Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users, and according to Statista, 79% of marketers worldwide use Instagram for advertising. Businesses that use Instagram ads report an average engagement rate of 1.6%, significantly higher than most other social media platforms. For small and medium-sized businesses, Instagram ads provide a cost-effective way to reach targeted audiences and drive measurable results.
Step 1: Set Up a Business Account
To run Instagram ads, you’ll need an Instagram business profile connected to a Facebook Business Manager account. This setup unlocks access to advanced analytics and ad tools.
Step 2: Define Your Campaign Objective
In Ads Manager, you’ll choose from objectives like:
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Awareness: Build brand recognition.
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Consideration: Drive engagement, traffic, or video views.
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Conversions: Get sales, leads, or app installs.
Choosing the right objective ensures your ads are optimized for the results you want.
Step 3: Define Your Audience
Instagram allows you to target audiences based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and custom or lookalike audiences. According to Facebook, ads with precise audience targeting achieve up to 73% higher conversion rates compared to broad targeting.
Step 4: Choose Ad Placements
You can let Meta automatically place your ads across Instagram and Facebook, or manually choose placements such as:
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Instagram Feed
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Stories
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Reels
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Explore
Automatic placements are recommended for beginners, as they give Meta’s algorithm flexibility to optimize delivery.
Step 5: Set Your Budget and Schedule
You can select either a daily or lifetime budget. Studies show that campaigns with at least 7-day runtimes allow the algorithm to optimize delivery better. Start small and scale up once you see results.
Step 6: Create Your Ad
Upload your visuals and write compelling ad copy. Instagram recommends:
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Keeping videos under 15 seconds for Stories and Reels.
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Using high-quality visuals.
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Adding clear calls-to-action (CTAs) such as “Shop Now” or “Learn More.”
Step 7: Review and Launch
Before publishing, review your settings, targeting, and creatives. Once launched, monitor performance inside Ads Manager and make adjustments as needed.
Suggested Reading from LeadEnforce
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Running Facebook Ads for Handmade or Etsy-Style Products: What Works Best?
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Cross-Platform Funnels: Driving E-Commerce Sales With Facebook and Instagram Ads
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Low Impressions on Facebook Ads? 7 Reasons Your Ads Aren’t Showing
Instagram ads can be intimidating at first, but with this step-by-step process, you can set up your campaign with confidence. Starting small, monitoring results, and scaling effectively is the key to long-term success.
