How To Setup & Run Instagram Ads Like The Pros

Instagram ads are a great way to promote your business or brand, but they’re also one of the most complicated ways to advertise. If you don’t pay attention to the details when setting up Instagram ads, your campaign will fail before it even starts. 

In this article, we’ll show you how to set up highly targeted and effective Instagram ads by focusing on five key areas: determining an objective for each campaign (and ensuring that success can be measured), developing unique ad designs for each product or service that corresponds to the buyer’s journey from awareness to purchase decision, tips on using the swipe-up ads and stories ads, developing different ad campaigns and ad sets based on different goals such as driving traffic back to your website or collecting email addresses, targeting customers based on their interests while ensuring that you get the most out of your ad spend.

Setting Up Instagram Ads Professionally

The first step to setting up your Instagram ads is understanding your target audience. Who are you trying to reach? What do they care about?

Once you have a good idea of who that is,  you can move on to creating a Facebook Pixel. A pixel is a bit of code that allows Facebook (or other social networks) to track users and their behavior, helping advertisers create highly targeted campaigns.

Next comes creating an Instagram ad account within Facebook Ads Manager, which will create all the necessary components like ad sets and audiences for targeting purposes in one place. As part of this process, be sure to select “Instagram” as your platform before moving forward with the setup process—this will ensure that all future campaigns will use Instagram as their primary platform for serving ads instead of having separate accounts for each network when running multiple types simultaneously or sequentially during different phases throughout the year (or just because). Now is also an excellent time to set up conversion tracking so you can see how well each campaign performs after launch! 

Create Your Business Manager Account

In order to get started with Instagram Ads, you need a Facebook business manager account. This is the only way you can run ads on Instagram or any of Facebook’s other platforms with your actual business. If you don’t have one already, head over to https://business.facebook.com/ and create one. You can also use this time to set up your billing information if needed (more on that below).

Once you’ve created your account and added it as an administrator in each of your ad accounts, go ahead and add the page(s) [Instagram and Facebook] from which you want to run ads as an administrator for those accounts too. This means that when someone likes or follows your page on Instagram through an ad campaign, they will automatically be added as followers on your respective channels—and so forth!

Do you need some assistance setting up your Instagram ads? To learn more, click here >>

Facebook Ads Manager Account

Do you want to promote your business and drive sales with Instagram ads? If so, learning how to set them up and run them is a great first step.

If you have a Facebook Ads Manager account, you can use it to set up Instagram ads.

You can use Facebook Ads Manager for both Facebook and Instagram ads, which makes it the perfect tool for managing your campaigns across both platforms. We’ll cover how to create an ad account in this section, as well as some best practices for creating high-performing ads later on in this guide.

If you don’t have an ad account yet, the first thing to do is create one. To get started, click “Create an Account” in Facebook Ads Manager and fill out the information required (create a new personal Facebook account if you don’t have one, or log in with an existing account). Once your ad account has been created, you can start creating ads.

To create an ad, click “Create an ad” in the top left corner of Facebook Ads Manager (you will see a green button that’s labeled “Create”). In most cases, a window will pop up with options for you to choose a campaign objective. You can then select an objective, say “traffic,” and then click “Continue” at the bottom right corner of that window to move on.

Create a Facebook Pixel

A Facebook pixel is a piece of code that you place on your website or blog so that you can track conversions, understand behavior, and measure results.

In this step, we’ll create a Facebook pixel for our ad campaign. This will allow us to monitor the success of our ads and optimize them over time.

To begin creating a pixel:

• Log into your Business Manager account at https://business.facebook.com/settings/pixels.
• Once you are logged in, click the “Data Sources” drop-down menu in the left panel of your screen.
• In the list of options under “Data Sources,” select “Pixels.”
• Now, right there in the middle of the screen, you will see the option to add a new pixel. Click on that.
• You will then see a pop-up window where you can name your pixel and enter your website. After doing that, you may go ahead and click the blue button that says “Continue” to create your pixel. Facebook will give you further instructions on how to add the code to your website.

Setting Up Your Budget and Payment Method

Here are some things to keep in mind before entering your information:

• Set Your Budget: The price of your ad is based on the number of impressions you want to make, so the first step is deciding how much you’re willing to spend per day. Once that’s done, head over to Payment Settings in Facebook/Meta Business Suite. You may click on the Settings Gear icon at the bottom left of your screen for more options. Next, from the slide-out menu, select Ad Account Settings. That link will take you to a page where you can then “add payment methods” and “Set a Daily Budget.”
• Choose Your Payment Method: If you’d like to link PayPal as your preferred choice, then select it. Otherwise, tap “Pay with Card” and enter your credit card information.
• Choose your delivery method: You have two delivery options when it comes to Instagram ads: manual or automatic. Manual delivery delivers ads as soon as they’re approved, while automatic delivery will automatically schedule them for delivery at specific times—or whenever there’s a spike in engagement from other users who’ve seen similar content before (i.e. if someone likes a post on Instagram pertaining to tennis shoes but hasn’t purchased anything yet). Either way will work depending on what works best for each campaign—so feel free!

Create Your Campaign

Create your Instagram advertising campaign.

Choose the ad type:

• Instagram Story Ads: These are full-screen ads that appear between users’ stories. You can only run them on Stories, so they will be shown to people who have recently swiped up to view another user’s story. These ads are best for driving brand awareness, as they are positioned at the top of people’s feeds and don’t require interaction from users to be seen (unlike other types of Instagram ads).
• Choose Your Audience

You’ll need to select one or more targeting methods from a range of options like location, age range, and gender—and then narrow down your audience even further by adding additional filters such as interests or behaviors (the latter is something you might want to explore if your product or service falls under one of Instagram’s many categories). For example, if you’re selling sunglasses, target people living in Miami Beach who have “liked” other brands with similar products; if it’s an app for running marathons, then choose geotargeting based on past events hosted by race organizers within a reasonable distance from where they live (e.g., 10 miles).

It is Best to use Video Ads 

It is best to use video in your ads to stand out.

Video Ads Are Better Than Static Ones: Video ads tend to be more engaging and have a higher click-through rate than other types of ads. You also have the option of running up to 60-second videos as opposed to just still images.

Video Ad Best Practices: Make sure that your video ad has a clear call-to-action so that users know exactly what they’re supposed to do when they see it on their feeds. If you want them to buy something, make sure there is an easy way for them to purchase it from the ad itself (if possible).

Create your First Instagram Ad!

Another key step to creating a successful Instagram ad is choosing the right type of video ad. Video ads are available on Instagram and can be created using any type of digital camera or smartphone. You can also use popular tools like Animoto or Motionographer to create professional-looking videos without having to be an expert at editing.

In order to have success with your ad, it’s important that you choose a video longer than 15 seconds in length (15-30 seconds is recommended). Studies show that people are more likely to watch longer videos than shorter ones, so giving them plenty of time will increase engagement with your brand and product/service offerings.

The next step is making sure that the clip is relevant to what you do as well as who you serve (for example, if you sell dog food, then don’t post videos about cats). This helps ensure that the people viewing know whether they should continue watching or leave now because they wouldn’t enjoy your content enough themselves!

Finally, through all other aspects of creating an effective marketing campaign such as copywriting, etcetera, we recommend adding something enticing at the end before clicking away from this article entirely, so why not try adding some incentive like a discount code? This way, it’ll make sure viewers don’t miss out on anything good while still keeping them interested enough until next time.

Will you need some assistance setting up your Instagram video ads? To learn more, click here >>

Create Different Campaigns and Ad Sets 

Create different ad campaigns and ad sets for each product or service you want to market.

Once you have learned the basics of setting up and running an Instagram ad, it’s time to create different ad campaigns and ad sets for each product or service you want to market. The reason why this is important is so that you can use different images and copy for each campaign, as well as different audiences, targeting settings, etc. By doing this, you will help your business reach a wider audience on Instagram by appealing to those who may be interested in what you’re offering!

Create Unique Ad Designs 

Create unique ad designs for each of your products—swipe-up ads, carousel ads, and story ads are great options.

Instagram ads are a great way to reach your target audience and boost sales. To do this effectively, though, you need to use the right format for each of your products. Swipe-up ads, carousel ads, and story ads are all available on Instagram, making it easy for you to create unique designs that’ll help drive sales. But what makes a good ad design? Well:

• Make sure it’s eye-catching (but not too distracting). Your goal is to get people excited about what they can buy from you; if they don’t notice the products within the ad or find them unappealing when they do see them, then there’s no chance of them clicking through or making any purchases. This means that while you should definitely try out different styles and keep an eye on how many clicks each one gets (you can see these stats at any time in Ads Manager), don’t just focus on click rates. Make sure that every element has been designed well enough so as not to distract from the main point of your ad!
• Make sure it’s relevant. The last thing anyone wants is an advertisement blowing up their feed with something irrelevant (especially if it isn’t even relevant enough). If someone searches for something specific like “Men’s Ties,” then make sure their feed won’t be flooded with photos featuring women wearing ties; likewise, if someone searches “Vacation Ideas,” then don’t send out links that simply say “Buy Tickets Here!” If nothing else comes up when someone searches those terms, then chances are good that whatever information was displayed about themselves previously would be lost forever—and nobody wants that! Be careful, though: linking directly to a purchase page can be a great way to get people interested in your product to buy it.

Make Sure Your CTA is Clear

The call to action button is one of the most important elements in your Instagram ad. It’s where you tell people what to do after seeing your ad, and it should be large enough and easy to click on and read.

Here are some best practices for ensuring that this critical element of your post performs well:

• Make sure the CTA button is big enough. To ensure that people can easily see and click on it, make sure it takes up at least 30% of the vertical space available above the photo or video in your ad image.
• Put your CTA button in the right place. A good rule of thumb is to put it within an arm’s reach from where someone may be looking when they see your post (i.e. if they’re looking at a faraway mountain scene or a close-up portrait). That way, when someone scrolls through their feed (or swipes through their feed), they’ll find themselves within range of clicking “Shop Now!” without having to move their mouse much more than a few inches away from where they were originally aiming before looking away from their screen altogether due to boredom or distraction by something else happening nearby them while browsing Facebook/Instagram etcetera.

Use the Right Metrics 

It’s important to choose the right metrics for your campaign so that you can monitor your performance and make decisions about how to improve your Instagram ad performance.

• Reach: This is the number of people who have seen at least one of your ads.
• Clicks: The number of clicks on an ad in a given period, including actions like link clicks and view campaigns.
• Conversion Rates: The percentage of views that result in conversions (purchases or signups).

Ads Targeting and Tracking

Before you jump into creating your first ad, it’s important to use the right ad targeting and tracking settings. Facebook has a great guide on this topic—and they also have a tool called Ads Manager that makes it easier than ever before to create highly targeted and effective Instagram ads.

The first thing you’ll want to do is set up some goals for your ad campaign. You can use Facebook’s built-in goal tools, which will help you track whether or not people are taking actions like downloading an ebook, signing up for a webinar, or making a purchase.

Use the Right Tools

With the right tools, you can make sure your ads bring in new business.

The Avital step in creating amazing Instagram ads is to have the right tools.

• Create your ads using Facebook Ads Manager, which allows you to upload images and videos, add a headline and description, choose where you want your ad to appear (like a specific hashtag), and set up a budget.
• Use Unbounce to create landing pages that mirror the look of your website and have enticing calls-to-action so users click through when they see your Instagram post.
• Track progress using Google Analytics, which lets you see how many new followers or customers came from each campaign (and how much money each one costs).

An additional step in creating incredible ads is determining what works best for YOUR company! “The more targeted an ad is, whether that’s based on demographics like age or interests, the better chances it has at bringing in new clients or customers for less than what it would cost if we ran them without metrics tracking first.”

Get help configuring Google Analytics on your website. To learn more, click here >>

Pay Attention to the Details!

You can create highly targeted and effective Instagram ads if you pay attention to the details!

If you’re serious about using Instagram ads to grow your business or increase sales, you have to pay attention to the details.

You can use the right tools and strategies to create highly targeted and effective Instagram ads that get results.

Here are some reminders:

• Create unique ad designs for each product or service you want to market.
• Use detailed targeting options like age, gender, location, and behavior data when creating your campaigns.
• Use relevant hashtags with your ad content to increase engagement and reach.

Conclusion

This post is meant to provide you with the basic knowledge to get started with Instagram ads. It’s not exhaustive, but it covers some of the most important aspects you need to know about. If you want more detailed information about Instagram ads and how best to leverage them for your business.

Instagram ads allow businesses of all sizes to reach out and engage with their target audience in a very cost-effective way. But if done wrong, they can waste a lot of money as well! By following some simple tips like those above (and reading up on other valuable resources), you can ensure that your next campaign is successful enough that everyone wins: customers get what they want, brands make more sales, and customers are satisfied (which leads back around). I wish you amazing success with your Instagram ad campaigns! Please feel free to reach out to us for assistance.

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: As a participant in affiliate programs as a way to maintain this site, CalvinMurray may get a commission when you make a purchase through links on this website…