How to Run Instagram Ads: 6 Steps to Promote a Post

To run an Instagram ad, tap Promote on a post from a professional account, set a goal, audience, budget, and duration, then submit. Meta's help center says promoting content is available only on professional accounts. It also says submitted ads go through a policy review, and most reviews finish within an hour, after which the ad starts running. This guide follows Meta's Korean help pages as of October 10, 2026. Menu names may differ slightly by app version.

How to run Instagram ads: where to create them

There are five ways to create an Instagram ad. If this is your first time, starting with Promote in the app takes the least setup. Meta's help article How to advertise on Instagram explains that when you promote a post in the app, the audience and placements are set automatically, while the full set of Advantage+ features is available only in Ads Manager. Advantage+ is a bundle of features where Meta automatically optimizes audience, placements, and creative combinations.

Method	Features	Best for
Promote in the Instagram app	Promotes feed posts, Reels, and Stories directly. Audience and placements are set automatically.	Running your first ad with a post you already published
Promote on instagram.com	Gives you the same features as the app on desktop or mobile web.	Avoiding the iOS in-app payment fee (explained below)
Facebook Page	Offers some placements and audience options. The full Advantage+ features are only in Ads Manager.	Promoting directly from a Page
Meta Business Suite	Offers some Advantage+ features. Advanced automation and optimization require Ads Manager.	Managing posts in Business Suite and promoting from there
Meta Ads Manager	Offers every available Advantage+ feature and advanced optimization.	Building multiple campaigns and fine-tuning them

If you promote in the iOS app, a 30% Apple service fee on the total ad spend may apply, and you can avoid it by promoting on instagram.com. The same ad can cost different amounts depending on the payment route, so decide which route to use before you add funds for the first time. This guide explains the in-app Promote flow. The steps for Ads Manager are in a separate Meta Ads Manager guide.

What to prepare before you start

You need a professional account (business or creator) to run Instagram ads. If you have a personal account, switch to a professional account first. During the switch, a screen asks you to connect a Facebook Page. Meta's help says that if you tap Skip, this step will not appear when you promote posts later, and you can connect a Page at any time.

The first time you promote, a message asks you to choose an ad account. You can pick an existing Facebook ad account, or keep your Facebook and Instagram accounts separate.

Publish the post you want to advertise in advance too. Meta notes that posting natural photos or videos organically before you advertise helps people get interested in what matters to your business. Reels have extra requirements. A Reel must be a vertical (9:16) video of 90 seconds or less, and it cannot be promoted if it has licensed music, face effects, GIFs, or product tags.

6 steps to promote an Instagram post

Promoting a post takes six choices in the app. The steps below follow Meta's help article on promoting a post.

1. Go to your profile and tap the post you want to promote.
2. Tap Promote below the post image.
3. Set your goal, audience, budget (the amount you want to spend per day), and duration, then tap Next.
4. In Ad preview, check the placements and manage Advantage+ creative. If the ad runs in feed placements, it also appears in your profile feed.
5. Tap Promote post to submit.
6. Once the review finishes and the ad is approved, it starts running.

The flow is the same on a computer: pick a post on your instagram.com profile, tap Promote, then set the goal, audience, budget, and duration. A promoted post can appear in Explore, the Home feed, the Reels feed, your profile feed, and Stories.

Submitting is not the end. Check the review result notification to confirm success. Meta's help says you get an Activity feed notification when the review is in progress, when it is approved or not approved, and when the campaign ends. An approval notification means the ad starts running. A not-approved notification means the ad will not run, so read the notice, fix the post or settings, and submit again.

How to choose an Instagram ad goal

The goal decides where people go when they tap your ad. Meta offers 5 basic goals when you create an ad on instagram.com and in the app.

Goal	When someone taps the ad	Best for
Get more profile visits	They go to your profile	Building brand awareness and gaining followers
Get more website visits	They go to your business website	Driving bookings or online store visits
Get more messages	They send a message to your business account	Receiving inquiries, bookings, and consultations
Get more sales	The ad is shown to people more likely to buy	Selling directly from an online store
Get more of several actions	Targets engagement, follows, and more together	Aiming for several goals at once

The sales goal is not available on every account. Meta's help says it can be used only if you have activated Shopify's Facebook and Instagram app on your Shopify account, or activated the Meta Pixel in Ads Manager. The Meta Pixel is a tracking code that connects site visits and purchases to your ads.

If you are not sure which goal fits, use Meta's goal descriptions and pick one action you want viewers to take. Profile visits fit when you want to grow your account and new followers. Website visits fit when you want bookings or online store visits. Messages fit when you want inquiries, bookings, or consultations. These are the cases the document lists as suitable.

Audience setup: automatic or custom

The audience is the group of people who will see your ad. Meta's help explains that if you choose automatic, Instagram shows your ad to people similar to your followers, and if you need more detailed targeting you can create your own audience. For a first ad where you are not sure who you want to reach, we suggest starting with automatic. Then look at the age, gender, location, and interests of the people your ad reached in Insights, and narrow down with a custom audience (this is the author's recommendation). The help article tells you to check Insights to see whether your ad is reaching the intended audience.

Narrowing your audience reduces your reach. Meta's ad cost guide says ad sets with an audience size of 2 million or more perform better, but that guidance is for ad sets in Ads Manager. In the app too, avoid stacking many conditions at once and squeezing your reach too small.

How to set your ad budget and duration

The budget is the amount you spend per day, and the duration is how many days the ad runs. Meta's ad pricing guide recommends starting with a budget of at least 5 dollars and choosing a duration longer than 6 days. These are recommendations, not stated as required minimums. If the input screen shows an allowed range, follow it.

According to the same guide, the daily budget is an average amount. You may spend up to 75% more than your daily budget on a given day, and spending on other days in the same week is adjusted so that weekly spend does not exceed 7 times your daily budget. So when you set a budget, calculate the weekly total rather than the daily number. The same guide also explains that if you set a budget that can be spent over at least 7 days, Meta can learn from performance and split the budget more efficiently.

Recommendations also differ by goal. For the sales goal, Meta says to follow the personalized budget recommendation and set a longer duration than other goals. It also warns that a small budget or short duration may keep you from reaching the right audience.

How to check your ad performance

You check the performance of a promoted post in Insights. Tap the promoted post on your profile and tap View insights to see insights for both regular posts and promoted posts. Views are the number of times your content was shown. Interactions are the number of actions such as likes, comments, saves, and shares. Profile activity is the number of actions people took on your profile after engaging with the post. After you submit an ad, you can also see insights under Ad tools in the professional dashboard.

The help pages also say how often to check. The advice is to give the algorithm a week to learn before changing targeting, creative, or budget. So do not change settings based on the first few days of numbers. Review the data in weekly batches. Pick metrics that match your goal. For profile visits, look at profile activity.

Common Instagram ad mistakes

• Looking for Promote on a personal account: Promote is available only on professional accounts. Switch your account type first.
• Choosing the sales goal but not seeing the option: The Shopify app or Meta Pixel is not connected. Until you connect one, use website visits or profile visits.
• Mistaking the daily budget for the weekly total: The daily budget is an average, so a single day can cost more. Calculate first whether you can afford the weekly total.
• Adding funds in the iOS app and missing the fee: A 30% Apple service fee on total ad spend may apply. For larger amounts, use instagram.com.
• Changing settings again and again within a few days: The help says to give it a week to learn before changing anything. Rushed changes remove your baseline for comparison.

What to do today

1. Check whether your profile is a professional account, and switch it if not.
2. Pick one post to advertise and choose one goal.
3. Calculate the weekly total, set a daily budget, and submit with the 6 steps.
4. Check the approval notification, and after a week look at views, interactions, and profile activity in Insights.

Instagram ads FAQ

Can I pause or stop an Instagram ad midway?

Yes. Meta says you can pause your ad at any time.

Can I run Instagram ads from a computer?

Yes. When you promote on instagram.com, you get the same features as in the app.

What is the minimum amount to start Instagram ads?

Meta recommends a budget of at least 5 dollars and a duration longer than 6 days. The minimum amount shown on your screen may differ by account and goal.