Click "Edit" next to "Detailed targeting" to specify additional parameters: interests, education level, marital status, devices used, and others. In the block on the right, the system will show what audience size you can potentially reach. nine0003

Aleksey knows that his main clients are women from Moscow who are already thinking about home comfort and are interested in gardening and interior design. Alex uses this information to set up audience settings.

In the "Placements" section, select the "Manually select placements" item. In the block that opens, uncheck the "Facebook", "Audience Network" and "Messenger" platforms. You can then choose where on Instagram you want your ads to appear: in the main feed, Explore feed, or Stories. nine0131 
If you didn't select budget optimization at the campaign level in the previous step, then in the "Budget and Schedule" section, specify a daily or total budget and bid strategy. For some purposes, for example, "Traffic", you can specify a control price - this is your expectation of a price per action: click, install, button click. The final cost may vary, but the system will take into account your expectations when selecting places to display your ad.

Click Continue.

Making an announcement

Enter the name of the announcement. In the "Company identification" block, select on behalf of which page you place ads. If an Instagram account is linked to this page, you can select it in the "Instagram Account" section. If not, then you can promote ads from a Facebook page.

If you have specified an Instagram account, you can select one of the publications existing in it or create a new one. If you create a new post, it will not be reflected in your account - this is convenient if you do not want to show sponsored posts in your profile feed. nine0003

You can use the "Carousel" format, which consists of several objects and captions, or "Single image or video".

Upload media objects: pictures and videos. Click "Add Media" and choose from already uploaded media or add new ones. If you plan to advertise in Stories, upload a separate image with an aspect ratio of 9:16 for this purpose.

Add ad text, provide a link, select a call to action to be displayed in the ad. If you chose the Carousel format, then add them for each card. nine0003

Please note: if there are two or three cards in the gallery, the user will see all of them when advancing in stories. And if there are more cards, then the user will see the first three, and the "Open story" button will appear in the interface. A person will see the rest of the cards only if he clicks on it. The link is invisible, so some users may not see other creatives.

Aleksey uses a gallery for advertising: this way you can show more plants and some of them will surely interest a potential client. He adds a short description to each image: what kind of plant it is, who will like it, what interior it will suit. For example: “Unpretentious, but spectacular: suitable for owners who are not ready to spend a lot of time on care, but want to please the eye every day. It will fit perfectly into a bright, spacious interior. nine0003

If you have an online store on Tilda and a product catalog is connected, you can automatically generate a gallery from it.

Select whether you want to collect information about users who see and interact with ads using the Facebook pixel.

Click Confirm. The ad will be sent for moderation.

Promotion with the help of the Facebook advertising account provides flexible opportunities for experimenting with advertising. We talked about them in a detailed guide to advertising on Facebook, pay attention to:

Pixel. It will help to save information about users who have already seen your ad and interacted with it or performed a certain action on the site.

Catalog. It will be useful if you have an online store and want to promote your products.

Dynamic creatives. The tool will be useful if you have a lot of ideas for advertising design, but you don't know which ones will work best.

The subtleties of advertising on Instagram

Advertising on Instagram must comply with the same rules as on other Facebook sites. Here are a few more recommendations that the social network gives for setting up ads. nine0003

Use a separate image format for Stories ads

Don't use the same media for feed and story ads. Prepare a separate version of the creative with a 9:16 aspect ratio and use it for ads in stories. And for the ribbon, leave the standard rectangular or square image. Please note that if you promote the gallery through the Facebook interface, then the images in the feed can only be square.

Do not overuse text on creatives

Facebook has a negative attitude towards images, more than 20% of which are text. This can lead to the fact that ads will scroll more slowly and fewer users will see them. It is better to put the text in the description, and leave the image clean.

Consider the interface

If the image has text at the very bottom or top of the screen, the interface elements will overlap it: the profile icon on the top, the call to action on the bottom. To prevent this from happening, place them at a distance of 14-15% of the height from the top and bottom edges. If you are using an image that is 1600 pixels tall, back off 220-250 pixels. nine0003

Don't forget that the user can turn off the sound

If you decide to promote the video, don't forget that the user can view it without sound. If you plan to convey important thoughts with your voice, then duplicate them with subtitles so as not to lose such users.

Check your account statistics

See which of your posts get the most engagement: likes, comments, bookmarks. It is probably worth using such recordings for advertising - they resonate most with your audience. nine0003

Promote new products, services, and offers

Instagram promotion is a way to promote an upcoming sale, new product launch, or special offer. Advertising will help convey information about the new product to an audience that may be interested in it.

Don't delay when using video in Stories

A story is only 15 seconds long - don't put off showcasing your product or brand. If you use a long introduction, then some users may simply go to the next publications and not even figure out what you offer them. nine0003

Show, don't tell

Show users the product in action: how other people use it, what are the non-standard uses for it, tell how you work on it. Tell a story, not just describe the benefits of a product.

To summarize

Advertising on Instagram can be launched in two ways: through the Facebook advertising account and directly in the Instagram application.

Prepare your account for launching ads: add an avatar, description, website link, contacts. Post several posts that will help users get to know your offer better. nine0029

Switch your account to a business profile. To do this, you need to link your Instagram profile to a Facebook page. It will take just a few clicks, but additional features will open up: you can view statistics, add information about the company, and run ads through the application.

Only posts and stories that have already been published can be promoted through the app.


Learn more