How to Correctly Make an Instagram Ad

Creating an Instagram ad that actually works can feel like a guessing game. You pick a pretty picture, throw some money at it, and hope for the best, only to find you've spent your budget with little to show for it. This guide cuts through the noise and provides a clear, step-by-step process for making Instagram ads correctly. We'll walk through the entire setup in Facebook Ads Manager, from choosing the right objective to designing creative that gets noticed.

Before You Create Your Ad: The Non-Negotiable Setup

Before you even think about your ad creative or copy, you need to have the right foundation in place. Skipping these steps is like trying to build a house without a blueprint. You'll only end up with more work and worse results down the line. Make sure you have these three things sorted first.

1. Switch to a Professional Instagram Account

If you're still using a personal Instagram profile, you'll need to switch to a Professional account. This is free and unlocks essential advertising and analytics features. You'll get access to detailed post insights, a contact button on your profile, and most importantly, the ability to connect to Facebook Ads Manager, which is where the real advertising power lies.

• To switch, go to your Instagram profile, tap the menu in the top-right corner, select 'Settings and privacy,' then scroll to 'Account type and tools' and choose 'Switch to professional account.'
• You'll be asked to choose between a 'Creator' or 'Business' account. For most advertisers, especially those selling products or services, 'Business' is the right choice.

2. Connect a Facebook Page

Even though you're advertising on Instagram, everything is managed through Meta's (formerly Facebook's) advertising platform. You cannot run ads in the Ads Manager without an associated Facebook Business Page. It doesn’t need to be hyperactive, but it must exist and be connected to your Instagram account.

You can link them in Meta's Business Suite under settings. This connection unifies your advertising, inbox, and insights across both platforms and is a mandatory step for using Ads Manager.

3. Use Facebook Ads Manager, Not the 'Boost Post' Button

You've likely seen the blue 'Boost Post' button on your Instagram posts. While it's tempting for its simplicity, using it is one of the biggest mistakes new advertisers make. Boosting posts offers very limited targeting options and campaign objectives. Think of it as the easy mode with no controls.

Facebook Ads Manager is your professional command center. It gives you precise control over every aspect of your campaign: objectives, detailed targeting, ad placements, creative, A/B testing, and in-depth performance analytics. We'll be using Ads Manager for the rest of this tutorial.

Step-by-Step Guide: Creating Your First Instagram Ad in Ads Manager

Once you've got your accounts in order, it’s time to head over to Facebook Ads Manager and build your campaign. The process is broken down into three levels: Campaign, Ad Set, and Ad. Let's walk through it.

Step 1: Choose Your Objective

After you click the green 'Create' button, the first thing Ads Manager will ask is to choose a campaign objective. This is the most important decision you'll make because it tells Instagram what you want to achieve. The platform's algorithm will then show your ad to people most likely to take that specific action. Don't choose 'Traffic' if what you really want is sales.

Here are the most common objectives broken down by goal:

• Awareness: If your goal is simply to get your brand seen by as many people as possible, choose Reach or Brand Awareness. This is great for new businesses or launching a new product.
• Traffic: Ideal for driving people to a specific URL, like a blog post or landing page. The algorithm will optimize for clicks, not necessarily for what people do after they click.
• Engagement: Choose this if you want more likes, comments, shares, or event responses. It’s perfect for building social proof on a specific post.
• Leads: An excellent choice for service businesses. This objective lets you create an on-platform form to collect user information like names, emails, and phone numbers without them leaving Instagram.
• Sales (or Conversions): This is the objective for e-commerce and direct-response advertising. It optimizes for specific actions on your website, like a purchase or adding an item to the cart. To use this, you must have the Meta Pixel installed on your website to track these actions.

Step 2: Set Your Budget and Schedule

Next, you’ll decide how much to spend and for how long. Ads Manager is at the 'Ad Set' level now.

• Budget: You have two choices. A Daily Budget spends a set amount each day, while a Lifetime Budget spends a total amount over the entire campaign period. If you're just starting, a modest daily budget of $15-$25 is a safe way to gather data without too much risk. You can always increase it later.
• Schedule: You can set a start and end date for your campaign or let it run continuously until you manually turn it off. For a promotion or event-based campaign, always set an end date.

Step 3: Define Your Audience (Targeting)

This is where you tell Instagram who should see your ads. Getting this right separates profitable campaigns from wasteful ones. At the 'Ad Set' level, you define your audience based on location, demographics, and interests.

Initially, Meta will select the "Advantage+ audience" option. For more control, click the hyperlink to switch back to "Original audience options." Here are the layers of targeting you can control:

• Location: Target users by country, state/region, city, or even ZIP code. You can also exclude areas. For a local coffee shop, you might target people living within a 10-mile radius.
• Demographics: Specify the age range and gender of your ideal customer. Don't guess - use your existing customer data if you have it.
• Detailed Targeting: This is the powerful part. You can target people based on:
• Placements: Where will your ads appear? The default is 'Advantage+ Placements,' which shows your ads everywhere across Meta's network (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network). For an "Instagram ad," it's wiser to select 'Manual Placements.'

In this section: Uncheck Facebook, Audience Network, and Messenger. Then, scroll down to the Instagram options and select where you'd like your ad to appear on the app. Examples include:

• Instagram Feed
• Instagram Stories
• Instagram Reels
• Explore

By only advertising within Instagram, you can craft creatives that natively fit each of these spaces. Otherwise, you risk running ads that are not formatted to the specifications the user is watching.

Pro Tip: As you get more advanced, you can use Custom Audiences (to retarget website visitors or people on your email list) and Lookalike Audiences to find new people who are similar to your best existing customers.

Step 4: Design Your Ad Creative

Now, at the 'Ad' level, it’s time to upload your visuals and write your copy. The creative is what stops the scroll and what 80% of your performance hinges on. Everything an Instagrammer sees - your visual element, headlines, copy - should spark some type of feeling.

Choosing the Right Ad Format

• Single Image/Video: The most common format. Clean, simple, and effective. Video consistently outperforms static images, especially for Stories and Reels.
• Carousel: Lets you showcase multiple images or videos in one ad. Perfect for showing different product features, telling a sequential story, or highlighting a collection.

Creative Best Practices

• Go Vertical for Stories & Reels: Don’t try to fit a horizontal image into a vertical space. Always design for a 9:16 aspect ratio so your ad feels native and fills the entire screen.
• Add Captions to Videos: Most users watch videos with the sound off. Use on-screen text or burned-in captions to communicate your message without audio.
• Authenticity Over Polish: Often, user-generated content (UGC) or simple, authentic-looking videos shot on a phone outperform highly-produced, glossy commercials. It feels more real and trustworthy.
• Put Your Hook First: Capture attention in the first 1-3 seconds. Don't build up to your message, deliver it immediately.

Writing Compelling Ad Copy

• Primary Text (Caption): This is your chance to expand on the message in your creative. Use a strong hook to draw the reader in, clearly communicate your offer or value, and end with a clear call-to-action. Don't be afraid to use emojis to break up text and show personality.
• Headline: A short, punchy sentence that appears below the creative. Often used to state the core offer, like "Free Shipping" or "Download a Free Guide."
• Call-to-Action (CTA) Button: Choose the button that best matches the action you want users to take. Meta provides a list, including 'Shop Now', 'Learn More', 'Sign Up', 'Book Now', and 'Download.'

What Happens Next? Monitoring Your Instagram Ad Performance

Launching is just the beginning. The real work starts with monitoring your campaign's performance and making data-driven adjustments.

After your ads run for a couple of days, head back to Ads Manager and look at these key metrics:

• Cost Per Result (CPR): This is arguably the most important metric. It tells you exactly how much you're paying for each desired action (e.g., Cost Per Purchase, Cost Per Lead).
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): This measures the percentage of people who saw your ad and clicked on it. A low CTR often indicates your creative or offer isn't resonating with your audience.
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): For e-commerce businesses, this is crucial. It shows how much revenue an ad campaign has generated for every dollar you've spent. For example, if you spend $100 and generate $400 in trackable sales through your ad, your ROAS is 4x, which means you are profitable.

Use these metrics to understand what's working and what isn't. If an ad isn't performing well, turn it off and test new creative, new copy, or a new audience. Successful advertising is all about testing and iteration.

Final Thoughts

Following this framework moves you from hopeful guessing to strategic execution. A successful campaign is about synergy: aligning your objective with your budget and a good message that fits the proper placement.

The only thing left is monitoring. Constantly keeping an eye on your advertising numbers to decide which decisions were wise and those you wish you could have back can become a job on its own. Our team created Graphed because we were tired of wrestling with platform reporting every week at our old jobs. Instead of jumping to the ends of the internet for proper sales numbers with ads from weeks ago, you just connect directly into Graphed from Shopify, Meta, and wherever else you spend your time online. Graphed pipes real-time updating reports for you every day, every minute, showing which marketing moves are worth it and which aren't.