How to Run an Instagram Ad Through Facebook

Running Instagram ads directly through the Facebook Ads Manager is one of the most powerful ways to reach your target audience. While boosting a post inside the Instagram app is quick, it barely scratches the surface of what's possible. This guide will walk you through, step-by-step, how to set up, launch, and manage effective Instagram ad campaigns using all the advanced features Facebook has to offer.

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Why Use Facebook Ads Manager for Instagram Ads?

You might be wondering, "Why bother with the Ads Manager when I can just tap 'Boost Post' in the Instagram app?" The answer comes down to control and capability. Boosting is designed for simplicity, while Ads Manager is built for performance.

Here are the key advantages of using Facebook Ads Manager:

• Advanced Targeting: Go far beyond basic demographics. Ads Manager lets you target users based on their specific interests, online behaviors, life events, and even their interactions with your website or app. You can also create Lookalike Audiences to find new people who are similar to your best existing customers.
• Specific Campaign Objectives: Instead of just aiming for general engagement, you can tell Facebook exactly what you want to achieve. Whether your goal is to drive sales, generate leads, get app installs, or increase video views, you can optimize your entire campaign for that specific result.
• Full Placement Control: You get to decide exactly where your ads appear on Instagram - from the Feed and Stories to Reels and the Explore page. This allows you to tailor your creative for each format, leading to better-performing ads.
• Greater Creative Flexibility: Ads Manager offers more ad formats than are available through in-app boosting. You can create carousel ads, collection ads, and experiment with different call-to-action buttons to see what resonates best with your audience.

Before You Start: A Quick Checklist

To run Instagram ads through Facebook, you need a few things set up correctly first. Let's make sure you have your foundation in place.

1. A Facebook Business Page: Your ads are managed through a Facebook Page, even if they only run on Instagram. If you don't have one, it's free and easy to create.
2. An Instagram Business or Creator Account: You can't run ads from a personal Instagram profile. If you're still on a personal account, you can switch it for free in your Instagram settings under 'Account' -> 'Switch to Professional Account'.
3. Link Your Instagram and Facebook Accounts: This is the final and most important connection. You need to link your Instagram account to your Facebook Business Page. You can do this through your Facebook Page settings under 'Linked Accounts' -> 'Instagram'. If they're already linked, a quick double-check never hurts!

Once you've ticked off these three items, you're ready to head over to the Facebook Ads Manager and start building your campaign.

How to Set Up Your Instagram Ad Campaign: A Step-by-Step Guide

Facebook Ads Manager breaks down the campaign creation process into three levels: Campaign, Ad Set, and Ad. Think of it like a nesting doll: your ads live inside your ad sets, and your ad sets live inside your campaign.

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Step 1: Choose Your Campaign Objective

First, navigate to your Facebook Ads Manager dashboard and click the green '+ Create' button.

The first thing Facebook will ask is for your campaign objective. This is you telling Facebook what you want to accomplish. Rather than getting lost in all the options, here are the most common ones and what they mean in plain English:

• Awareness: The goal here is to show your ad to the maximum number of people in your target audience. It’s best for building brand recognition or announcing something new.
• Traffic: You want people to click a link and visit a destination, like a blog post, a landing page, or your homepage.
• Engagement: This objective focuses on getting more post likes, comments, shares, or event responses. It's great for building social proof and community.
• Leads: Use this to collect information from potential customers, such as email addresses for a newsletter or contact info for a consultation.
• Sales: This is a direct-response objective optimized to find people most likely to make a purchase on your website or app.

Choose the objective that most closely matches your business goal for this specific ad. For this example, let's say we choose Traffic.

After selecting your objective, you can give your campaign a name. Be descriptive! Something like "IG - Summer Sale Traffic - July 2024" is much more helpful than "Campaign 1."

Step 2: Set Your Budget and Schedule

After clicking 'Continue', you'll be at the Ad Set level. This is where you'll define who you want to reach and how much you're willing to spend. First up is the budget.

You have two main options:

• Daily Budget: Facebook will spend, on average, this amount each day. This is great for ongoing campaigns where you want consistent daily spending.
• Lifetime Budget: You set a total amount to spend over a specific period. Facebook will then pace your spending to get the best results within that timeframe. This is ideal for campaigns with a fixed end date, like a promotion or an event.

A good starting point is to set a modest daily budget (e.g., $10-$20 a day) to test your campaign. You can always increase it later if the ad is performing well.

You'll also set a schedule here. You can start the campaign immediately or schedule it for a future date. If you're on a Lifetime Budget, you must select an end date.

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Step 3: Define Your Audience

This is where the magic really happens. A great ad shown to the wrong people won't work. Start by defining the basics:

• Location: Who do you want to target geographically? You can be as broad as an entire country or as specific as a one-mile radius around your physical store.
• Age & Gender: Define the age range and gender of your ideal customer.

Next, move into Detailed Targeting. This allows you to include or exclude people based on their interests, demographics, and behaviors. For example, if you sell high-quality running shoes, you could target people interested in "Running," "Marathons," and "Nike." The system will show you the "Audience size" on the right, giving you an idea of how many people your ad could potentially reach.

Pro Tip: Start by layering 3-5 strong interests that are closely related to your product or service. Being too broad can waste your budget.

Step 4: Select Your Placements

This is the most critical step for running a dedicated Instagram campaign.

By default, Facebook enables 'Advantage+ Placements,' which automatically shows your ads across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and their Audience Network. For an Instagram-only ad, you need to select 'Manual Placements.'

Once you select manual placements, you'll see a checklist of platforms. Do the following:

1. Uncheck the boxes for Facebook, Audience Network, and Messenger.
2. This will leave only Instagram checked.
3. Now, you can further refine exactly where on Instagram your ad will show. Your main options are:

Be strategic here. If your ad creative is a square image, it will perform best in the Instagram Feed. If you have a vertical video, focus on Stories and Reels placements.

Step 5: Design Your Ad Creative

Now you're at the Ad level, where you build the actual ad people will see. Make sure your Instagram account is selected under the 'Identity' section.

You have two options under 'Ad Setup':

• Create ad: You'll upload a new image or video, write your copy, and add your website link specifically for this ad. It won't appear as a regular post on your Instagram profile.
• Use existing post: You can select a post you've already published on your Instagram feed and run it as an ad. This is great for boosting your best historical content and consolidating all the social proof (likes and comments) onto a single post.

Whichever you choose, focus on creating a high-quality ad. Here are some quick tips:

• Mind the Format: Use square (1:1 aspect ratio) images for the feed and vertical (9:16 aspect ratio) videos or images for Stories and Reels.
• Grab Attention Fast: The first three seconds are critical. Use bright colors, movement, and an engaging visual to stop the scroll.
• Keep Your Copy Concise: Write clear, compelling ad copy. The Primary Text is what users see first. Make it count.
• Have a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Add your website URL and select an appropriate CTA button from the dropdown menu, like 'Learn More,' 'Shop Now,' or 'Sign Up.' This tells people exactly what you want them to do next.

Before moving on, use the ad preview tool on the right to see exactly how your ad will look in different placements like the Feed and Stories. Make adjustments as needed.

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Step 6: Review and Publish

You're almost there! Take a moment to review all your settings one last time. Check your objective, budget, audience settings, placement selections, and ad creative. If everything looks good, hit the green 'Publish' button.

Your ad will go into a review process, which usually takes anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Once approved, it will go live!

Final Thoughts

Setting up an Instagram ad through Facebook Ads Manager gives you the precision and control needed to get real results. By following these steps, you can move beyond simple boosting and create highly targeted campaigns that drive traffic, generate leads, and increase sales for your business.

Once your ads are running, of course, the journey is only just beginning. Trying to understand the true impact of your Instagram ads by cross-referencing performance with data from Shopify, Google Analytics, or your CRM can be a massive headache. We built Graphed to remove this friction entirely. Instead of spending hours in spreadsheets, we let you connect all your data sources in one place and simply ask for what you need. You can create a real-time dashboard in seconds with a prompt like, "Show me my Facebook Ads ROAS vs Shopify revenue for the last 30 days," and get instant clarity on what's actually working.