Have you ever run an Instagram ad for your business? Probably not. Have you ever run a Facebook ad for your restaurant? The answer to that question is probably yes, or you’re at least somewhat familiar with Facebook’s advertising services. One more question for you: did you know that you can run an Instagram ad through your Facebook business page? Mind. Blown. Facebook acquired Instagram a few years ago for a pretty penny, and ever since, the two social media networks have become connected in various ways.
One of those ways is through ads. There are two ways to create an Instagram ad for your restaurant. You can either do it natively from the Instagram app, or you can set it up from the Facebook ads platform. Below we’re breaking down the benefits and limitations of both options.
Creating an Ad in Instagram
Limitations:
- You can only promote the pictures you have posted to Instagram already, as is. You cannot update a caption specifically for the ad while placing it. You could, however, change the caption of an Instagram post before you start setting up the ad.
- It doesn’t direct traffic to your Instagram page, so it’s not going to help build your Instagram followers or increase likes on a single post.
- Limited demographic options when it comes to targeting a specific audience.
- Limited analysis reporting is available once the ad is done running.
Benefits:
- Super easy option for those intimidated by Facebook ads, meaning there aren’t a lot of bells and whistles. It’s very simple, quick, and intuitive through Instagram.
- High reach rates among active users.
- You can create a call to action button right on the post to make it easy for people to go where you want them to.
Creating an Ad through Facebook
Limitations:
- The huge variety of options can be overwhelming if you’re not already familiar with Facebook’s advertising capabilities.
Benefits:
- A diverse and thorough array of targeting options to choose from, which allows you to make your audience very specific and show your ad to the exact people that you want it to be seen by.
- You can easily create a new post or use an existing one.
- You have the ability to send traffic directly to your Facebook page or your website.
- Provides a large range of metrics that are analyzed and reported on. This information is easily accessed through Facebook.
Overall, I’d recommend running your Instagram ads through Facebook, especially if you have experience running Facebook ads. Creating Instagram ads through Facebook may seem a bit counter-intuitive, but in the long run, it allows you to have much more control over who is seeing your ads and therefore can result in much more precise targeting. It also gives you metrics for better analysis of the results after the ad has ended.
Have you run an ad on Instagram before? What has your experience with Instagram ads been like?
Did you know?
We've been managing social media accounts for restaurants since 2012. For almost a decade, we've partnered with restauranteurs who are serious about using social media to generate business. Whether you're a good fit for our service or not, let's schedule a call and we'll give you free personalized advice on how to improve your social media presence. Either way, you'll walk away from the call more confident about your ability to promote yourself online - completely for free.
