What are Instagram ads?

Just like Facebook ads, Instagram ads are paid posts businesses and content creators use to promote their posts on Instagram. They tend to have more Instagram reach than organic posts.

How much do Instagram ads cost?

The price of an ad on Instagram is usually around €1 per click on the ad, although it will depend entirely on the type of campaign you are using, being able to find very variable costs per click, ranging from €0.10 to €3.

These costs will vary based on the gender, age, location, and interests you have selected in your campaign targeting.

Another of the most important data for your campaign will be knowing the CPM (Cost per Thousand Impressions) of the audience you are targeting. This price may vary based on the gender, age, location, and interests you have selected in your targeting.

The price of your ad on Instagram based on the Cost per Thousand Impressions (CPM) can be between €3 and €10.

The narrower the reach of the audience you will reach with your campaign, the more likely it is that the price per thousand impressions on Instagram will increase, which will also affect the rest of your costs.

Even so, thanks to the improvement of the CTR (Click Through Rate) or percentage of interaction in your ads on Instagram, you can end up achieving a much lower cost per conversion in your campaign despite the fact that the CPM is much higher.

How to run Instagram ads?

If you are clear that you want to test a campaign on Instagram, the first thing you should do is link your account with its respective Facebook page. This is a simple but important step. If you do not have previously created a Fan Page, you will not be able to create Instagram ads. And if the name and logo of the Fan Page do not match the name and logo of Instagram, it will be reflected in the ad.

To link both accounts, go to the “Settings” part of your page and click on “Instagram Ads” from the left sidebar. Click "Add an account" or "Remove account" if you want to change it to another.

The next step is to choose the type of campaign that best suits your social media goals. There are currently 5 types available, depending on whether you want to advertise a post, get web traffic and conversions, get them to install a mobile app, or want them to watch and play your video.

What ads work best on Instagram?

Boost posts

You should choose this type of campaign if you want to increase the visibility of any of your posts published organically. You can reuse the posts you have on your Facebook page.

It is a good option for those brands that want to improve their reach and increase Instagram engagement with users in the form of likes and comments. The trick for this type of campaign to work is to sponsor creative, original, fun, or useful content for users. I advise you to avoid commercial messages in this type of campaign.

To boost posts, you need posts in the first place. With the help of Planly social media scheduler, you can have a consistent stream of posts. Planly is a social media scheduler that allows you to create, schedule, and post all your Instagram content.

Get website traffic

They are campaigns that aim to get visits to a specific page or to the web page in general. The Instagram ad incorporates a button that automatically redirects to where you want. Something really interesting and useful, when it comes to Instagram. (No content can be linked to in normal posts.)

Increase followers on Instagram

Using the right methods, you can increase followers on Instagram organically. But this can take a long time. If you want to grow your followers immediately, you can also grow Instagram followers with ads in less time.

Get website conversions

It is the same as the previous one, but it incorporates, and in a mandatory way, the tracking of conversions. They are campaigns that pursue not only web visits but also the realization by the user of some type of value conversion such as contact form, purchase, subscription, download, etc. You can analyze these results by tracking Instagram analytics.

App installation

These are campaigns that aim to attract the user to get downloads of your mobile application. They are very interesting and effective because most users, if not all, use Instagram from their mobile. That will make the percentage of downloads higher! They are highly recommended campaigns if you have apps.

Video views

Along with images, video marketing is and will continue to be the most striking and attractive format on the networks. This campaign will help you increase the number of views of your video and make small clips and video spots of your brand reach many more people.

What are the types of Instagram ads?

Instagram Reel ads

Reel ads are the newest ad format on Instagram. They join a long list of other ad placements, from traditional feed posts to Stories, IGTV, Messenger, and the Instagram Explore page. After a pilot test in a few countries, reel ads are now available in all locations.

Reels are short videos to which you can add audio tracks and special effects. They can be created from existing videos or shot on the spot. And you can use your own audio or try a song from the Instagram library. In other words, they offer a lot of creative flexibility to showcase your brand, product, service, and purpose.

But there are a couple of important things you should know. For starters, reel ads on Instagram are not exactly the same as organic roles. They can only last up to 30 seconds (as opposed to standard roles which can last a 90 seconds). And unlike other advertised posts on Instagram, they can only be created on a desktop.

However, Instagram is heavily promoting this format. The app interface has been redesigned so that roles are front and center and appear on the home feed, profile pages, and Explore page. Numerous features have also been added to help YouTubers and brands make money on Instagram, such as the new Collab tag.

Instagram story ads

Instagram story ads appear between users' stories. When they are seeing the stories of the people they follow, SURPRISE! Your ad appears and they have no choice but to see it.

Instagram story ads can be created, designed, and organized through the Facebook Ads application.

With carousel ads, you can feature up to 10 different products or stories in a single ad with their own images or videos, links, headlines, and descriptions. You can use carousel ads in a variety of campaign types, including external websites, lead generation, dynamic product ads, local awareness, brand awareness, mobile app install, and mobile app engagement campaigns.

Adding links to Instagram Story

The process to place this type of content in ephemeral Instagram posts is very simple:

  • Have the latest app update installed
  • Take a photo or video to post it in stories
  • Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to bring up the item menu
  • Select Link
  • Paste the URL in the tab that is displayed and accept

With these simple steps, you will already have a built-in link to Instagram stories. The rest of the users will be able to access the web by swiping up, which is nothing more than sliding your finger up from the bottom of the screen.

If you want to create visually stunning and high-converting ads, check out our Best Instagram ads to steal as a brand blog to get inspired.

What is Instagram Ads Manager?

Since Facebook and Instagram belong to the same company, they share some resources and functionalities. One of them is the tool to manage the advertising guidelines, that is, Instagram Ads Manager.

Instagram is one of the platforms that you can choose within that administrator to create your ads and take advantage of the advantages that differentiate it from advertising on Facebook.

How long should you run an Instagram ad?

Typically, a branding campaign lasts for three months or more. It should take at least that long for your social media brand awareness campaign to generate results alone. It may be a good idea to run your paid Instagram ads campaign during specific sales or promotions.

In short, this social network is constantly growing and that is why sponsored advertising on Instagram is part of most multichannel strategies, allowing you to improve the visibility of your business and achieve greater notoriety for your brand online.