Budgeting for Instagram Ads of Instagram ad budgeting requires a marketer to be part financial strategist, part social savant. Ad costs fluctuate based on a number of factors, including audience size and targeting, ad format, bidding type, and ad placements. Defining a bid and budget that will perform through seasonal and peak shopping periods can be particularly tricky.

Choosing the right bidding strategy is a key first step to navigating Instagram ad pricing. Your Facebook and Instagram accounts can be set up to use either automatic or manual bidding. The automatic option is ideal for new advertisers because it will keep your cost low while Facebook algorithms work to reach as many of your target audience members as possible. You can also opt to use the manual bidding option, which gives you control over how much you are willing to pay for a given impression.

“Budgeting for Instagram Ads: Tips and Strategies

Ad campaign objectives also affect ad pricing, as some are more expensive to achieve than others. For example, aiming to drive brand awareness will be a lower-value objective than converting leads or sales. This means you will need to pay more for a click or conversion when your ad reaches a lower-value audience.

The time of year can also affect ad pricing, as prices increase during the holidays when more advertisers are trying to win ad space for the same audiences. You can adjust your ad spending manually by creating or duplicating ad sets to test various settings and see what works best for you. Alternatively, you can automate the process of increasing your daily budget by creating a custom rule in Ads Manager that will run at a frequency that you specify.