Instagram ads, like any other form of advertising, can be a powerful way to grow your business. Ads on Instagram are no different than ads on Facebook and Twitter: you can use them to target people who will be interested in what you’re selling and show them the benefits of your product or service.
The only problem is that they can be expensive to set up. But don’t worry! We’ve created a step-by-step guide for how to use the Instagram Ads Library to get started with Instagram ads and grow your business today.
What are Instagram Ads?
Instagram ads are a type of internet advertising that you can place on Instagram. You can use them to promote your business and encourage people to buy your products and services.
Why you should use Instagram Ads
When people think of advertising on social media, they usually think about ads on Facebook and Twitter. But Instagram is actually a great platform for ads, too! Instagram has more than 500 million active monthly users, which means you could easily find customers for your business on the network.
Of course, as with any form of advertising, Instagram ads can be expensive to set up. But don’t worry! We’ve created a step-by-step guide for how to use the Instagram Ads Library to get started with Instagram ads and grow your business today.
How to use the Instagram Ads Library to Grow Your Business
The first thing you’ll need to do is go to the Instagram Ads Library. Click “Create New Ad” and fill in your business name, phone number, email address, and set a budget. You can then select your ad format from the “Ad Type” menu: video, carousel, or slideshow.
Next, you’ll have to choose an objective for your ad. This will depend on what you’re trying to accomplish with your campaign. If you want people to visit a website or follow a page on Instagram or Facebook, use the “Website Conversions” objective. If you want them to interact with a post so they see more of it in their feeds, use the “Engagement” objective.
After choosing an objective, you’ll have to choose a specific type of audience for your campaign. You can target by location or interests–it’s up to you! The next step is selecting which posts to advertise on–either all eligible posts or just posts that are relevant to your business profile–and how many people you want within that audience.
Finally, enter the link for the web page or other content that should be advertised on Instagram–this will be where people are directed once they click on your ad.
Creating Instagram Campaigns
Creating a campaign with the Instagram Ads Library is not difficult, but it does take some time. Here are the steps for creating an Instagram campaign:
- Choose your objective from the options in the left-hand column under “Type of Campaign”
- Choose a creative from the options in the left-hand column under “Creative Type”
- Add a name and a description to your campaign before selecting “Next”
- Set your budget and select “Next”
Select how you want to target your audience – by interest, gender, location, or age. You can also add other targeting parameters like followers counts or account type. Selecting these criteria will help you to spend your budget wisely on people who are likely to be interested in what you’re advertising. After adding this targeting information, select “Next.”
Upload an image for your story ad from either your computer, phone or tablet and choose a call-to-action button. You’ll be asked if you want to upload any assets – videos or images – that go along with this campaign. Upload them now before selecting “Finish.”
Creating your first campaign
Your first step is to create your campaign. You can use the Instagram Ads Library to set up your campaign in just a few minutes.
First, click the “Create Campaign” button. Then, enter the name of your business and tap “Next.”
Now, you’ll see three steps to continue setting up your ad:
- Targeting
- Placement
- Budget
For targeting, you can choose whether you want to target by age, gender, interests or location. For placement, there are many options including Stories and People who don’t follow you yet.
Finally, for budget, you can decide how much money you want to spend monthly on advertising. The maximum cost per day is 999$.
Creating a campaign with a Promoted Video
One of the most effective ways to market your business on Instagram is with a Promoted Video. These videos show up in a user’s feed and are similar to the ones you see from companies like Nike or Adidas. To create a campaign with a Promoted Video, you first need to go to the Instagram Ads Library. From there, select the option for “video”.
Then, you’ll be able to upload your video from either YouTube or Vimeo – just make sure it’s 15 seconds or less! You have two options when it comes to how you want people to discover your video: “Automatic targeting” and “Manual targeting.”
Automatic targeting means that your video will be shown to people who fit a certain set of criteria. For example, if you’re looking for people aged 18-25 who live in Los Angeles, you can input those parameters and pay only when someone watches your ad for at least 10 seconds. Manual targeting gives you more control over who sees your video.
For example, if you want only young women who live in New York City as well as those who have an interest in fashion, then manual targeting is what you’ll need!
Once your campaign is created, it will take 24 hours before it goes live on Instagram. Once it goes live, click “View Insights” under the Ad Campaigns tab on the left-hand side of Instagram’s dashboard so you see how many impressions (or views) your ad has received.
Advanced Settings for Your Campaign
You will need to fill out the following settings for your campaign before you can move on.
- Name: Name of your company
- Website URL: Your website address
- Goal: The goal of your ads (ex. Bring people to your website)
- Geo location options: Choose the country or countries you want to target
- Age range for targeting: Choose the age range of your target audience
- Gender for targeting: Choose the gender of your target audience
Understanding CPM (Cost per Mille) and CPA (Cost per Action)
If you’re not sure what CPM and CPA mean, don’t worry. It’s pretty complicated! But it’s good to know the basics.
CPM is a measurement of how much an advertiser will pay for 1,000 impressions on their advertisement.
CPA is a measure of how much an advertiser pays when a specific action is taken as a result of viewing their advertisement. For example, someone clicks on your advertisement in an Instagram feed and then makes a purchase on your site in less than 24 hours.
Managing Your Ad Campaigns
The first step to building an effective Instagram ad campaign is to set up your campaign. For this, you’ll need to create your account with Instagram, link it to your Facebook page, and then choose the goal of your campaign.
After that, you can browse different assets from the “Ads Library.” These assets are categorized into different categories depending on what they’re best for. Some assets are more appropriate for a product or service-based ad while others are better for a travel destination or a restaurant. This makes it easier for you to find what will work best for your business.
When it comes time to select an asset, you can preview what it will look like in the live feed before you purchase it. You can also see how many impressions and engagements the asset has received as well as its number of likes and shares. This will give you a good idea of whether or not an asset will be successful before purchasing it.
Strategies for Successful Advertising on Instagram
You can learn more about the different types of advertising on Instagram by reading our article on Instagram Ads. But for now, we’ll teach you how to use the Instagram Ads Library to grow your business.
There are a few main strategies for successful advertising on Instagram:
- Choose an objective– This is kind of like choosing a target audience. Do you decide what you want people to do when they see your ad. Do you want them to click and visit your website? Do you want them to follow you and engage with your content? Or do you want them to buy your product or service? Deciding what your objective is will help guide the rest of your strategy.
- Label Your Ad– Labeling ads help make it easier for those who see your ad to understand what it’s all about (this is true for any type of advertising). It also helps with targeting as those who follow certain labels will see your ad more often than those who don’t follow that label. For example, if you’re a fashion blogger, then following labels like ‘fashion’ and ‘beauty’ would allow people interested in those topics to find and engage with your posts more easily. If you’re a clothing retailer, then following labels like ‘fashion,’ ‘clothing,’ and ‘shoes’ could lead followers of these tags to find and purchase from your company.
- Include a Call-to-Action– People won’t know what to do after they see one of your ads without