How do Instagram Ads work? We will share pro tips for running effective campaigns.
First, here are the download links to install this social media app on your devices:
Read this blog to understand how to use this social media platform from a business perspective.
What Are Instagram Ads?
Before sharing tips for running efficient Instagram Ads, let’s first understand how the platform works.
What is Instagram?
Instagram (IG) is a free photo and video-sharing mobile network launched in 2010. Facebook acquired this social media platform in 2012. Today, both Instagram and Facebook are part of Meta.
The creators named it “Instagram” as a blend of the words “Instant Camera” and “Telegram.”
The main purpose of Instagram is to upload photos and videos on mobile devices.
There are many editing options available to customize those visual creatives. Instagram allows users to conveniently search for profiles of interest thanks to:
- Captions
- Hashtags
- Geotags
- Feeds
As Instagram is smartphone-oriented, people can only post content via the mobile app. They cannot do it from the desktop version, which has limited features. Instagram emphasizes mobile use and visual sharing, not much text content.
People use Instagram to connect with brands, celebrities, friends, and family. This social platform is extremely popular among teenagers.
In December 2010, Instagram reached its first 1 million monthly users. By the end of 2025, the social platform had more than 1.5 billion monthly active users.
How to Create an Instagram Account?
Opening a new Instagram account is free and straightforward.
Once you install the app on your smartphone (check the download links above), you need to input the following mandatory information:
- Phone number or email address (there is a verification code)
- Name and username
- Password
Instagram recommends users complete their profile with more information, such as a profile picture, gender, birthday, and bio.
You can also create an Instagram account by using Facebook. In this case, you only need to be logged in to your Facebook account. There will be a prompt to connect both.
Note that teenagers under 13 (depending on the country or jurisdiction) are not allowed to create accounts. In real life, the app is so popular that many kids have their own profiles.
To create an Instagram business account, you must first create a personal profile, then convert it to a business profile.
Later in this article, we provide more details on business accounts.
What are the Instagram Features?
Instagram keeps evolving with time. In 2010, the platform allowed only photo sharing. Today, more features, such as the carousel format, were added in 2017. Like most social networks, Instagram allows people to like, comment, and send private messages to other followers.
There are many functionalities available on Instagram. The platform continues to add new features each year. Here is a shortlist of the most important ones:
- Instagram DMs (2013)
- Instagram Stories (2016)
- Instagram Live (2016)
- Instagram Reels (2020)
- Instagram Threads (2023)
- AI editing tools (2025)
There are many additional features, including interactive story stickers, collaborations, and the friends map.
Since Instagram is extremely visual, users love the numerous filters. The platform offers a free digital editing tool to enhance photos and videos.
Who are Instagram Users?
Instagram is the most popular social media platform among teenagers.
In its early stages, users were predominantly female (approximately 2/3 female vs. 1/3 male). In 2025, the balance shifted, with 47% female and 53% male.
In 2026, the user profiles on Instagram were:
- 32% between 18 and 24 years old
- 34% between 25 and 34 years old
- 17% between 35 and 44 years old
- Mostly urban people
The top #3 countries using Instagram are:
- India
- U.S.
- Brazil
Instagram users have uploaded over 50 billion photos to date. Every second, at least 1,000 photos are published. They spend an average of 24 minutes per day on Instagram.
The top #3 interests on this social channel are:
- Travel
- Music
- Food and Drinks
Knowing that 81% of people use Instagram to research products and services, there were over 200 million business accounts on the platform in 2025.
Around 1/5 of Instagram users visit a business profile at least once a day.
To date, there are around 65 million influencer accounts on Instagram worldwide, with more than half being daily active.
What are the Advantages of Instagram?
The primary purpose of Instagram is to connect people through engaging multimedia content.
If you want to share visual content with people, Instagram is the place to be. It illustrates the saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
Here is a short sum-up of Instagram’s advantages:
- Top creative social media platform
- Convenient to follow famous people and build communities
- Casual and mobile-optimized
- Privacy feature
- Active community and high engagement rate
Instagram encourages users to edit photos and videos before publishing. There are many filters and AI editing tools available. This is a form of expression and an art form.
Over the past 10 years, photography has seen a comeback. Market experts note that Instagram is a major driver of this trend. There is no need to hold a professional camera to take pictures. On Instagram, users snap photos on their phones, edit them, and publish them quickly.
With this social platform, it is easy to follow celebrities and other Very Important People (VIPs). Instagram allows users to connect with digital influencers, businesses, relatives, and the latest news. It is simple to build a community.
The casual tone of Instagram also contributes to its success. It creates a human side for businesses, and followers feel closer to them. This is a great opportunity for companies to approach their customers.
The User Interface (UI) is optimized for mobile more than that of any other social network. On Instagram, users only see photos and videos. There are no sidebars, links, or flood information that affect the visual experience.
Instagram Stories are visible for only 24 hours. Additionally, photos and videos uploaded to Instagram remain on the platform until the user deletes them. Besides, it requires a single tap to share posts through X, Tumblr, and Facebook.
There is a privacy feature. In the app settings, users can only allow their followers to see their publications. Others must request the account owner’s permission to create private communities.
Finally, Instagram engagement is high. Publishers and followers are extremely active on this social platform. Celebrities can expect their fans to quickly boost their awareness. Businesses achieve strong Return On Investment (ROI) with Instagram ads, as shown below.
So, What About Instagram Ads?
Instagram Ads leverage the features described above.
The platform allows brands and marketers to broadcast advertisements that reach their target audience.
Let’s see in detail how to get started with Instagram Ads.
How do Instagram Ads Work?
From a personal profile, you can create a business account.
It gives you access to page analytics, including hashtag, engagement, and impression metrics. Besides, a new “Contact” button appears on your profile (not available on personal accounts).
By default, people cannot add links to their organic posts. Once businesses reach 10,000 followers, the feature becomes available, allowing them to embed links in their Stories. The only other way to redirect followers to a website is to add a link to the profile.
Of course, all business accounts can run ads on Instagram. If the business is already on Facebook, it can also set up ads directly in Meta Ads Manager.
There are two main ways to get started with Instagram ads.
The first option, similar to Facebook, is to simply promote organic posts without going through the full ad manager process. For the second method, here is a step-by-step guideline.
Step #1: Instagram Ads Goals
Businesses running ads on Instagram must have a clear goal. Same as Facebook, they can choose one of the following objectives:
- Brand awareness
- Reach
- Traffic
- App installs
- Engagement
- Lead generation
- Video views
- Conversions
The second step is to configure the target audience.
Step #2: Instagram Ads Audience
A lot of data analytics is available on Instagram.
Depending on the product or service you offer, you need to know where the demand is.
Understand the demographics and monitor the competition. After all, if you are running Instagram Ads, your rivals certainly are.
Instagram Ads targeting options are:
- Location
- Demographics
- Interests
- Behavior
- Lookalike
Select the options matching your audience before moving to the next step.
Step #3: Instagram Ads Placements
Brands can run their ads only on Instagram or also on Facebook, if they choose.
Ensure you select “Edit placements” instead of “Automatic placements” to manually choose the most suitable ad placements.
After that, you will inform the tool about your media budget and ad schedule.
During this step, the Ad Manager will let you know whether your audience is too broad or too narrow relative to your expected investment.
The final step is to upload the creative. Remember, there is no ad copy on Instagram. Businesses can only promote photos and videos.
Step #4: Instagram Ads Visuals
Instagram is all about the quality and creativity of the visuals.
Poor quality doesn’t work, either for organic posts or paid ads. Too much editing (e.g., overusing filters) also kills the creatives. You need to find the right balance.
Here is a shortlist of the main ad formats available on Instagram:
- Feeds (image and video)
- Stories (image and video)
- Explore (grants exposure on the Explore tab)
- Shopping (products showcase or catalog collection)
Depending on the country, Instagram advertisers may also have access to additional options, such as Canvas (360 VR) or Reel ads.
Businesses should always consider visual editing and carousels when running ads on Instagram. The goal: capture users’ attention.
Ads are published like organic posts, except that they have the text “Sponsored” next to the business icon.
Instagram ads are perfectly integrated into the platform. They look “native.”
Final Step: Instagram Ads KPIs
Once you launch your ads, remember to follow up and optimize the campaign.
Here are the metrics to measure when running Instagram Ads:
- Followers’ growth rate
- Reach
- Engagement rate
- Conversion rate
- Referral traffic
- Closed deals
Monitor those Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to improve your campaign.
Pro-Tips to Run Efficient Instagram Ads
Prodima Vietnam has run hundreds of Instagram Ad campaigns. Our team of experts is glad to share valuable insights and best practices to help you get started.
From experience, we noticed the top industries getting the best results with Instagram ads are:
- Travel
- Food and Drinks
- Beauty
- Fashion
- Health
Remember that Instagram followers’ activity is higher than the average social media channel (0.96% post engagement rate).
90% of people on Instagram follow brands. They expect to see fun posts (55%), real (53%), and creative (53%).
To maximize your ROI with Instagram ads, consider the following:
- Design mobile-first ads (full-screen vertical)
- Publish videos rather than pictures
- Promote your e-commerce store (if any)
- Tag products (so followers can shop them)
- Use specific and relevant hashtags
- Consider face visuals (whenever possible)
- Include a Call To Action (CTA) button
- Use large and short text
- Keep ads simple and authentic
- Run free contests
- Use lookalike audiences
- Focus on visual storytelling
As you can see, e-commerce businesses are highly interested in advertising on Instagram.
This is unsurprising, given that Instagram partnered with Shopify to deliver the best shopping experience for customers.
For more details, see this guideline for running Meta ads.
Are You Ready to Go on Instagram?
Instagram is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. It became most popular among 18-29-year-olds. On their side, teenagers feel that Instagram is more suitable for them than Facebook. There are many opportunities for influencers and businesses to gain visibility.
Creative communities are the core of Instagram’s audience. Fun, jokes, and personality are also pillars. To understand this, take a look at the most-liked image on the platform so far. This Instagram photo of an egg received over 60 million likes.
Let’s conclude with an interesting fact.
There is no way to run Instagram Ads without having a Facebook page. On the contrary, businesses can run Instagram Ads without an Instagram Business account. In this case, companies must use their Facebook page to run their ads on Instagram.
Most companies can reach their customers on this social media platform. Prodima Vietnam is happy to support you.
If you need to get started with Instagram ads, contact us so our team can prepare a digital plan for you!
