How Much Do Instagram Ads Cost?

How much are Instagram ads for a business like yours? It’s something to consider because the beauty of Instagram ads is that any business owner can run a campaign. The process is fairly straightforward, and you can set the budget as low or as high as you want. But determining the final advertising on Instagram cost isn’t simple because it varies based on several factors. We can, however, provide you with some updated information on Instagram ads price that we’ve gathered from our research.

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So, How Much Does Instagram Ads Cost?

The average cost of Instagram ads can vary, but it can amount anywhere from $0.60 to $2.00 per click. The cost depends on many factors but the most important one is the pricing model.

Advertisers can choose between Instagram ads cost per click (CPC) or cost per thousand impressions (CPM). Instagram ads CPC is the cost every time a user clicks on your ad while Instagram ads CPM is the cost every time 1,000 users see your ad.

Instagram ads CPC can cost up to $3.00 per click, and Instagram ads CPM can set you back up to $7.00 per thousand impressions. Opt for Instagram ads cost per click if you are willing to pay only when a user clicks on your ad. Advertising on Instagram cost will be higher if you use CPM, because you’ll be charged every time someone views or sees your ad — which is likely to be more times than someone clicking on it.

When you have the answer to the question, “How much does Instagram advertising cost?” you can then allot an amount according to your budget.

When setting up Instagram ads, you have the option to set a daily budget, which ensures you stick to your budget and avoid paying more. No matter how much Instagram ads price, you can always set your budget with a fixed amount.

Note that the figures listed above are the average cost of Instagram ads and can be higher or lower than your actual Instagram ads price. You can never truly know how much advertising on Instagram costs for your business until you run a campaign.

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Why You Should Use Instagram Ads

There are many reasons why your business should take advantage of Instagram ads. Here are some convincing stats from the latest Hootsuite blog:

• More than a billion people use Instagram for business every month.
• Instagram reaches over 140 million users in the United States alone.
• An average Instagram user spends 30 minutes a day on the app.
• More than 80 percent of people use Instagram to look for products, brands or services.
• Ninety percent of Instagram users follow a brand or a business.
• Four million businesses use Instagram Story ads every month.

No matter what goal you have, from growing your followers to attracting new leads, Instagram ads can bring you faster, more accurate results.

Hiring an Instagram advertising expert like Thrive can accelerate your success. An Instagram ad campaign we ran for a fitness expert generated impressive growth in just a matter of six months.

Many other businesses, big and small, have proven the impact of Instagram Story ads on their growth despite the many challenges they have faced this past year. They didn’t worry too much about how much Instagram ads cost because they understood the value and benefits it presented to their business. Whether or not they hired Instagram advertising experts, they still experienced the benefits of running Instagram ads.

Whether you’re hiring an Instagram ads company or implementing it on your own, investing in Instagram ads can be highly profitable for your business.

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What Factors Affect Instagram Ads Cost?

The reason that there’s no definite answer to the question: “How much do Instagram ads cost?” is because a lot of factors affect the cost of Instagram ads. In addition to the pricing model, a number of things can have an impact on your particular business’s Instagram ads price. Let’s look at some the most common ones:

Your Ad’s Value As Assessed by Instagram

Instagram sponsored ads cost is directly influenced by Instagram itself. When you buy Instagram ads, you enter into a bidding auction, which determines the quality of your ad against your competitors. The winning bid is determined by:

• How much you bid – How your bid fares against competitors
• Estimated action rates – How likely the ad is to convert
• Ad quality and relevance – How likely users are to engage with the ad

All these factors help Instagram pick a winning ad and run it according to the advertiser’s bid. Low bids can mean less effectiveness, and higher bids can mean that your ads will create the best possible results.

Ads Placement

Instagram advertising experts claim that where your ad appears on Instagram can affect your Instagram ads cost. For instance, Instagram Story ads are known to cost less than those that appear on the user’s main Instagram feed. Instagram sponsored ads cost is also greatly affected by these factors.

When creating an Instagram ad, you will be prompted to choose a type of Instagram ad. These are:

• Stories
• Photo
• Video
• Carousel
• Collection
• Explore
• IGTV
• Instagram Shopping

These types of ads have their own placements and can determine how much Instagram advertising costs. Some placements are more frequently visited than others and so would cost more.

Not sure which type of ad you should run? Consider getting expert help from an Instagram ads company that has years of experience in running successful Instagram ads for brands and businesses.

Target Market

The average cost of Instagram ads can also vary depending on your target audience. If you’re using Instagram for business to target a specific group of people or a competitive industry, expect that these factors will have an impact on your Instagram advertising cost. An ad for a highly saturated market, like fitness, will cost more than other niche industries. The more advertisers who are targeting a specific market, the higher the cost of advertising on Instagram.

Your Advertising Goal

Advertising goals can also affect the average cost of Instagram advertising. Are you using Instagram ads to grow your followers? This goal is called Engagement. If you’re aiming to sell more products with your ads, then your advertising goal is Conversion. Generally, a goal aimed for Engagement can cost less than a Conversion goal. This is because conversions result in more actual sales than engagement. For instance, Instagram ads cost per click might be more expensive because a user takes action towards conversion.

Ultimately, your question shouldn’t be “How much does it cost to advertise on Instagram?” but “How much does Instagram advertising cost for my business goals?”

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Facebook Ads vs Instagram Ads: Which Platform Is Right for You?

Instagram is not the only platform that has taken social media marketing by storm. Advertisers can often consider Facebook ads vs Instagram ads. How are they different and how are they similar? How much does Instagram advertising cost compared to Facebook? There’s no clear answer.

Different case studies and research have returned conflicting results, with one study saying that Instagram advertising costs are lower than Facebook’s, while others claim that Facebook ads cost less than Instagram ads.

Whichever is the case, there are certain pros and cons for both platforms. Here are some of the main points to consider when considering these two social media advertising platforms:

Audience Variety and Targeting

If you’re targeting a niche audience, chances are you can find them on Facebook. Facebook’s Audiences feature lets you access a wide range of demographics according to gender, age, occupation, interests and even marital status.

Facebook’s targeting features are more in-depth compared to Instagram, which is ideal for highly advanced advertisers. On the other hand, Instagram has a simpler, easier-to-understand list of options, which is great for beginners.

Visual vs Written Content

It’s not enough to have an idea about how much are Instagram ads, and then go right ahead and create your first ad. You also need to know if Instagram is the right platform for your business.

If your industry is fashion, food or travel, Instagram may be the better choice for running ads. However, if you run a consultancy firm or any industry that communicates with its audience in written content, Facebook might be the way to go.

Cost-Effectiveness

Despite the various factors affecting the cost of Instagram ads and Facebook ads, one question that marketers ask is this: Which platform is more cost-effective?

There is no definitive answer to this question, but most studies have shown that the engagement rate on Instagram is higher than on Facebook. This means that, even if running ads on Instagram costs higher, the click-through rate (CTR) is also expected to be higher than Facebook’s.

This is based on the general experience, but it may not be the same for your business. The best way to find out is simply to conduct a trial run and track your ad’s performance, including your engagement rate and click-through rates. Only when you run your own campaigns can you truly learn the cost of advertising on Instagram as compared to Facebook.

Want help getting started with Facebook ads instead? Check out Thrive’s Facebook advertising agency and discover how our services can help your business grow with Facebook ads.

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How To Run Instagram Ads

If you’re convinced that you’re ready to face the cost of advertising on Instagram, it’s time to learn how to publish ads.

There are two ways to advertise on Instagram: from the app itself or from Facebook Ads Manager. If it’s your first time creating ads on Instagram, then it’s best to do it via Facebook.

First, create a Facebook page for your business. If you already have a Facebook page, make sure to also create a Facebook Business Manager account. This is where you can manage all your ads for both Facebook and Instagram.

Next, you need to switch your Instagram account to a Business Profile. To do this, go to your Instagram profile settings and tap the triple line on the top right corner. Go to Settings>Account>Switch to Professional Account. Select Business. Follow the next steps to connect your Facebook page to your Instagram account.

From here, you can now run Instagram ads from the app itself or from Facebook Business Manager.

From the Business Manager, go to Ads Manager. Click Create then choose any of the following objectives:

• Brand awareness
• Reach
• Traffic
• App installs
• Engagement
• Video views
• Conversions

Next, give your campaign a name.

In the Audience section, choose your targeted audience by age, gender and interests. You can be as detailed or as general as you choose. Note that the right targeting is crucial to an ad’s relevancy score.

The next section is where you can assign a budget and schedule for your campaign. Your budget can be Per Day or Lifetime. If you choose Lifetime, you need to set a start and end date for your campaign.

The next option lets you select whether you want to be charged for Instagram ads CPC (cost-per-click) or Instagram ads CPM (cost-per-thousand-impressions).

This is also where you can opt to use manual bidding or automatic bidding. Experts recommend automatic bidding for beginners as it lets the system automatically optimize ads for the best results.

The next section is dedicated to the content and format of your ad. You can specify whether you are posting a single-image ad, a carousel (multiple images) or video. Add a headline and call-to-action (CTA) buttons that will go with your ad.

Under the section Instagram Account, select the Instagram account connected to your Facebook page. You can then select where your ads will be displayed. You have the option to display your ad on both Facebook and Instagram. If you only want to run ads on Instagram, uncheck all other options and keep Instagram checked.

If you select Instagram, this is where you select the different placements or types of Instagram ads mentioned earlier in this post. Instagram sponsored ads cost can be higher or lower for different placement types.

When you’re happy with your settings, you can go ahead and click Publish. You’ll get notified when your ad is live.

Facebook has a detailed guide on how to set up and create Instagram ads from the Ads Manager dashboard.

If you need help from an Instagram ad expert, considering hiring an Instagram advertising company like Thrive to get better results for less cost. Hiring an Instagram advertising agency can save you time and money while getting the best possible results.

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How To Optimize Your Instagram Ads

Now that you’ve learned the answer to the question: “How much do Instagram ads cost?” it’s time to maximize advertising on Instagram costs while getting great results.

The cost of ads on Instagram can sometimes be daunting. Small businesses might be hesitant to invest for fear of not getting a return on investment (ROI). To help with this, Instagram ads experts recommend these steps to ensure the success of your Instagram campaigns.

Catch Your Audience’s Attention

Instagram is a visual platform. You have the advantage to use captivating images or videos to instantly hook your audience in the first two seconds of seeing your ad. Captions and other elements are not as important as the main image, so put extra time and effort to ensure your visuals pop and immediately drive your audience into clicking through your CTA.

When you invest time on a quality ad, you maximize the cost of ads on Instagram and get a better chance at a high ROI.

Use the Right Hashtags

Sure, you can come up with several unique hashtags that might seem like the perfect way to describe your brand. Unfortunately, hashtags that are not that common may not get a lot of engagement.

Using ubiquitous hashtags is a better strategy to get more exposure to potential customers who might be interested in your brand. Do some research into which hashtags are widely used by your market and use those.

Discover the Perfect Time To Post

After running your ads for at least a week, you now have some data to analyze. Look at the time and day when your ads had the most engagement. Then, conduct an experiment to post your ads only on during these periods. This strategy helps lower the cost of Instagram advertising while getting optimal results. Getting help from an Instagram ads expert can make this process easier for you.

Optimizing Instagram ads requires time and lots of experimentation. If you want faster results, consider hiring an Instagram ads company to ensure the success of your Instagram ad campaigns.

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Conclusion

Many business owners are wary of using Instagram for business because they think they don’t know anything about the platform. Others are worried that they can’t afford the cost of ads on Instagram. There are also others who are struggling to choose Facebook ads vs Instagram ads.

Fortunately, there are tons of free resources out there that will teach anyone how to successfully run Instagram ads.

However, learning all these things does take time. Besides, creating and executing a highly profitable Instagram advertising campaign goes beyond knowing the answer to how much are Instagram ads.

If you’d rather get help from an expert, hiring an Instagram advertising agency might be the better option. You can get guidance from an Instagram ads expert who can assess the average cost of Instagram advertising for your industry and help you achieve your advertising goals.

Contact us today if you’re interested to learn more about Thrive’s award-winning Instagram advertising agency and grow your business with successful Instagram campaigns.