Advertise in Instagram
While Facebook and Instagram ads work using the same ad manager, their respective ad costs vary. As Facebook has more data and more ad space compared to its younger adopted sibling platform, we find that Instagram is sometimes slightly more expensive than Facebook.
That being the case, don’t let that stop you from exploring this lucrative and effective visual copy in the Facebook ecosystem. With fewer ad impressions, and increased competition for impression shares, you may pay a bit more to use Instagram, but you’ll be happy to see that it’s much more cost-effective than the results you get with Facebook.
How do Instagram Ads work?
Depending on your campaign objective, ads that appear on Instagram can have up to 18 call-to-action button options, link to your website, and offer users options to download apps or shop online stores.
You don’t need an Instagram account to advertise on Instagram. Since Facebook is its parent company, you need a Facebook business page. However, it’s best to have an Instagram account so you can identify the content that best resonates with your target audience and complement and amplify your organic Instagram marketing efforts.
How much do Instagram Ads cost?
Let’s take a look at the average cost per click, cost per engagement, and cost per thousand impressions on Instagram.
Instagram Cost Per Click (CPC)
For all metrics, Instagram’s cost per click in 2021 will range from $0.40-$0.70. It takes into account all clicks on an ad, not just link clicks, but also likes/reactions, comments, and shares.
For ads with a destination URL, Instagram’s cost per click in 2021 will range from $0.50-$0.95.
Instagram cost per engagement (CPE)
Instagram cost per engagement in 2021 ranges from $0.01-0.05.
Instagram cost per thousand impressions (CPM)
Instagram CPM in 2021 will range from $2.50-$3.50 for well-performing campaigns and ad packages.
In terms of CPMs, our findings show that Facebook is almost 2x higher than Instagram, but CPCs on Facebook are almost half as low compared to Instagram.
Factors that influence Instagram ads costs
Campaign objective
Campaign objectives can automatically increase or decrease your ad spend, depending on what you choose and how it relates to where your target audience is in the funnel.
Audience Size
If you target a wider audience, they usually cost less because there is less competition per group. As you narrow your audience, perhaps by narrowing their geotargeting or age ranges, you’ll see prices rise as the competition for those eyeballs increases in parallel.
Budget
The Budget also affects Instagram ad costs, because if you have a small budget and your campaign or ad set is starting from scratch, it may take longer to get out of the learning phase. Initial costs can be high for the system to learn and understand your campaign type and optimization goals and how your audience engages with your ads.
Click-through rate
If CTR is low, then we may see higher costs as the system thinks there may be some disconnect between your target audience and what you’re messaging in your ads. You want your ads to resonate with your target audience and CTR Is a strong indicator of that.
How to lower your Instagram ads costs
To get started, make the most of your budget by choosing funnel-appropriate campaign objectives. If you’re targeting a cool, broad, prospective audience, test low-cost campaigns to introduce your brand to your audience with awareness, engagement, or a great website traffic campaign.
If they visit your website and are tagged in the pixel, if they don’t convert on that first click, you can retarget them later. If you’re new to Instagram ads, the first contact and click can drive sales, but for the most part, users need to have multiple interactions with your brands to build trust.
Maybe they’ll do some shopping and compare, then come back to you through retargeting or other means to open their wallets. Impulse purchases from Instagram can be successful if you have a low-cost product that doesn’t require much research.
Another way to reduce your Instagram costs is to use automated placements at the ad group level and serve on both Facebook and Instagram. By having more placement liquidity, the system can use its algorithm to determine where best to serve your ads, giving them more options on both platforms and more ad impressions, This reduces competition for Instagram’s existing three ad slots, reducing your costs.
