Running advertising campaigns is essential for businesses to succeed on social media. As one of the largest platforms, Instagram offers highly-targeted paid promotion options that can boost your reach. Whether you're a solo creator, large enterprise, or somewhere in between - understanding Instagram's advertising tools is a must.
In this guide, we'll explore how Instagram ads work, why you should use them, how to set up an effective campaign, and tips for generating quality leads from your ads.
What is Instagram advertising?
Instagram advertising refers to paid promotions on the Instagram platform, managed through Meta Ads Manager. Brands can boost their reach, showcase products, and offer to targeted audiences by paying for these promotions.
Why Instagram advertising works
Instagram has become the second top choice for marketers. According to Statista, in 2023, 80% of marketers have used the platform to promote their business.
Instagram advertising is user-friendly, offering visitors a smooth experience. With various interactive ad formats, Instagram drives real outcomes like website visits, app installs, and messages. We’ll talk about it shortly.
Two Ways of Creating Instagram Ads
Setting up ads on Instagram is easy. Instagram allows precise targeting based on audience interests and behaviors, ensuring your ads reach the right people while optimizing budget allocation. Speaking of budget, the platform offers flexibility. You can start at as little as $5 daily to test your ad campaigns. Once you see promising results, you can scale up with your budget. This iterative approach minimizes risks while maximizing insights.
Benefits of Instagram advertising
You’ll need Meta's powerful analytics and AI features to achieve these results. Instagram offers clear metrics on impressions, reach, clicks, conversions, costs, and other key performance indicators. These Insights help with improvement by determining what resonates most for each unique target audience.
Meta analytics for Instagram advertising
Maximizing the impact of your Instagram advertising
Instagram advertising offers a variety of ad placements and formats, helping you select options that suit your business goals.
Instagram Ad Placements
Each placement offers unique opportunities to reach users in different contexts, from Instagram Feed to Stories ads and beyond.
Instagram Feed Ads
These ads seamlessly blend into the main Instagram feed, resembling organic posts. They can include images, videos, or carousel formats. Feed ads are one of the most common and effective placements on the platform.
Instagram Ad Placements: Feed
Instagram Stories Ads
These full-screen vertical ads display between user Stories. Stories ads offer an immersive experience, and users engage with them voluntarily as they browse through Stories.
Instagram Ad Placements: Stories
Instagram Reels Ads
Instagram Reels ads are integrated within Instagram's short-form Reels feature, appearing as sponsored content within the Reels feed. Thanks to this format, as a business, you can tap into the latest video trends and capture the audience's attention.
Instagram Ad Placements: Reels
Instagram Explore Ads
Instagram Explore ads appear in the Explore section of the app, where users discover new content beyond their immediate network. Explore ads to broaden audiences and attract new followers and customers.
Instagram Ad Placements: Explore page
Types of Instagram Ads
Selecting the right placement is the first step in Instagram Advertising; the next decision is the ad type. Choosing the ad type depends on your goals, such as increasing website clicks, app installs, lead generation, or purchases.
Ad type #1: Instagram Click-to-Website Ads
These ads aim to bring visitors to your website from Instagram. The ad contains a clickable call-to-action button that sends users directly to your site. These ads boost brand awareness, promote content, and drive conversions. You can tweak these ads to get more site visits, lower cost-per-click, or achieve other website-focused goals.
Example of Instagram Click-to-Website Ads
Ad type #2: Instagram Click-to-App Ads
Also known as app install ads, these ads aim to get more users to install your mobile app. The ad includes a button, “Install Now.” When visitors tap it, they’re directed to the App Store or Google Play to download your app with one tap. This format works perfectly for reaching Instagram users who will likely be interested in your app.
Example of an App install ad
Ad type #3: Instagram Click-to-Message Ads
These ads use a button to open a chat with your business on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or Instagram Direct. They make it easy for potential customers to get answers, make inquiries, or place orders directly through messaging. Click-to-message ads are perfect for starting conversations.
Example of Instagram Click-to-Message Ads
Ad type #4: Instagram Lead Generation Ads
With these ads, you can collect customer contact information and generate quality leads using built-in forms. Users fill in their details within the Instagram app (instead of being sent to an external site). You receive instant notifications when someone submits their information.
Example of Instagram Lead Generation Ads
Ad type #5: Instagram Collection Ads
Showcase and sell products or services in a visually appealing collection format featuring multiple images and videos. Users can swipe through products and tap on items they want to purchase or learn about. Collection ads are ideal for e-commerce brands and showcasing product catalogs.
Example of Instagram Collection Ads
Ad type #6: Instagram Partnership Ads
Partnership ads are designed to amplify and scale collaborations with Instagram influencers or creators by promoting their Instagram posts as ads. Their content gets wider reach while you gain credibility. This format is great for broadening branded content and influencer campaigns.
Example of Instagram Partnership Ads
Example of Instagram Partnership Ads
Ad type #7: Instagram AI Powered Multi-advertiser Ads
With the AI-powered multi-advertiser, you can appear alongside relevant businesses in a single ad unit after users engage with related brand content. These ads maximize the discovery of complementary brands when shoppers are in a buying mindset.
Example of Instagram AI Powered Multi-advertiser Ads
Ad type #8: Instagram Reminder Ads
Here, you can prompt users to take action for an upcoming event or activity. Visitors can opt-in for helpful reminders leading to events like live streams, appointments, and launches.
Example of Instagram Reminder Ads
Ad type #9: Instagram AR Ads
Finally, with AR ads, you can engage users in interactive augmented reality experiences, immersing your product or service in their surroundings and boosting brand creativity.
Example of Instagram AR Ads
Try different Instagram ad formats and objectives to determine which ads work best for your goals and audience. The wide range of options lets you be creative and find the right match.
Turn existing content into ads
We’ve already mentioned that creating Instagram ads is easy. You can even do it right from your phone.
Start by simply identifying high-performing organic posts. With a few clicks, you can turn these posts into eye-catching ads using the Boost post button within the Instagram app.
Select your ad goal, customize your targeting options, set your budget, and watch your content increase visibility and reach.
Setting up Instagram ad campaign directly in the app
Now, here's the exciting part: You can also boost Reels. With the skyrocketing popularity of short-form video content, Reels has emerged as a prime platform for capturing audience attention. So, it's important to recognize its potential.
Follow the same steps as boosting a regular post. Go to your Reels, find the Boost Reel option in the menu, and tap it.
Build multi-platform campaigns with Ads Manager
Even though creating ad campaigns within the Instagram app is convenient, it lacks advanced customization tools. For more sophisticated campaigns, you can use Facebook Ads Manager. With Ads Manager, you can create comprehensive campaigns that extend beyond Instagram.
Here’s what you can do:
-
Define your campaign objectives, whether driving website traffic, increasing brand awareness, or generating leads. Select the appropriate objective within Ads Manager to align your campaign goals.
Choosing Instagram advertising campaign objective
-
Set your budget and schedules to track the success of your campaign. Ads Manager provides optimization options to ensure your ads are delivered to the most relevant users, maximizing your return on investment.
Managing your Instagram ad spend
-
Define your target audience and use the precise targeting capabilities of Ads Manager to reach your desired audience. Identify demographics, interests, and behaviors that align with your target market, ensuring your ads are delivered to the right people.
Defining target audience for Instagram Ads
-
Customize your ad formats and placements to maximize Instagram engagement and visibility. Experiment with various formats, such as images, videos, carousels, and Stories ads, while strategically selecting your ads' placements.
Six Instagram Ad Placements
-
Monitor your campaign's performance using Ads Manager's comprehensive Instagram analytics. Gain insights into impressions, click-through rates, conversions, and other important metrics to refine your strategy and drive better results.
Analyzing Instagram Ad performance
Instagram advertising best practices
Now that we’ve covered the setup process let's explore some Instagram advertising best practices to help you maximize your ad campaigns. These proven strategies will enhance performance, boost engagement, and connect effectively with your target audience.
1. Engaging captions and bold visuals
Catch attention with compelling images, videos, and captions that inspire. Use emojis and ask questions to increase comments and interaction.
2. Use user-generated content (UGC)
Example of user-generated content promotions in Instagram
3. Install meta pixel
Add detailed conversion tracking and optimize based on performance. This is essential for understanding your ROI.
4. Retarget engaged users
Focus on users who have already interacted with your brand for higher conversions. Research shows that retargeting delivers over 10 times the results of other placements.
5. Run Instagram story takeovers
Collaborate with influencers or employees to temporarily take over your Instagram Story for fresh content. Collaborating with relevant influencers drives 11X higher engagement than brand posts alone.
Example of Instagram story takeovers
6. Use Instagram live
Run live broadcasts to engage Instagram followers and promote through ads.
Example of going live on Instagram
7. Respond in real time
Meet message volume with an Instagram CRM
As Instagram ads bring in more leads, it can be tough to respond to all messages and comments in a timely manner. Kommo, the official Instagram CRM platform, optimizes your performance with robust lead management and personalized messaging.
Let’s see how👇
What is Instagram CRM
An Instagram CRM fully integrates with Instagram to capture and organize conversations from Direct, Stories, and comments in one place.📱
But that's not all! With Instagram CRM, you can also:
Benefits of Instagram CRM
Instagram CRM for marketing & sales
Kommo is a full-featured CRM designed specifically for Instagram. It offers essential marketing tools like:
- Lead capture from Instagram
- Remarketing campaigns
- Performance tracking
- Chatbot automation
- Centralized Lead Management and Communication
- Personalized Mass Messaging
And much more!
Why use Instagram advertising with Kommo
With Kommo's AI chatbot, Salesbot, you can automatically respond to all your Instagram leads around the clock with qualifying questions and helpful info. It will notify you about promising leads to follow up on, ensuring no inquiries go unanswered.
Our Salsebot can also:
- Answer Frequently Asked Questions
- Share helpful information about your products or services
- Redirect users to your site for more details
- Schedule appointments or demos
- Generate documents and invoices
Measure Instagram advertising performance
While Salesbot streamlines initial lead handling, several other Komomo features help measure campaign success. Its unified analytics dashboard provide transparency across all channels.
With these cross-platform analytics, you can continually refine ad targeting, content, and follow-up strategies. Tests and adjustments help strengthen ROI.
Kommo Instagram CRM also provides tools like:
- Unified inbox - Manage conversations from all channels
- CRM lead cards - Interaction history and lead details
- Lead scoring - Prioritize hottest leads
- Segmentation - Custom tagging and filtering
Bottom line
Instagram presents many opportunities for brands to reach new audiences and achieve business goals through visually impactful, targeted advertising. However, managing these ads takes time, effort, and the right tools.
Kommo makes it easy to execute winning Instagram advertising strategies. Sign up for a free 14-day trial to experience Kommo's Instagram CRM firsthand. Or book a demo to learn how our CRM can take your Instagram advertising to new heights.
👩💻 Login to your Kommo account
💬 Chat with us here on the website or within your account
🤝 Find a partner to do it for you so that you can relax
🎥 Visit our YouTube Channel