Advertising on Instagram

What ad types does Instagram offer?

Similar to what we have seen for Facebook, we can classify Instagram’s ad options based on what the ads look like and what objectives they have. All Instagram ads will be placed in the user feed in the app version.

What Instagram ads look like

Here you have the same three choices you know from Facebook ads – you can create an ad that features a single image, a video, or multiple images that are displayed in a carousel format.

What objectives can I meet with my Instagram ad?

For self-service customers, Instagram offers a range of different objectives for which you can optimize your campaign. Similar to Facebook, Instagram will show your ad to the people in your target audience who are most likely to take the action you want them to take. The campaign objectives you can choose from are:

Brand awareness
Reach
Traffic (for clicks to your website, to the app store page of your app, or to Messenger)
App installs
Engagement (with your posts)
Video views
Conversions (on your website or app)
Lead Generation
Messages
Catalog Sales
Store Visits

Note that the conversion campaign objective requires you to implement the so-called Facebook pixel on your site. To learn how to create a Facebook pixel and how to add it to the code of your website, have a look here. If you want to track the actions that happen inside your mobile app as a result of your ads, your developer should implement a piece of code called SDK and then App Events. Point them to this site to learn more.

What targeting options does Instagram offer?

Instagram offers the same targeting options as Facebook. You can combine them to build a specific audience:

Target by	Description
Location	Target users by country, state, city, zip code, or the area around your physical business.
Demographics	Target users by age, gender, education, and the languages they speak.
Interests	Target users by interests, based on profile information, pages, groups or content they engage with. You can choose from hundreds of categories like sports, movies, music, games, or shopping. You can also target users who like specific pages.
Behaviors	Target users based on what Facebook knows about user behavior, such as the way they shop, the phone they use, or if they plan to buy a house or a car.
Connections	Target users who like your page or app and their friends.
Custom	Target existing customers based on data (e.g., emails, phone numbers) you provide. You can also create Lookalike Audiences – people who are similar to your existing customers.

What is the minimum budget to advertise on Instagram?

The minimum daily budget on Instagram is the same as for Facebook ads and depends on what your ad set gets charged for.

The ad set gets charged for…	Minimum daily budget
Impressions	$1
Clicks, likes, video views, post engagement	$5
Offer claims, app installs and other low-frequency events	$40

If you want to set up a lifetime budget instead, i.e., a total budget for the duration of the campaign, your minimum budget is calculated by multiplying the minimum daily budget by the number of days the campaign lasts.

How to get started

Instagram and Facebook use the same tool and process, via Facebook’s Ad Manager, to create and manage ads on both platforms. We will walk you through the process of setting up campaigns in Ads Manager in the following lessons. But for your reference, click here to start advertising on Instagram. Click here to access the Instagram ad documentation.

Case Studies

Ben & Jerry's

Learn how ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s used Instagram ads to drive sales of its new flavor, Cinnamon Bun, in Sweden by 80%.

[Click here to watch the Video on Vimeo](https://vimeo.com/165897451) — Click here to watch the Video on Vimeo

Wool and the Gang

Wool and the Gang is an online shop for Wool and Knitting accessories that grew their business by targeting Millennials on Instagram.

Shore Projects

Watch how company Shore Projects started their business using Instagram as their only shop window. With the help of Instagram ads, they were able to turn Shore Projects into a global lifestyle brand that sells watches worldwide.

Next, we will learn about advertising options on Twitter.