Instagram Ads Specialist
MY TRACK RECORD
Running ads on Instagram is easy — just tap the “Promote” button in the app. The problem is that button gets you reach and engagement, not sales. Those are two different systems optimizing for two different goals.
I set up Instagram ads through Meta Ads Manager. Everything that’s missing from the in-app quick-promote feature lives here: conversion optimization, proper audience structure, retargeting, and real reporting.
Why doesn’t the “Promote” button drive sales?
The in-app promote feature defaults to optimizing for engagement or profile visits. That means Meta brings you people who’ll like, comment, and check out your profile. They’re cheap, and the numbers look good — but the person who actually buys usually isn’t among them.
When you set it up through Ads Manager, you can choose “purchase” or “lead” as the objective. This time Meta looks for the person who’ll actually spend money. Cost per click goes up, cost per sale goes down. The second number is the one that matters.
Stories, Reels, and Feed: what goes where?
Instagram’s three main placements behave differently. On Reels, if you don’t grab attention in the first 2 seconds, you get scrolled past; on the feed, a static image still works; on Stories, you need full-screen vertical content that reads without sound.
Running the same image across all three placements is the most common mistake. Meta auto-crops it, but the cropped version usually looks bad. Preparing the right aspect ratio for each placement makes more of a difference than targeting does.
Retargeting: your most profitable audience is already yours
People who’ve visited your site, added something to cart, watched your video to the end, or engaged with your profile are your cheapest-converting audience. Most businesses never build this audience and just spend on cold reach instead.
For retargeting to work, your pixel and conversion events need to be set up correctly on your site. If that setup isn’t there, I do it first — otherwise your ad budget is wasted.
How do we start? First, we talk about what you want and what’s realistic. If it looks like a fit, I send the scope and price in writing, then we start. Reach me via the contact page.
Service Overview
Instagram ads are a powerful digital marketing tool that let brands reach large audiences. With visual content at the forefront, this platform is an ideal medium for capturing attention and driving engagement.
Instagram offers interest-based targeting options so your ads reach the right audience. Ads can be customized by criteria like age, gender, location, and interests, and delivered in both image and video format.
Ads shown across different placements — Instagram Stories, the main feed, and the Explore tab — sit naturally within the user’s normal browsing flow, creating an organic experience.
Other Social Media Ad Platforms
Instagram runs on Meta’s (Facebook) ad infrastructure — to manage both together, see Meta: Facebook Ads. I also cover LinkedIn Ads Specialist for B2B sales and TikTok Ads Specialist for reaching younger audiences.
Frequently Asked Questions
I don’t have many followers — will Instagram ads still work?
Yes. Ads get shown to your targeted audience, not to your follower count. Your follower count doesn’t affect ad reach. That said, if the person seeing your ad checks your profile afterward, having a clean profile matters — but that’s a separate piece of work.
Do I need a business account?
Yes. To run ads, your Instagram account needs to be a business (or creator) account linked to a Facebook page. Converting is free and takes a few minutes.
Which is better, Reels ads or Stories ads?
It depends on your product and creative — there’s no single right answer. The right approach is to test both and scale the winner. Picking one upfront and shutting off the other means deciding on something you don’t know yet.
Should I shoot the ad myself, or hire an agency?
On Instagram, casual phone-shot content often converts better than studio production — especially in service businesses. Test with simple content before investing in high production, and see which message sticks.
How do I work?
Work-hour packages
Tell me about your website and what you need on WhatsApp or by phone; we agree on a work block of somewhere between 5 and 40 hours and I start doing what is needed. What you get is not a calendar window — it is net working hours spent directly on your business. I can use 40 hours working three days straight, or deliberately spread it out and finish it over a year — whatever the work calls for. I do not spend my time estimating how long something will take, I spend it doing the work; every hour I spend has a lasting result on your site. We keep going for as long as you find it useful.
Why not monthly?
Is 40 hours a week?
On a fixed monthly fee both sides are watching the wrong thing: you watch a fixed cost, the other side watches how many more contracts like this they can line up. Working by the hour puts us both in front of the same thing — the real value of the work that got done. I know not having an upfront answer to "how much will this cost in total?" is the natural cost of this model. But instead of paying a fixed fee for months to a setup that is not producing results, you only pay for the qualified time spent on your work — and you see exactly where that time went, start to finish. That is why my clients keep coming back.