How To Advertise On Instagram: A Step-by-Step Beginner's Guide

A significant portion of Instagram users has higher-than-average incomes. According to data from 2021, 47% of Instagram users reported a household income exceeding $75 000. For business owners, this means they can use Instagram to connect with a financially robust and professionally diverse audience, effectively promoting their products and services to potential customers with significant purchasing power.

Since Meta owns both Facebook and Instagram, you can run ads on the platform in one of two ways: Through Facebook Ads Manager or directly in the Instagram app. Using Ads Manager gives you access to advanced features like the retargeting pixel, dynamic creative ads, and detailed analytics, providing more control and flexibility. Alternatively, promoting posts directly through the Instagram app offers a simpler interface, making it easier and faster to start advertising, though with fewer features. This guide will walk you through both methods step by step.

Instagram advertising lets you target a specific audience based on factors like interests, location, age, and behaviors. This ensures your products or services are shown to the right people, not just anyone. Ads can appear in users' feeds, stories, the Explore page, and even in direct messages, with various formats, including photo ads, video ads, carousel ads, and more.

Now, let's walk through the easy steps to prepare your account for an ad campaign.

If you're looking to run ads on Instagram through Facebook Ads Manager, you don't necessarily need an Instagram account—your business's Facebook page will work. However, if you want to engage with users directly on Instagram and showcase more details about your business and products, you'll need to create an Instagram account.

Setting up an Instagram account is easy. You can do it using the Instagram app on your smartphone or through a web browser on your computer. All you need is an email address, phone number, or a Facebook account to get started.

If you don't have the Instagram app on your smartphone yet, you can easily download it from one of the following stores:

Open the app, choose a username, and add a phone number or email address to link to your account. Enter the confirmation code, create a strong password, and provide your date of birth.

Open your browser and go to Instagram's sign-up page. You can log in with your Facebook account or create a new Instagram account using your email or phone number. Enter your phone number or email, choose a username, and set a password. Next, you may be asked to enter your date of birth. After that, Instagram will send you a code by email or text. Enter the code to confirm your account.

Instagram was originally designed for mobile devices, so we recommend downloading the app for the best experience.

A business profile on Instagram is a commercial account connected to your company's Facebook page. It offers several features not available on a personal account:

• Insights and Analytics: You can track the performance of posts and stories, and get detailed information about your followers, including their location, demographics, and trends like new followers or unsubscribes over the past week.
• Business Information: You can add important details like your business hours, address, and phone number.
• Contact Button: You can include a contact button, allowing users to quickly reach you via email or phone with just one click.

Here's what a standard profile and a professional/business profile look like to users:

By default, all Instagram accounts are personal. To switch to a business profile, tap the profile icon in the bottom-right corner of the app → tap the three horizontal lines (the "burger" menu) in the top-right corner → Settings → Account → tap Switch to Professional Account and follow the prompts to set up your business profile.

When setting up your business profile, Instagram will first ask you to choose between "Creator" or "Business" categories. If you're a blogger or working on building your personal brand, go with "Creator." But if you have a business or an online store, choose "Business."

Next, you'll specify the category for your products or services and fill in your contact details. After that, link your Facebook account and choose the business page to connect with your Instagram profile. If you don't have one yet, you can easily create it here.

The setup of your business profile won't change how ads work, but there are two important things to keep in mind:

• When you create your Facebook page, make sure to pick the right category for your business, because Instagram will pull that info for your profile.
• If you run ads through Facebook but don't have an Instagram account linked, Instagram will automatically pull your Facebook page's cover photo and name to use in the feed. So, make sure your Facebook profile has all the necessary info and looks neat and professional.

You can run ads from an empty profile, but if users click through and land on a blank page, they might lose interest or even think it's a scam and bounce.
To keep them engaged, we recommend adding key details like a profile picture, name, and bio that reflect your business.

The profile picture and name are particularly important since they're the first things users will notice in their feed or stories. Choose a name and image that clearly represent you and your business, while keeping them simple, memorable, and easy to recognize. Here are a few examples:

Choose a name for your account that will show up under your username. You can use up to 30 characters, so make it count! Consider adding keywords like your profession, niche, location, or other details that complement your username without repeating it. For example: "Sports Lawyer" or "Same-Day Flower Delivery NYC."

Keep your bio short and sweet—150 characters max. Tell people what you're all about, highlight deals and promos, and add key details like working hours or main office.

A strong bio works for everyone, whether you're a small indie brand or a big-name company. For example, Nomad Barbers in Shoreditch show up first when you search "London barbershops," and comedian Sebastian Maniscalco nails his bio by showing he's worth following.

When you're just starting out, your first posts should introduce your business and highlight what you offer. Share carousel posts that showcase your products or services, delivery details, pricing, and unique benefits. Include customer reviews to build credibility and trust.

Think of these posts as your business card—they'll help users who visit your profile after seeing an ad decide whether to take action. Make sure your photos and videos are eye-catching, and your captions clearly communicate your message.

You should also create and share Stories right away. Save them in Highlights and organize them into categories like product info, delivery terms, or testimonials. For businesses with multiple products or services, separate Highlights for each category can make your profile more user-friendly.

For most products and services, the easier it is for users to find information about what you're offering, the better your ad will perform. Think of your profile like a landing page—it's not a direct sales pitch, but it helps convince people to make a decision in your favor.

If you're selling food or physical products like "Pizza Hut" or "Room & Board furniture," showcase them in your feed. If you're offering services, post about successful projects, your approach to work, or share stories about your team. For example, the digital agency "Huge" in New York does a great job of highlighting their expertise and company culture:

Now that your account's all set up with a good username and an engaging bio that clearly explains what you offer and how to reach you, and you've posted your first posts and stories, potential clients can easily get what you're about and if they're interested. You're ready to start advertising!

Once you've set up your business profile, you can easily run ads straight from the Instagram app on your phone. It's quick and simple, but keep in mind that it has fewer features than using Facebook Ads Manager.

On Instagram, you can only promote posts and stories that are already live on your account, so make sure everything's ready to go before launching your ads.

Open up the post you want to promote and tap "Boost post." If it's your first time running an ad, Instagram will ask where you want to send people—your profile, website, or DMs. The first option's perfect for gaining followers, the second is best for driving traffic to your website, and the third works well if you want to engage with your audience personally—like having them request a product catalog.

John runs an online course designed for students and recent graduates. He uses his Instagram to share valuable course materials, such as tips, lifehacks, and relevant insights. Over time, many of them decide to purchase the full program. His Instagram feed features a mix of organic posts, which offer advice and educational content, and promotional posts, which advertise the course and encourage sign-ups.

John's got his business profile set up, his bio locked in, and his feed full of content that aligns with both his brand and the interests of his audience:

John uses Instagram ads to grow his business in two main ways. First, he promotes his regular posts to send traffic to his profile and gain followers—people see the useful content and hit follow. Second, he runs ads to push traffic to his website, with promotional posts directing users to a landing page where they can check out a compelling offer and get more details.

If you choose your website as the destination for your paid traffic, Instagram will automatically pull the link from your profile settings. You can also customize the call-to-action (CTA) button when sending people to your site.
By default, it says "Learn More," but you can change it by clicking the arrow icon under the "Your Website" section.

Choose the text for your CTA (call to action) button, tap "Done," and then hit "Next" in the top-right corner of the destination selection screen.

If you don't have many followers yet, or if most of them followed you because of giveaways or other promotions instead of your content, it's better to manually set up your target audience. Select "Create your own" to specify the location, interests, and demographics of the people you want to reach.

Set the location of your potential clients in the "Locations" section. Use the "Regional" tab to specify the cities or countries you want to target. If you're focusing on a specific area, switch to the "Local" tab, where you can enter an address and set a radius between 1 and 30 kilometers. This is especially handy if you're promoting a local business—like a café or barbershop—or if your delivery range is limited.

Use the "Interests" section to specify what your potential customers are into or care about. This could be anything like "travel," "cars," "music," or "education." Just type in a keyword you're targeting, and you'll get a list of related interests to pick from.

Next, specify the age range and gender of your target audience. For example, you can set your ads to be shown to women aged 18-35 or men over 30.

Sometimes, John targets his posts to users in New York, while at other times, he focuses on people from different parts of the country. When promoting different posts, he adjusts the location settings accordingly. However, the interest settings usually stay the same since his audience is generally interested in self-development, career advancement, and business. This approach helps John effectively reach the right people based on their location while maintaining consistency in his messaging and appeal to those passionate about growth and professional success.

The "Locations" section is mandatory, while the "Interests" tab is optional. After you set them up, the app will show you how many people match your criteria. If your target audience is too small—usually less than 2 500 people—you'll get a warning that your reach is too limited. Ads with such a small audience probably won't perform well, as not many people will see them. To fix this, try widening your target location, expanding the age range, or adding more interests to reach more relevant people.

Name your custom audience and hit "Done" to save it. You'll be able to use this audience for future ads.

Set your daily campaign budget, anywhere from $5 to $250, and choose how long you want your ad to run—between 1 and 30 days. The app will provide an estimated reach and warn you if it's too low, especially if you've set a small budget or a short duration.

Promoting a story works just like promoting a post. Choose one of your published stories, decide where you want to drive traffic (like your website or profile), define your audience, set a budget, and submit it for moderation.

You can promote any story that was published in the last 24 hours, whether it's archived or saved in your Instagram Highlights. Just go to your stories archive, tap the three dots in the bottom right corner, and select "Promote."

There are a few rules you should know before promoting a story:

• Stories with clickable elements, such as hashtags, polls, or user ratings, can't be promoted.
• You also can't promote stories that might infringe on intellectual property rights, like those using gifs or masks from Instagram's collection.
• Only stories from the past two years are eligible for promotion—anything older won't qualify.

To check your ad performance, go to the "Insights" tab of the ad content (e.g., post, reel, or story) or navigate to "Settings and activity" → Insights → Ad tools. Here, you can view impressions, spending, and audience details for each promotion and adjust your campaign settings as needed for the best results.

To run an ad through Facebook Ads Manager, you'll need to set up three key elements: The campaign, the ad set, and the ad itself. Make sure to select Instagram-only in the ad placement settings so your ads don't appear on other platforms. Let's break it down step by step.

If you're new to Facebook ads, you'll need to set up Ads Manager first. Go to the left sidebar of any Facebook page, click the "Ad Center" drop-down arrow, select "All Ads," and then click "Ads Manager." On the next page, click "Create an Ad" and accept Facebook's non-discrimination policies. This will take you to your Facebook Ad Accounts page.

Here, click "Create." Before running your first ad, Facebook will ask for a few details: Your country, time zone, preferred currency, and payment method (bank card or PayPal).

The first step in setting up an ad campaign is choosing an objective. There are several options to choose from like Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App promotion, Sales, etc. Let's go over the most relevant ones.

Awareness is best if you want to introduce users to a new product. For example, Coca-Cola might use this objective to promote a new soda flavor. They're not specifically aiming to drive traffic to their website—just to make sure people notice the new label and remember it when shopping.

Traffic is designed to drive users to a specific destination, like your website. This objective is particularly suitable for businesses aiming to increase brand visibility, promote content like blog posts or podcasts, or generate leads and land users on a specific page that is part of the sales funnel.

Engagement is aimed at boosting interactions with your posts or page, such as likes, comments, shares, or or bookmarking. It's ideal for businesses looking to increase social media activity and build a community around their brand.

Leads is primarily used to collect customer contact information, such as email addresses or phone numbers, directly through Facebook's lead generation forms. It especially suits businesses aiming to generate qualified leads for follow-up, nurture relationships, and guide prospects through the sales funnel, eventually converting them into paying customers.

Sales is designed to drive conversions, such as sign-ups or purchases. You can use it to direct traffic that is likely ready to make a decision and land them on pages at the end of the sales funnel, clearly displaying the required actions.

Before choosing the objective, think very carefully about what your desired outcome is. The algorithm's logic depends on the objective you choose—it determines which users will see your ad. For example, if you set "Traffic" as your goal, the algorithm will target users who are more likely to click links or buttons. Here's how it works: First, the system tests your ad on a small group and tracks engagement. Then, it finds similar users based on their profile, location, and behavior, boosting the chances of getting more clicks.

Mary runs an online flower store with a pickup location in Brooklyn. She uses Instagram to draw customers to her website and showcase her products. To drive traffic, she selects the "Traffic" objective to maximize site visits. Let's take a look at the other settings she uses to promote her store.

First, name your ad campaign carefully. For campaigns, ad sets, and individual ads, it's best to use names that make sense so you can easily find them later. If you label everything as "Advertising," you'll waste time clicking through to find what you need. Instead, use clear, descriptive titles like "Reach Campaign: New York, August 2024" or "Website Traffic: Regional Interest."

Decide if you want to run an A/B test within your campaign. If you do, you'll have the option to create different ad groups with variations in design, placement, or audience.

Next, determine how you'd like to manage your budget: For the whole campaign or for each individual ad group. This means you can set one overall budget for all groups or customize a budget for each group. If you choose to optimize the budget for the entire campaign, make sure to set a daily or total campaign budget and select your preferred bidding strategy.

If you're setting up an ad for the first time, click "Set Up Ad Account." Facebook will prompt you to choose your country, currency, and time zone. If you've run ads before, just click "Continue."

The next step is configuring your ad set. Ads within a single set will target the same audience and have the same placements. If you want to target a different audience segment, you can create a new ad group within the same campaign. For example, you could create one ad set targeting students for school products, and another set targeting their parents.

Mary understands her target audience is women from the New York area who love home comfort, gardening, and interior design. She adjusts her ad audience based on these insights.

In the "Placements" section, select "Manual placements" and uncheck "Facebook," "Audience Network," and "Messenger." Then, choose where you want your ads to appear on Instagram: In the main feed, the Explore feed, or Instagram Stories.

"If you didn't choose budget optimization for the entire campaign earlier, you can now set your daily or total budget and bidding strategy in the "Budget & Schedule" section. For certain objectives, like "Traffic," you can use cost control to set an expected price for actions such as clicks, installs, or button clicks. Although the final cost may vary, the system will consider your price expectations when choosing where to display your ad.

Once that's done, click "Continue."

Specify a name for your ad and choose the page you'll run ads from in the "Identity" section. If your Instagram is linked to Facebook Ads Manager, you can select it under "Instagram Account." If not, you can promote ads through your Facebook page.

Once your Instagram account is linked, you can either pick an existing post or create a new one. A new post won't appear in your feed, which is handy if you prefer to keep your profile ad-free.

You can choose the "Carousel" format for up to 20 images or videos with a caption, or stick with a "Single image or video."

Next, upload your media—images or videos. Click "Add media" to choose from your existing gallery or add new content. If you're planning to advertise on Instagram Stories, make sure to upload a separate image with a 9:16 aspect ratio.

Add your ad text and link, then choose the call to action that will appear in the ad. For "Carousel" format, remember to set it up for each card.

If there are two or three cards in the gallery, users will see all of them when viewing the ad on their Instagram Stories. If there are more than three, only the first three will be visible, and users will need to click the "Expand Story" button to see the rest. Keep in mind that the button is barely noticeable, so some users might miss it.

Mary uses an image gallery for her ads to showcase a variety of plants, giving potential clients multiple options to choose from. She includes short descriptions for each plant, highlighting its characteristics, the ideal customer, and the type of interior it complements best. For example: "Easy to care for, yet eye-catching: Perfect for those who want a statement plant with minimal effort. It fits beautifully in open, well-lit spaces.

If you have an online store on Tilda with a connected Product Catalog, you can automatically create a gallery from it.

Decide if you want to collect data on users who view and interact with your ads using Facebook Pixel.

Once you're ready, click "Publish," and your ad will be submitted for moderation.

Ads that appear on Facebook's platforms, including Instagram, must follow certain guidelines. Here are some recommendations provided by the social network for setting up your ads.

Avoid using the same media for both Stories and your feed. Prepare 9:16 creatives for Stories and use a rectangular or square image for the feed. Note: When promoting a gallery via Facebook, feed images must be square.

Avoid lengthy text in your creatives. Facebook recommends that text should cover no more than 20% of an image. Too much text can harm the image's visibility and limit its reach. Keep the message concise and place any extra text in the caption.

Placing text at the very top or bottom of the ad image can cause it to overlap with interface elements like the profile icon, name or call-to-action button. To prevent this, leave a 15% margin from the edges, which equals 220-250 pixels for a 1600-pixel image.

For video ads, keep in mind that some users may scroll through their feed with the sound turned off. To ensure key messages reach everyone, add subtitles to your ad.

Make it a habit to review your account insights to see which posts reach a larger audience and attract the most reactions—likes, comments, and bookmarks. Posts that perform well organically are the best choice for your ads.

Instagram ads are an excellent tool not only for promoting your account or driving traffic to your website, but also for announcing upcoming sales, new product releases, and special promotions, helping you engage your targeted audience.

Even if you upload a 1-minute video to Stories, it will be cut into 15-second clips. Get straight to showcasing your product or brand to keep users engaged, or risk them swiping away for good.

Instead of simply listing your product's benefits and showering it with praise, show it in action. Explain how others are using it and highlight how it helps them. Make your ads a relatable story that allows your audience to connect with the experience.