How to Make Instagram Ads: Complete Guide (2025)

by Daniel Stock— min read

How to Make Instagram Ads: Complete Guide (2025)

Instagram marketing remains a powerhouse for businesses in 2025, capitalizing on its visually rich platform and expansive user base. Whether you’re a small business or a large brand, this guide walks you through everything you need to know to create effective Instagram ads, from understanding their benefits to launching your campaign step-by-step. 

What Is Instagram Advertising?

Instagram advertising refers to paid promotions that appear as “sponsored” content across users’ feeds, stories, or explore pages. These ads enable brands to showcase their products, services, or messages using visuals designed to capture attention and drive action. 

Because Instagram operates within Meta’s ecosystem, advertisers gain access to advanced audience targeting tools and campaign-level control.

Benefits of Instagram Advertising

Instagram offers a highly visual, mobile-first platform where brands can deliver personalized experiences. It’s one of the few social channels where branding and performance coexist naturally, thanks to a balance of strong creative formats and seamless commerce tools.

Precise Targeting

Instagram’s targeting engine runs on Meta’s data infrastructure, letting marketers narrow their reach by interests, behaviors, demographics, and location. It’s especially effective for connecting with younger audiences and niche segments.

High Engagement

The platform is built around interaction. Its features, from double taps to Story replies, invite users to engage directly with content, giving brands multiple ways to start conversations and deepen visibility.

Ecommerce Integration

Instagram streamlines the path from inspiration to checkout. With product tags, in-app storefronts, and native checkout features, brands can shorten the sales journey and drive conversions without requiring users to leave the platform.

How to Create Instagram Ads

Instagram gives advertisers multiple ways to launch campaigns, depending on how hands-on you want to be.

Create Ads Directly From Instagram

Boosting a post is the most straightforward way to advertise. Pick an existing post, tap “Boost Post,” choose your audience and budget, and select your placement. It’s ideal for quick-turn campaigns or testing content.

Create Ads From Your Facebook Page

If your business has a Facebook Page, you can boost posts there and opt to run them on Instagram. This method offers a simple way to promote content across both platforms, using one central interface.

Create Ad Campaigns in Meta Ads Manager

For more advanced campaigns, Meta Ads Manager offers robust control over your strategy. Set objectives, define audiences, customize placements, and track performance with detailed reporting tools—all from one dashboard.

Instagram Ad Formats

Instagram supports multiple ad formats, each with different ad specs, giving marketers the flexibility to align creative with campaign goals. Each format is built to grab attention in a visual-first feed and perform well in a mobile environment.

Instagram Photo Ads

Single-image ads appear in-feed and are great for product shots or brand visuals. Keep creative clean, and CTA-focused to drive clicks or awareness.

Instagram Video Ads

Video ads can run in the feed or Reels and Stories. Short-form, sound-optional videos often perform best, especially when paired with dynamic editing and motion-forward design.

Instagram Story Ads

These full-screen vertical ads live between user Stories, offering a more immersive and time-sensitive experience. Built-in features like polls or tap-through links increase engagement potential.

Carousels let users swipe through multiple images or videos. They’re perfect for showcasing product collections, telling a brand story, or highlighting multiple features within a single campaign.

Instagram Collection Ads

These combine the swipeable nature of carousels with a built-in storefront experience, making them ideal for ecommerce brands looking to drive direct sales.

Instagram Explore Ads

Explore ads surface in a user’s Explore feed, appearing alongside content based on their browsing behavior. They offer a discovery-driven placement that expands reach to users beyond your current followers.

How to Make Instagram Ads: 5 Steps

These five foundational steps will help you set up Instagram ads with precision, whether you’re just starting or scaling up an existing strategy.

1. Create a Facebook Business Page

Visit facebook.com/pages/create and build out your business page. This gives you access to Meta’s ad tools and connects your Instagram strategy to a broader campaign ecosystem.

2. Set Up a Business Instagram Account

In the Instagram app, switch your profile to a professional account under settings. Select “Business,” choose your category, and input contact details. Connect your Instagram to your Facebook Page for unified control.

3. Connect Instagram to Meta Business Suite

Within Business Suite, go to “Accounts,” select “Add Instagram Account,” and log in. This allows you to manage both content and paid campaigns from one centralized platform.

4. Create an Ad Account in Meta Ads Manager

Inside Business Suite, navigate to “Ad Accounts,” create a new one, set your time zone and currency, and add a payment method. This gives you access to campaign creation and performance tools.

5. Launch Your Instagram Ad Campaign via Meta Ads Manager

In Ads Manager, click “Create,” select your campaign objective, define your audience, choose placements (including Instagram), upload creative, set your budget, and publish. Use post-launch performance data to optimize and scale.

How Much Does Instagram Advertising Cost?

Instagram costs vary depending on factors like campaign objective, target audience, creative quality, and competition. Pricing is typically structured by impression, engagement, or click, giving you flexibility to align costs with goals. With strong creative and tight targeting, many advertisers see high returns relative to spend.

Why You Need Video Production at Scale

Video marketing isn’t optional—it’s central. From Reels to Stories, Instagram favors brands that consistently deliver motion-driven content. Scaling video production helps marketers test creative variations, stay visible in the Instagram algorithm, and meet platform expectations for engagement. 

Subscription-based creative models can support that demand without slowing down execution, and that’s how we can help. Learn more about our intelligent video production platform!

How to Make Instagram Ads: Final Thoughts

Instagram advertising in 2025 remains a key channel for building awareness, driving engagement, and converting users. By aligning format with objective and focusing on scalable creative, marketers can build strategies that consistently perform. Start lean, optimize with intent, and scale what works.