Yes. At the very least you should try to advertise on Instagram. Ads can help specify your goals and get you results that would be impossible without them. And advertising on Instagram will only become more important as the social media channel becomes more popular.

Why you should advertise on Instagram

You might be unsure about advertising on Instagram because you haven’t seen all the numbers. After you read the stats we have for you below, you might just change your mind.

All of these stats that we’ve listed here can be found in articles on SmartInsightsBusiness of Apps, and Neal Schaffer’s site.

  • Users engage with content more often on Instagram than they do on Facebook
  • In a survey focused on marketing agencies and brands, almost 40% of them said that they would allocate between 10-20% of their marketing budget to influencer marketing
  • 20 billion USD of ad revenue was generated by Instagram in 2019
  • Fashion and e-commerce accounts get the most brand interactions as industries
  • 80% of Instagram users engage in some way with at least one business account
  • 83% of users discovered a new product through Instagram

Seems pretty obvious now, doesn’t it? So, we’ve covered why you should advertise on Instagram from a marketing point of view. Now, let’s check out why Instagram ads themselves are worth it compared to other platforms.

Benefits of advertising on Instagram

Ads Manager integration

Let’s start with the most obvious answer: Instagram ads are integrated with Facebook. Thanks to Ads Manager, marketers have more control over their Instagram ads and can track them together with their ads on Facebook.

instagram ad set up

Setting up Instagram ads in Ads Manager

By using Ads Manager, you will also be able to use the same targeting mechanisms through Facebook. That means you can be as specific or as broad as you need to be to reach the right audience.

Clear objectives and metrics

Another benefit is that you’ll be able to choose from numerous objectives. Objectives are one of the things you really need to understand before you start advertising on Instagram. Advertisers use ads with different goals in mind, and Instagram lets you work towards the one you want. You can choose from the following options:

  • Clicks to website.
  • Website conversions.
  • Mobile app installs.
  • Mobile app engagement.
  • Video views.
  • Reach and frequency.
  • Page post engagement.
  • Mass Awareness.

Why does this matter? It matters because you want to know that you’ve reached a specific goal with your Instagram ads. When you advertise on Instagram, you’re doing it for one of a few reasons. To give you a few examples, you might want more people to find out about your product/brand, to start considering your product/brand as an alternative, or to make a purchase. The only way you’ll know that your campaign was a success is by checking the metrics that match the goal at the end of the ad’s run.

Without all of these goals and metrics, it’s a lot harder to justify your spending next quarter to your boss.

Instagram ads blend in with organic content

One of the issues with ads is that they can be a bit obnoxious and users end up having to use adblockers. This isn’t much of a problem with Instagram ads, though.

Instagram ads show up in the same places are regular content which means they can fit in smoothly. Instead of having a popup on your screen, an Instagram ad can come up while you’re scrolling through your feed or looking through Stories, for example. That means that they can take on the same formats as other posts you see on Instagram like photos, videos, Stories, and carousels.

And since they’re so easily accessible, it means that users can interact with your ad like they would with regular content. Users will be able to comment on, like, and share your ad which will ultimately help you out with reaching more users. Even then, you can use their engagement to give you an idea of how to improve your content. For example, maybe one of your ads in a campaign got more engagement than the other. It’s a simple idea, but there are many insights like that in your data!

There are tons of reasons to advertise on Instagram. Setting them up also isn’t difficult, so there’s no excuse to not be using them.

Did we manage to convince you? If so, then we recommend that you check out our post on how to create Instagram ads from scratch.

Don’t forget to check in on your Instagram performance before and after running your ad campaigns. You should regularly be checking how your paid and sponsored posts are both doing if you want to make the most out of the platform.

Now go out there and get those leads. 😉

Start analyzing your Instagram performance

Read more:
  1. How do I check my Instagram activity results?
  2. What do I need before I start advertising on Instagram?
  3. What type of ads can I use on Instagram?

Author

Iva Djukic

Marketing Specialist

Graduated from University of Warsaw with a Master's degree in psychology. Can be found binge-watching Netflix, reading, or spending time on social media.