Did you know over 500 million Instagram users watch Stories every single day?
Not only are Instagram Stories hugely popular, but they drive awareness, interest, and sales for advertisers. Nearly 6 in 10 people become more interested in brands after watching their Instagram Stories, and 50% of people will visit a website to make a purchase after they see it advertised in Instagram Stories.
In other words, Instagram is a worthy entry in any advertiser’s toolkit. Below we explain how to create Instagram Stories ads, and share tips for optimizing your budget.
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Getting Started with Instagram Advertising
Before you can start running Instagram Stories ads, you need to have an Instagram account. (If you’re already set up with Instagram advertising, skip to the next section.)
There are three ways to set up your account, and Instagram recommends different ones based on your particular situation:
- If you’re a small business: Connect your Facebook business page to your Instagram business account.
- If you manage multiple Instagram accounts (such as for different brands): Connect your Instagram Account to Facebook Business Manager.
- If you don’t have, or want, an Instagram account: If for some reason you don’t want to create an Instagram account for your brand, you can still run ads by using a “Page-backed Instagram account.” This allows you to use your existing Facebook Page in lieu of an Instagram profile.
How to Create Instagram Stories Ads in 10 Steps
Here are the steps you’ll need to follow to run Instagram Stories ads.
1. Go to Facebook Ads Manager and click the Create button.
2. Enter a name for your campaign.
3. Select your Buying Type.
It’s set by default to Auction, and you can leave this as is. (The other buying type is Reach and Frequency, but it’s not available to all advertisers)
4. Choose an objective for your campaign.
Your options are:
- Brand awareness
- Reach
- Traffic
- App installs
- Video views
- Lead generation
- Messages
- Conversions
- Catalog sales
- Store traffic
All Instagram Ad objectives are available for Instagram Stories ads, except for Engagement. That’s only available with Feed and Explore ads.
5. Create a new Ad Set.
Enter a name for your Ad Set and the Ad. You’ll then enter additional details for your campaign, depending on the objective you chose. For instance, if your objective is app installs, you’ll enter information about your mobile app. If your objective is traffic, you’ll enter your website URL.
6. Set your ad budget and schedule.
7. Define your targeting.
First, choose your audience. You can create a new audience or use one you’ve already created, such as a lookalike audience. You Can also add exclusionary audiences, such as a list of customer emails you don’t want to target because they’ve already converted.
Next, choose your location, age, gender, and language targeting.
Refine your targeting even further with demographic targeting. You can select from Facebook’s massive list of targeting options, from someone’s relationship status to the pages they like.
8. Select Automatic or Manual Placements.
Automatic Placements is the recommended option. This allows Facebook to optimize your ad campaign by showing your Instagram Stories Ad on all the placements available, including Facebook, Instagram, Audience Network, and Messenger.
In certain scenarios, Manual Placements can be a better option, such as when you have specific brand concerns or want to create specific assets for different placements. If you choose Manual Placements, make sure Stories is checked.
9. Select the optimization and delivery options for your campaign.
If you’re new to Instagram advertising, we recommend leaving these to Facebook’s default options.
10. Upload your creative.
Instagram Stories ads can show either a single image, a single video, or a carousel of images. Make sure to follow Instagram’s requirements.
Upload your image or video assets. Then, you can adjust the background color, add music and special effects, and crop your image or video. You can add up to 5 different headlines and primary text, and Facebook will show the optimal combination that’s most likely to convert for a particular user.
Finally, review your creative in the Ad Preview. Make any necessary edits, then click Confirm!
How Much Should You Spend on Instagram Ads?
From our experience running Instagram ads for our clients, we recommend spending at least $1,500, or more, to get real, tangible results. If you can swing it, a healthy budget would be around $3,000 to $5,000 per month.
With a larger budget, you can test out different audiences, different creative, and see the results. Your experience may vary based on your conversion rate, industry, and your product or service. Learn more about maximizing your budget for Instagram advertising.
How Effective Are Instagram Ads?
We love Instagram ads for one reason: they are very effective. The targeting options are unparalleled, the cost per lead is lower than most channels, and the ROAS is higher. If you’re an eCommerce brand, you’ve probably have great visuals that would be a perfect fit for Instagram Stories ads.
If your focus is lead generation, the effectiveness of Instagram Ads depends on your industry, target audience, and creative. You might get more leads, but they might not be the right quality. The best way to find out is to test.
Let’s Make Your Instagram Ads a Success
Our digital marketing strategies have surpassed our clients’ ROAS goals, lifted conversions, and reduced spend. Learn more about our work and what we can do for you.
