Instagram Ads: How to run them, costs, and expert tips

By promoting strategic content using the right campaign settings, you can reach impressive results. Let’s break it down.

According to the Digital Global Overview Report by Hootsuite and We Are Social, Instagram has over 1.48 billion users worldwide, including 120 million in Brazil alone. This puts Instagram in 4th place globally and #1 in Brazil (excluding WhatsApp).

The report also reveals that 32.6% of internet users say Instagram is their favorite social platform. These numbers show that investing in Instagram ads isn't just a good idea—it’s becoming essential.

To help your brand stand out and succeed on Instagram, this guide will cover:

• What are Instagram ads?
• Key benefits of running ads
• How to set up Instagram ads step by step
• How much do Instagram ads cost?

What Are Instagram Ads?

In short, Instagram ads are paid campaigns designed to boost content—whether feed posts, Stories, Explore tab entries, Reels, or targeted display ads.

You're essentially paying to reach people who likely wouldn’t find your profile organically. These ads appear natively in users’ Instagram feeds, Stories, and other placements as “sponsored posts.”

All of this is managed through the Meta Ads Manager. A primary goal here is to bring high-quality traffic from Instagram directly to your business site. In other words:

• Show ads to users interested in your products or services;
• Target users based on geography to reach people in strategic locations;
• Boost visibility among audiences who match your buyer personas.

The goal? Drive real actions like form submissions, purchases, or even direct contact with your sales team.

These ad formats can bring such strong ROI that brands are investing more and more into them. For example, a 2022 study by RD Station with 297 clients revealed:

• 100% of the businesses surveyed use social media in their marketing strategy;
• 90%+ cited Instagram as the best platform for generating new business.

The Benefits of Instagram Ads

In this sea of opportunity, Instagram ads not only help brands appear in front of the right people but also offer high-tech tools to run smarter campaigns. Here are the top benefits:

1. Reach

Instagram ads act like a spotlight, giving your brand a bigger stage and expanding your reach beyond organic limits. As users engage with your ad, Meta’s algorithm rewards relevance by showing it to even more people—maximizing exposure.

2. Precise Targeting

Instagram targeting goes beyond just basic demographics. It also pulls data from Facebook and WhatsApp to create hyper-specific audience segments.

You can tailor messages to each persona with custom interests, behaviors, job roles, or even fields of study—driving better engagement and brand empathy.

3. Controlled ROI

Every business wants ROI, right? Instagram ads can deliver measurable results fast—like boosting sales or acquiring new customers—because they appear directly in feeds, Stories, or Explore tabs of people who’ve already shown interest.

Your brand gets the chance to show up with the right message at the right time in the customer journey.

4. Data & Analytics

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Luckily, Instagram makes it easy to track metrics like:

• Budget: see daily spend in real time;
• Clicks, conversions, and cost per lead;
• Reach: number of users your ad reached;
• Impressions: total times your ad was seen.

How to Run Instagram Ads (Step-by-Step)

To successfully launch Instagram ads, follow these steps in Meta Ads Manager:

1. Access Meta Ads Manager

Log into your Facebook account on desktop, open the menu, and click “Ad” under the Create section. This brings you to Meta Ads Manager—your hub for ad creation and performance tracking.

Click the green “+ Create” button (top left) to start.

2. Choose a Campaign Objective

You’ll be prompted to select your goal. Options include:

• Awareness
• Traffic
• Engagement
• Leads
• App Promotion
• Sales

Each goal has sub-options (e.g., Video Views, Store Visits, or Reach) and supports specific ad formats and audience behaviors.

3. Name Your Campaign

Give your campaign a clear name so it’s easy to find and manage later—especially if you’re running multiple ads.

4. Create an Ad Set

Each campaign can include multiple ad sets. This lets you test different audiences, placements, or creatives—all under the same goal.

5. Set Your Budget

You can set a daily or lifetime budget and define your start and end dates. Meta will optimize delivery based on the goal you selected.

6. Define Your Audience

Use custom targeting based on:

• Location
• Gender
• Age
• Detailed targeting (interests, behaviors, job titles, education)

7. Choose Your Placements

Here’s where you select Instagram as your ad channel. Placement options on Instagram include:

• Feed
• Profile Feed
• Stories
• Explore
• Explore Home
• Reels

Meta will estimate your audience size based on the targeting and placements chosen.

8. Ad Creative & Confirmation

Now for the fun part: designing your ad!

• Format: choose single image, video, carousel, or collection.
• Creative: upload media, write your headline and caption, add a call-to-action, and choose the destination (website, form, message, etc.).
• Preview: see how it will look across placements and make adjustments if needed.
• Review & Submit: Meta will review your ad to ensure it meets platform guidelines and notify you once it’s approved.

How Much Do Instagram Ads Cost?

You can start with a very small or very large budget. Instagram ads are flexible and accessible, which is part of their appeal.

The minimum spend is around $1/day, or approximately R$5/day in Brazil.

With that amount, your ad can receive around 1,000 impressions per day, resulting in a Cost Per Mille (CPM) of R$5. But CPMs can range from a few cents to R$30+, depending on ad format, competition, and audience.

It’s important to know: if your daily budget is R$5 and your CPM drops to R$2.50, your ad may be shown 2,000 times. If CPM rises to R$10, you’ll get around 500 impressions.

That’s why monitoring performance metrics—especially CPM, CTR, and CPC—is crucial. And that’s where having a dedicated ad specialist makes a huge difference.

Let BYB Handle Your Instagram Ads

Want your Instagram ads to perform like a pro campaign? Our team at Boost Your Biz (BYB) specializes in paid media management and digital performance.

From lead generation to smart audience segmentation, we help you get results that actually move the needle.

Ready to level up your Instagram ads and elevate your digital marketing strategy? Let's make it happen: BYB is here to help your business grow.