How to Run Ads on Instagram? – A Beginners Guide

Why Instagram Ads?

It is undoubtedly an era where millennials and Gen Z youths are on Instagram, making it one of the most commonly known apps on the planet.

On thinking back, we would be surprised to see the growth of Instagram and its subsequent magnificent layout evolution throughout the years in social media advertising.

What makes the platform popular?

Its ever-increasing influencers could be attributed to being one of the top reasons for Instagram’s tremendous growth. With regular fresh content on the platform, brands often rely on the influencers to promote their brand amidst their competitor brands.

However, influencers can be quite costly these days, and that’s why many brands rely on other modes to promote their brand; the following are a few popularly working methods.

Ckeck out different types of ads, and how to run Instagram Ads for better results below.

1. Types of Instagram Ads

• Stories ads
• Explore ads
• Collection ads, and
• Shopping ads

1. Instagram Stories Ads

These are the stories that appear amidst the people being followed by the user on the platform. These are sponsored stories by brands which contain call-to-action buttons, irrespective of the brand’s following count (ideally, such actions would be available by default if the brand has over 10,000 followers on the platform)

Source: Later.com

2. Instagram Explore Ads

These are ads that are strategically placed on the explore page of the Instagram platform; the explore page is a section where users can find popular posts from public accounts which align with their interests.

The majority of the influencers try to land on the explore page since it indicates popularity. The ads placed on the explore page would be a static port(s) or video(s) along with appropriate call-to-action.

3. Instagram Collection Ads

Collection ads are one of the popular choices among the brands. The Instagram collection ad would contain various top products of the brand and a call-to-action to purchase the same; usually, the call-to-action buttons redirect the user to the brand’s official page or app or such.

4. Instagram Shopping Ads

This type of ad usually consists of a product image. On tapping the same, users would be displayed with the details of the product; this is a popular choice among shopping pages.

Source: Getplus Followers

5. Instagram Reels Ads

Instagram recently announced “Reels Ads” which is similar specs to stories ads (full vertical videos). Ads can be up to 30 seconds, and people can comment, like, view, save and share Reels ads.

6. IGTV Ads

IGTV ads are video ads that play after a user clicks to watch an IGTV video from their feed. Videos can be up to 15 seconds long and they are shown in the middle of the video, potentially with the option to skip.

2. How To Create An Instagram Ad?

Following are the key steps involved in the creation and running of Instagram ads.

There are two ways to create an Instagram ad, using the options on Instagram and Facebook ads manager.

2.1 Instagram Ads Using Instagram options

This method has simple and easy steps as follows.

• To begin with the ad process, you need to make sure that your profile is switched from a personal to a professional account; by switching to a professional account, your account will be a public account by default.
• Go to settings—-> switch to professional account at the bottom of the page—-> choose the applicable categories, and voila!
• When your account is ready professionally, you would see the “BOOST” or “PROMOTE” option at the right end corner of every post of yours. Alternatively, you can click the “promote” option on your profile as well for to promote your Instagram page.
• On promoting on Instagram, you would get the option to promote the same on Facebook as well. If you have the target-reach knowledge on Facebook or are confident with the reach, you can opt for the same.

2.2 Instagram Ads Using Facebook Ads Manager

The following next method requires you to have a professional page on Facebook.

After the successful creation of a professional page, connect your Instagram brand page to Facebook. Open page settings, click the “connect account” button and save the same after entering your details.

• Now, go to the campaigns tab on the Facebook ads manager and choose the “create” button; You can choose either the guided option or quick creation; the guided option is the best choice if you are a beginner and quick creation is the best choice if you already have experience in running campaigns.
• Now it is time to choose your applicable objectives.

Each option functions differently; if you are unsure which one to use, you can contact Green will Techs, where an assigned social media ad expert would walk you through the process.

Note: Downloading Facebook pixel to track your ad conversions would help you achieve the same!

• On the successful completion of the above steps, now it is time to name your campaign. Since you would be running several campaigns in the days to come, make sure to name them recognisably for you.
• This is one of the interesting aspects of the Instagram ad features; the A/B test. On activating this feature in the Facebook ads manager, your budget would be automatically proportioned based on the reach of the posts, which means better reach posts will have better budget allocation.
• Setting up your budget and schedule in this next step is quite important! An ideal budget is that which does not harm your wallet. A healthy budget would indeed help reach a bigger audience; but, it is not the only criteria.

• Budget along with a perfect pitch to the potential audience is the key. Also, scheduling the ad(s) based on the most popular days is a good move instead of running the ad(s) for several days. The profile insights shall be useful in the understanding of the audience at a large scale.
• The next step of choosing whether your ad would be an automatic placement or a manual placement would help in the appropriate placement on the platform.
• In the final step, choose the type of ad you want to create (image/carousel/collection) and write catchy content to be noticed by the right audience! Make sure to choose the best call-to-action as well! To know more about in detail, check our guide on Facebook advertising.

Conclusion

Knowing the preferences of your audience will help in the choice of the type of ads.
Wondering how to develop your brand? Contact us for all digital marketing queries and solutions!

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