How to create Instagram ads

© mangsaab via 123RF

What you will need to create an Instagram ad:

• A Facebook account
  
• A Facebook page
  
• An Instagram account. While this is not a necessity, not having one has its own drawbacks; for example, your Facebook Page name will be your Instagram handle, it won’t be clickable, and stands the risk of being truncated. You will also be unable to respond to comments on your ad.

Using Facebook’s Power Editor is useful if you are already a seasoned Facebook advertiser or are planning to use Facebook and Instagram as your main marketing tools. It allows for the creation of several advertisements and campaigns, and also has more detailed reporting in terms of delivery, cost, click-through rates, and more, allowing the ideal overview for large and numerous campaigns.

To create an Instagram ad through Facebook’s Power Editor:

1. Visit Facebook’s Power Editor. You will need to have a Facebook Ads Account, which you can set up through the Ads Manager. Be sure to set up your payment details while you’re at it.

2. Click the ‘+Create Ad’ tab.

3. In the pop-up under ‘Choose a Campaign’, you can choose an existing campaign or create a new one. If you are naming a new campaign be sure to name it specifically, especially if you intend doing more campaigns. You will be purchasing adverts based on your target market and the duration of your campaign. To quickly access your campaign, ad sets, and adverts, click on the little folders on the far left of the Power Editor table. The folder with the tick is your Campaigns section, the four folders together are your ad sets, and the single window contains your adverts.

4. In the same pop-up under ‘Choose an Ad Set’, choose an existing Ad Set or create a new one, once again with a specific name. New ad sets automatically have Instagram as an advertising platform.

5. In the same pop-up under ‘Create New Ad’, name your new advertisement.

6. The Power Editor will open a new pop-up inside the ‘Ads’ table. You have the option to rename your ad. Under ‘Destination’, select your Facebook page and your Instagram account if you have one. This section will not work if you do not have a Facebook page.

7. Once you have selected the Facebook Page, you can pick the creative aspects of your advertisement. Aspects include whether you want a single image or video in your ad or whether you want multiple images. You can choose to upload the media you wish to use or use images from your Facebook page. You can also select stock images available through Facebook.

8. Enter the URL you wish the advert to promote or create a ‘Canvas’ instead that will open when your advert is accessed via mobile. This option is better if you have a product to promote and also want the audience to react by clicking. If you select the former, you can type in the URL’s display text.

9. Now you can enter the main text of your advertisement and your headline. You can see also what your link clicks through to and select the type of call to action (such as ‘Contact Us’, ‘Download’, or ‘Sign Up’).

10. You can then set your Tracking parameters in order to better translate your analytics.

11. A preview of your advert is available and the entire advert saves automatically.

12. You will need to set the details of your target audience in your ad set. Select your desired audience, taking such things as gender, age, location, language, and interests into consideration. Remember, though, that the more targeted you make your advert, the more you limit your audience. This may not be a negative if you are very certain of your target market. You can also set your daily or lifetime budget and select the start and end dates of the campaign.

13. Once you are satisfied with your advertisement and all its details, click on the green ‘Review Changes’ button on the top right and your advert will be published.