Instagram is a social platform that thrives on visual engagement. The photo-sharing app has evolved from a place to share your vacation photos with family and friends to an effective marketing tool for businesses.
While building your brand on Instagram can be engaging, you may have noticed that it takes time and patience to get your posts in front of new potential customers.
Instagram ads are sponsored posts that appear in users’ Instagram feeds. They include an “Ad” label in the top right corner, which signals users that the content is a paid advertisement.
Instagram has been testing these ads since 2013 and only began allowing businesses to create them in 2015. Since then, they’ve been a great way for businesses to increase brand awareness and get user engagement on Instagram.
However, like any other ad platform, you’ll need an Instagram business ads FAQ to get started with the right information.
Instagram advertising is a unique beast. It’s a photo-driven social network built on engagement, so sharing quality content is critical to success.
But strong visuals aren’t enough — your Instagram marketing plan needs to include a clear strategy for attracting new followers, engaging them with your brand, and converting them into paying customers.
In our Instagram business ads FAQ, we’ll discuss the best practices for advertising on Instagram to help your business leverage targeted visual marketing to its fullest.
Top Questions for Instagram Business Ads Answered
Instagram ads are a great way to reach your target audience, but they may still be new to you and your business. To help you take advantage of this opportunity, we’ve compiled an Instagram business ads FAQ to help you learn Instagram best practices for advertising (with tips for creating ads).
Why Is Instagram Advertising Important for Businesses?
Instagram ads are a great way to reach a new audience, increase brand awareness, build website traffic and generate leads for your business. Whether you’re a large company or a small business owner, they can help you reach the people who will benefit from your products or services.
Advertising on Instagram can help your business reach specific audiences. Instagram ads are an extremely powerful tool not only for getting more followers and driving traffic to your website but for turning users into customers. Instagram’s visual content helps you connect with your target audience and achieve your marketing goals.
Instagram also allows you to create Stories — photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. You can use these stories to show your human side, promote events or product launches, or advertise new offers. Advertising is available for Stories, alongside posts that show up in feeds.
How Much Do Instagram Ads for Businesses Cost?
Ads costs depend on your daily budget and the bidding strategy you choose (CPC or CPM). You can spend as little as $1 per day for an Instagram ad that appears in your target audience’s feed.
Make sure that you have a sufficient budget for your Instagram ad campaigns. If you don’t have enough money in your daily budget, your ad will stop running.
Do Instagram Ads Work for Businesses?
The short answer is — yes! Following best practices allows businesses to target very specific audiences, and it also provides your business with tools that allow you to measure your results from ad campaigns.
To ensure that only people interested in your products see your ad, Facebook created tools that allow advertisers to target specific audiences by location, demographics, interests, and behaviors. This segmentation helps you save money on advertising by only targeting people who may be interested in your brand, given their browsing history.
What Is Not Allowed in Instagram Ads?
A common question readers look for in an Instagram business ads FAQ is “What am I allowed to advertise?” In addition to the rules for all Facebook ads, Instagram has some specific guidelines for advertising.
Content that Instagram does not allow you to use as part of an advertising campaign includes:
- Sexual content
- Shocking content
- Discriminatory content
- Unrealistic or unfounded weight-loss claims
Ads that promote adult products and services must not contain adult content, including profane language or references to sexual activity, “even if that material is presented for educational or descriptive purposes.”
They may not contain nudity (which includes exposed breasts, buttocks, and genitals) or implied nudity, even if it is artistic or educational in nature.
Ads are not allowed to depict excessive violence, blood, or gore, and they may not shock people with obscene content. They also may not depict illegal activity or activity that encourages others to violate the law.
Messages that promote weight loss products must not make unrealistic promises about the product’s effectiveness. They also cannot promote miracle cures for serious illnesses like cancer.
If you’re advertising alcohol, you must only advertise to users of the legal drinking age.
Can You Promote Multiple Posts on Instagram at the Same Time?
Yes, you can promote various posts simultaneously in the same ad campaign. We suggest testing different combinations of images, videos, and captions so you can see which combination works best for your business.
Instagram Ads: Best Practices for Businesses
Instagram ads provide a great opportunity for businesses to reach new customers and drive leads to their websites. As part of our Instagram business ads FAQ, we offer some best practices you should know about to get the most out of your Instagram ads:
- Obtain permission before publishing user-generated content
- Spend time creating and perfecting ads using data and insights
- Set a budget and a schedule
- Set goals for your ads
- Choose the right format
- Choose the right targeted audience settings
- Refine your process as you analyze data
Using our Instagram business ads FAQ, we want to help you and your organization get more out of your next visual marketing campaign. By following Instagram best practices, you can reach more eyes and convert more page visitors.
