How do you advertise on Instagram? The "Boost" button versus Ads Manager

Pressing the "Boost" button under a post is easy, but most of the time your budget goes on likes. Here are the steps for setting up Instagram ads properly.

There are two ways to advertise on Instagram. The first is the one everyone knows: the "Boost" button under a post. The second is Meta Ads Manager. Both show ads in the same place, but the difference between them is like the difference between handing out a leaflet at random in the street and putting it in the right person's letterbox.

The limits of the "Boost" button

Boost is quick and needs no knowledge at all. But its options are limited: the targeting is shallow, you cannot test different visuals against each other and, most importantly, you cannot choose a sale or a form submission on your website as the goal. The result, most of the time, is likes and profile visits, not customers.

What is possible with Ads Manager?

• Choosing the objective: messages, calls, forms, website sales
• Showing ads again to people who visited your website and did not buy
• Targeting people who resemble your existing customers
• Testing several visuals and texts at the same time
• Seeing how many sales or messages each ad brought in

The right setup, step by step

1. Switch the account to a business account

Your Instagram account should be a professional (business) account and be linked to a Facebook page.

2. Open a Meta Business account

The ad account, the page and the Instagram account are brought together under this one roof. Open the account in your own name; give the agency access only. That way, even if the agency changes, your account and your historical data stay with you.

3. Set up the Pixel and conversion tracking

The Meta Pixel is a small piece of code added to your website. It tells Meta what a person who came from an ad did on the site. Without the Pixel the system cannot learn who became a customer and cannot show the ad to the right people.

4. Choose the right objective

Meta follows the objective you choose to the letter. Choose "Engagement" and it finds people who are inclined to like. Choose "Sales" or "Leads" and it finds people who are inclined to buy. If the objective is wrong, the results will not come however good the rest is.

5. Define the audience

If you are a local business, limit the location to the districts you serve. Do not narrow the interest targeting too far; leave the system room to learn.

6. Prepare the visuals and video

The thing that affects an ad's success most is the creative. A video that does not catch the eye in the first two seconds gets scrolled past. Content in vertical format, made with real footage and showing the product or service in use, performs better than template designs. That is why we plan reels shoots and ads together.

7. Measure and adjust

In the first days the system is in its learning phase; changing the ad every day resets the learning. Once a few days of data have been gathered, switch off the visuals that are not working and shift the budget to the ones that are.

Common mistakes

• Choosing "Engagement" as the objective and expecting sales
• Targeting the whole of Turkey while trying to sell a local service
• Running the same ad with a single visual for weeks
• Sending the ad to an account where messages are answered late
• Sending traffic to the website without setting up the Pixel

Instagram or Google?

In short: on Google the customer searches for you; on Instagram you appear in front of the customer. We compared which one suits you in our post on Google Ads versus Instagram ads.

If you would like us to handle the Business account, Pixel, audience, creative and reporting on your behalf, you can take a look at our Instagram and Facebook ads management page.