How to make an instagram promotion
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.
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:
- Go to Advertise, and then select Instagram Boost.
- Select Find a post to Boost to see a list of your organic Instagram posts.
- Choose the post you want to promote, and select Boost next to it.
- In the Boost settings window, select the ad account you want Meta to charge for the boosted post, and select Save.
- Enter the rest of your Boost settings.
- 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.
- Choose your audience.
If you want to customize the audience, select Edit and specify which attributes to target, like location, gender, age, and interests. - Choose whether you want Meta to promote your Instagram post on Facebook, or just Instagram.
- Set your budget and the length of your promotion.
- 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:
- In an Instagram Stream, find the post or Reel you want to boost
- Click the Boost post button below the preview of your post or Reel
- 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 costOne 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 postInstagram 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 featuresWhile 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.
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 postsResearch 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 tagsIf 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 postsImage 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 do Instagram Promotions Work? (Explanation + Steps to Create Yours)
How do Instagram promotions work? And why would you use them instead of ads? Good questions.
In this article, we’ll explore answers to these and other equally important topics related to Instagram promotions. We’ll also show you how to create your very own promotion.
How do Instagram Promotions Work? (+ Steps to Create Yours):
- Monetising Instagram
- How do Instagram Promotions Work?
- What do Promotions Look Like?
- Where do Promotions Appear?
- Why Your Promotions Have a Good Chance of Success
- Are Instagram Promoted Posts, Stories and Highlights More Expensive or Cheaper Than Ads?
- How to Create an Instagram Promotion
- Accessing Promotion Insights
Monetising Instagram
Back in 2009, monetizing Instagram wasn’t a clear path for the photo app.
In fact, while the idea was definitely on the table, the brand had to evolve into something with a stronger value proposition and product.
Today, Instagram’s caught up to the rest. 80 per cent of accounts follow a business on Instagram. This means more people are interacting with brand pages and this level of engagement is just what Instagram needed to be able to broaden it’s advertising offerings.
Source: statista.com
The photo-sharing app offers four advertising options in addition to promotion options.
These include:
Photos:Image: Instagram
Video:
Image: Instagram
Carousel:
Image: Instagram
Ad in Instagram Story:
Image: Instagram
Collection Ads:
Image: Instagram
How do Instagram Promotions Work?
Instagram also offers promotion options.
These are different from photo, video, carousel and story ads. Here’s what you have access to and how they work:
Familiar with boosting a post on Facebook? Promoting a post on Instagram works the same way. If you have a picture or video that’s drummed up a fair amount of likes, comments and shares, you can promote it.
This option is a great way for businesses to get extra awareness for content they publish. The extra awareness is reach that could help feed your marketing funnel.
Promote a Story From your Profile, Highlights, or Stories ArchiveAlso similar to boosting a Facebook post, you can promote stories. While limited to those taken with the Instagram camera or in a vertical format, the option is still very useful.
Some creative elements (filters and stickers) are not accessible when promoting stories, however, this shouldn’t stop you from taking the opportunity to ‘capture authentic moments that speak to your business,’ as Instagram recommends.
If you’re looking for a quick and direct way of generating results, you can do so with a fresh new ad campaign. These can be created from your business profile. In the process, Instagram will recommend which posts they think will do well as advertisements. This option is best if you're unsure which post you'd like to promote.
So, to recap, the major difference between ads and promotions on Instagram is related to the way you use each option to engage your brand.
Promotions are used to generate extra awareness and engagement from already successful posts and stories. Ads are used for unique campaigns and generally feature new content.
What do Promotions Look Like?
While Instagram promotional posts, stories and highlights look similar to their original (organic) forms, they include additional elements.
Post, stories and highlights all include the “Sponsored” label below the account posting the promotion.
Image: Instagram
Image: Instagram
As promotions are intended to generate some result, they also come with calls to action. Here’s a list of the options available:
- Learn More
- Shop Now
- Watch More
- Contact Us
- Book Now
- Sign Up
Where do Promotions Appear?
Promotions appear as posts and can also appear in stories. If you’d like to isolate your promotion to appear in one place, you’ll need to create your promotion in Ads Manager.
Why Your Promotions Have a Good Chance of Success
Algorithmic updates are generally not the easiest to track. In fact, while there are many digital and social marketing circles that constantly test content to generate the best possible results, much about the intricacies of how AI and machine learning influence ad placement, reach and overall campaign success is largely unknown.
There are, however, a couple of interesting ideas we think you should bear in mind when creating your promotions.
Whether testing to find the higher-converting ad or scaling to generate more of the results you’re after, all spend on paid media should be made to generate results. When it comes to what we know about promotions, Instagram recommends that you use “a post that your followers really enjoyed.”
This means using content that’s received its fair share of likes, comments, and shares.
Why would this matter and how can you use this information?
Ad Revenue and Engagement Fuel InstagramInstagram, like all other social platforms, wants to create products that users constantly access. The more users using their app, the more ad revenue they are able to generate.
Instagram also knows that when users show interest in a certain piece of content, there’s a higher probability of generating even more engagement from it if it’s shared with a larger audience.
Your already successful posts, stories and highlights, therefore, stand a better chance of being more successful with a wider audience.
While we’re not sure about the intricacies of their algorithms, this logic is pretty sound.
Are Instagram Promoted Posts, Stories and Highlights More Expensive or Cheaper Than Ads?
There isn’t any conclusive data that shows ads cost more or less than promotions. In a report, AdEspresso found that CPC values range between $.70 and $.80. This average was based on two demographics. Audiences between the ages of 25-34 years can cost as much as $1.23 per click, where a younger group, aged between 13-17 years, came in at $.47.
While we haven’t seen any data on promotion costs, they could be close to these figures considering that you’re still paying to reach the same audience.
How to Create an Instagram Promotion
Creating your promotion is relatively easy. In fact, most of the heavy lifting is done for you. For example, you don’t need to worry about which post to promote because you’ll have data that shows which post received the most engagement.
To get started (from your phone), open Instagram and visit your business profile. If you haven’t switched to a business page for you your company, you’ll need to make the change.
Instagram business profiles are linked to Facebook pages. To switch to a business account, go to Settings > Switch to Business Profile.
Image: Instagram
Next, add custom buttons to your account. These can include:
- Contact Us
- Message
- Start Order
- Book
- Reserve
Note: if you haven’t added a link to your website and a bio, nows a great opportunity to do so.
Create Your Promotion
With the setup of your business profile taken care of, it’s time to create your promotion post.
Start by accessing the Promotions options via the Promotions button. Next, locate the post you’d like to promote.
Image: Instagram
Note: if that if you’ve never posted any content to your business profile, you’ll first have to publish a post and then start the process over to promote it.
Also, if you already have content posted, Instagram gives you the option of promoting posts directly from your business profile.
Image: Instagram
Select Your PostIf you’re promoting a post from the Promotion button, you’ll then need to select a post to promote.
Choose your post and it will open with the option to View Insights or click on the Promote button. Viewing insights will show you how well your organic post performed. This also helps you determine whether this is the post you should really be promoting.
Image: Instagram
Set Your GoalNext, select your goal.
Do you want more profile visits, more website traffic or more promotional views?
Image: Instagram
Establish Your Target AudienceHaving selected your goals, it’s time to select your target audience. Instagram makes the process of establishing your target audience easy.
Here are the three options available:
- Automatic: Instagram will target people who are like your followers
- Local: target people in a specific location
- Manual: select people, places or interest to target with your promotion
Image: Instagram
Set Your Budget and Promotion DurationSetting your budget is just as easy as previous steps. Instagram provides a daily budget option along with a duration (in days).
While setting both, you’re able to get a summary of the estimated profile visits and reach for your promotion.
Image: Instagram
Review Your PromotionThe final step of the promotion creation process is a review. You’ll be able to see the following:
- The post you’ll be promoting
- The destination all traffic will be sent to
- What your action button will say
- How your audience will be targeted
- Your budget and promotion duration
Once reviewed, click on Create Promotion.
Accessing Promotion Insights
It’s a good idea to keep tabs on how your promotion performs. This will help you determine whether to increase spend and duration or terminate the promotion altogether.
To view insights, open Instagram > go to your business profile > select the post you'd like to view insights on > below the post's image, tap View Insights.
Clicking on View Insights will show you:
- How many people were shown your promotion (audience reach)
- How many impressions your promotion received
- The number of clicks on your promotion
- How much of your budget has been spent
Summary
Instagram Promotions are one of the simplest ways to engage and reach a larger audience. Promotions can be created from posts, stories and highlights. When created, they appear in audience feeds and stories.
While there are creative limitations, using promotions is still valuable.
They help brands connect with audiences using authentic creative content. Instagram’s budget and duration options make it easy to determine the spend and length of a promotion, and insights will give you information on how well your post is performing and how much money has been used.
How to promote content on Instagram using the promotion tool
2 min.
Introduction
If you've decided to promote your business on Instagram, the easiest place to start is by promoting your post. You can start the promotion from the Instagram app. This is an effective way to reach people who are more likely to be interested in your company. In addition, promotion will increase the number of potential and existing customers who will want to visit your website or company. nine0007
In this course you will learn:
- how to create an ad based on an Instagram post;
- how to increase your reach and attract new customers.
Promoting content on Instagram to attract customers
People come to Instagram to discover something new and get inspired, so promoting content on this platform is a great way to attract new customers.
Instagram advertising allows you to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. nine0007
Promote a post on Instagram
The promote tool allows you to start promoting a post on Instagram in a few easy steps. To access this tool, you need to create an Instagram business account.
You can create such an account from scratch or convert your existing personal account to it. Learn how to set up an Instagram business account.
Getting started
- Your phone must have the Instagram app installed. nine0012
- Must be logged into the company's Instagram account.
Ready? Now you can set up a budget and start promoting your content through the Instagram app.
To create a promotion, click the Promotions button in your business account or the Promote button in an existing publication. In the promotion tool, you can configure the necessary parameters, for example, specify the advertising budget.
Start promotion from company account
Promote an existing post
Watch the video below to learn how to use the Instagram promotion tool.
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Learn more
When creating an ad, you can customize your promotion by selecting your business goal, target audience, budget, expiration date, and more.
The promotion tool currently supports three destinations for your ads:
- Your Profile
- Your Website
- Your Direct Messages
For other advertising purposes, use Ads Manager. To learn more about Ads Manager, see the sources listed in section What's next? below.
What's next?
More resources on the promotion tool
Learn more about promoting content on Instagram in the Help Center articles below:
- How do I set up an Instagram business account?
- How to display ads directly from Instagram?
- How much does it cost to promote a post on Instagram?
- What does a post promoted through the Instagram app look like?
- Who can see the promoted posts I create on Instagram?
More resources on using Ads Manager to create ads
If you're interested in other Instagram ad delivery options, check out Ads Manager.
Ads Manager is an advertising platform used by Facebook apps and services. It gives you access to additional ad objectives and placement optimization. nine0007
Learn more about creating ads in Ads Manager in the Help Center.
- Creating Instagram Ads with Ads Manager
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How to promote a post on Instagram: advertising a post through the “Promote” button
This material is for those who want to learn how to promote a post on Instagram directly from the application or through the Facebook advertising account.
In this article, we will show the nuances of promoting a post on Instagram, give recommendations on choosing a photo or video for promotion, and also answer frequently asked questions related to errors in the operation of the “Promote” button.
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Read also : How to promote an Instagram account from scratch
What does the “Promote” button mean and how does it work
If you need a quick launch of an advertising campaign, then promoting a post on Instagram is exactly what you need. The "Promote" button below the posts will appear when you switch to a professional account: a business profile or an author account.
What does the "Promote" button mean? When you click on the "Promote" button, an advertisement is automatically created with the selected post. This function can also be called, raise a post or bring a post to the TOP, because it will be shown one of the first in the feed. nine0007
The button looks like this :
How does it work? This feature allows you to create and run ads through Instagram without using Facebook Ads Manager.
At the same time, promotion will not be available for some posts, in this case the “Promote” button will be displayed, but will be inactive.
Interesting : Top 10 courses by target
How to promote a post on Instagram: step by step guide
Step 1:
Choosing what to promote
Decide what problem you need to solve with the promotion of the post and what would be the best solution. Here are 3 types of content that can be promoted:
- regular post with photo - suitable in most cases;
- video - if you want to get coverage;
- gallery - for the presentation of several products.
If the goal is to attract customers, prepare a sales post for Instagram, if the goal is to get feedback, then make an engaging post. After selecting a publication, open it and click the "Promote" button below.
Tip: Prepare your promotional publication in advance.
Use an image that catches the eye easily or post a photo with a caption.
The most important thing in the text is the first line. This is what the user sees when scrolling through the feed. Try to interest from the very beginning, and end with a call to action: leave a comment, go to the site, register. nine0138
Step 2:
Select the promotion goal
Next, you need to select the promotion goal: site visits, profile transitions, or Direct messages. Let's choose "More site visits" - suitable if your main sales go through the site. To set the desired address, click edit and specify the desired URL.
Choose the action that suits your advertising campaign. If you want to attract new subscribers, then we select transitions to the profile. If you need more contact with customers - messages. If advertising is the first stage in an auto funnel, then send traffic to a lead magnet or give a checklist as a gift. nine0007
Step 3:
Action Button
Different call to action buttons will be displayed depending on the target of the ad post:
For the button that will accompany the advertising publication leading to the site, you can change the inscription on the button. Available options: Learn more, Shop, View more, Contact us, Book and Register .
When choosing an action button, rely on what you are promoting. For events and online services, the "Register" button is suitable, for hotels, cafes and restaurants - "Book".
Step 4:
Audience creation
You can leave automatic audience selection, select a previously created audience or retargeting audience, or set it up manually. Consider the last option - click "Create your audience". nine0007
We come up with a name for the audience and set up targeting: location, interests, age and gender.
To properly target, first create a portrait of your target audience.
Step 5.
Budget and duration
To begin with, it is worth setting a small budget for a short promotion period.
To change the budget and duration of an advertising campaign, simply move the slider left or right. At the same time, you will be shown the approximate coverage that you will receive. nine0007
Step 6:
Checking the publication
At the final step, see how the promotional publication will look in the feed - the "Publication Preview" button. Check if all options are set correctly.
Here we set up payment. Click "Payment", a section opens where we replenish the advertising budget from an already linked card or add a new one.
Finally, click "Promote Post". The advertisement will go to moderation, upon completion of which you will receive a corresponding notification. How long does it take for a post to be reviewed? Usually results come within a day. nine0007
Advertising publication statistics
To view statistics on the promotion of a publication on Instagram, go to the advertising publication - click "View promotion" and then "View statistics".
Since our advertising campaign has not been launched yet, there are zero indicators here. When the statistics data is updated, it will be possible to calculate the cost of a click, the cost of one application or registration.
Instagram post promotion via Facebook
In the same way, you can set up promotion of an Instagram post via Facebook. If we compare this method with the method described above, then setting up through Ads Manager gives more options. For example, launching a promotion from a computer and more accurate targeting. nine0007
We will not describe the whole process in detail, we already have a corresponding article: Setting up advertising on Instagram through Facebook. Start setting it up.
Next, when creating a creative, you need to select "Use an existing publication".
Then click the "Select a post" button
In the window that opens, switch to the "Instagram" tab and select the post that we will promote.
After selecting the publication, you will need to select the action button and provide a link to the site (if selected as a goal). nine0007
At the end, click "Publish" and the advertisement goes to moderation.
If the “Promote” button on Instagram does not work or there is no permission for advertising, then ...
There may be several reasons:
