Paid Traffic on Instagram in 2025: Complete Guide

Starting to run paid traffic campaigns on Instagram in 2025 can be both good and bad. But don’t worry — we’re talking about the operational side. Running ads on social media is still one of the most popular digital marketing strategies, regardless of the year.

What we mean is that a lot has changed in Instagram’s paid traffic system recently — and those changes happened fast.

Over the last 10 years, Instagram launched its advertising model, was acquired by Facebook, introduced Stories, redesigned its ad formats, became part of Facebook’s ad platform, and today is fully integrated into Meta’s advertising system.

Big changes in Instagram Ads have become almost routine. But in 2023, things have stabilized — with Meta’s arrival, the platform was standardized and is now following a more streamlined path.

Still, it can be complicated for many. Today, our mission is to simplify. Keep reading this article — your complete guide to Instagram paid traffic in 2023!

What Is Paid Traffic on Instagram?

You’ve definitely seen ads on Instagram, right? Anyone who opens the app and scrolls for just a minute will come across a sponsored post — whether in the feed or in Stories.

Instagram paid traffic is a PPC (pay-per-click) ad strategy. Basically, you pay Meta (formerly Facebook and Instagram’s parent company) for your post to appear to people who don’t follow you.

Think of any brand on Instagram. When it makes a post, that content will show up in the feeds of its followers. But brands need to reach new audiences to grow their follower base and attract new customers.

Paid traffic on Instagram serves this purpose. By sponsoring posts, they appear in the feeds of people who don’t yet know the brand. Like this:

But who are these people? You choose. Through Meta Ads Manager, you can define exactly who your target audience is — by age, interests, location, and more.

The term “paid traffic” is the opposite of “organic traffic.” In short, you’re paying to drive more traffic to your profile or directly to your website. Paid traffic is a strategy you can use on nearly every social media platform, as well as on Google via Google Ads.

Instagram paid traffic is now an essential strategy. Any brand aiming to grow its reach will likely turn to the platform — thanks in large part to how accessible it is.

The ads operate on a pay-per-click or cost-per-impression model — you set a daily or campaign budget, and the platform manages the ad delivery based on that amount.

Depending on your chosen model, you pay per click or per 1,000 impressions.

That means you can start running ads with a budget that fits your available funds.

What Are the Advantages of Instagram Paid Traffic?

Instagram paid traffic comes with several advantages.

The biggest one is the ability to highlight your offers with incredible ease.

Instagram Ads — along with Facebook Ads — are among the most accessible and beginner-friendly ad platforms available.

They allow small businesses — even those completely new to digital marketing — to start advertising almost overnight.

The power of Instagram paid traffic is undeniable. But let’s break down some specific advantages it offers:

Advanced Targeting

The best part of Instagram paid traffic is the ability to segment your audience exactly how you want.

This targeting capability was revolutionary when it first launched — it shaped digital marketing as we know it today.

With Instagram Ads targeting, you ensure that your ads are shown only to the people you want — your ideal audience.

Instagram’s targeting includes:

• Age
• Geographic location
• Interests
• Gender
• Behaviors
• Other demographic information

Using targeting in your Instagram campaigns is key to your success.

Not only do your ads appear to people most likely to buy, but you also compete with fewer advertisers.

For example, if you choose to show your ad only to people interested in the geek world, your competition is limited to advertisers targeting that same segment.

Measurable Results

Another great benefit is how easy it is to measure your Instagram campaign performance.

We’ve already covered Facebook Ads in another article, and in that article we also talked about Meta Business Manager — which is definitely worth exploring.

We’ll dive into it again here, but if you want an extra read, check this out:

➡️ Top 11 Facebook Ads Metrics and How to Optimize Them

Through Business Manager, you gain access to a wide range of metrics, including:

• Unique reach
• Conversions
• Amount spent so far
• Ad impressions
• CPC (Cost per Click)
• CTR (Click-through Rate)
• Video watch time

And many other well-organized and complete insights.

Every Instagram ad comes packed with data — you’re never working in the dark.

Wide Commercial Reach

As discussed, paid traffic on Instagram expands your reach quickly and efficiently.

Businesses that previously relied on cold calls and lead lists can now generate qualified leads easily.

Or — if they prefer — close sales directly through Instagram Ads.

You don’t need a massive sales team to convert. Even if your product is complex and requires a salesperson, Instagram Ads can handle the top of the funnel — providing a pre-qualified list for your team.

That way, your sales team can focus on high-potential contacts, while ads do the heavy lifting up front.

Variety of Formats and Goals

Let’s dig deeper. Suppose your audience prefers videos — Instagram Ads allows video-based ads.

Or maybe you find that using multiple static image posts in a carousel leads to better conversions — Instagram Ads supports that too.

Instagram adapts to your needs and provides corresponding metrics for each format.

For example: if your website has a great conversion rate but low traffic, you can create a campaign to drive visitors to the site — even without directly aiming to sell.

Or you can simply show off your product and drive direct sales.

Instagram Ads offers huge flexibility. You decide how to use the tool.

E-commerce Integration

If you work with e-commerce, Instagram paid traffic is a must — especially since most online stores are already using it.

More than that: Instagram paid traffic allows you to open new sales channels via the social platform.

That’s where Instagram Shopping comes in. You can add products directly on Instagram and link them to your e-commerce checkout.

This works through the integration of Meta Pixel on your website. Once it’s set up, you can sync your product catalog for sale on Instagram.

Check out this Nuvemshop video to see how it works.

How Does Instagram Ads Work?

We’ve covered the basics of how Instagram Ads works — but there are a few practical points you should know before launching your campaign.

We’ll explore these in detail, but for now, here’s a quick overview.

First: there are many types of Instagram ads. You can create:

• Video ads
• Stories ads
• Feed ads (as shown above)

These are just the formats. You’ll also choose the objective of your campaign, such as:

• Brand awareness
• Reach
• Traffic
• Engagement
• App installs
• Video views
• Lead generation

Each goal comes with a specific CTA (Call to Action), from a simple “Learn more” to “Chat now,” “Watch more,” “Sign up,” and more.

No need to stress — Meta’s Business Manager will guide you step by step to choose what’s best for your brand.

All set with the formats? Then let’s talk a bit more about some technical issues. Take a look:

Can all Accounts Run Paid Traffic on Instagram?

Not all accounts can run paid traffic on Instagram. Meta sets some basic requirements for you to start running your ads:

• You must have a business account on Instagram;
• You must have an ad account on Meta Ads Manager;
• You must have a Facebook Page.

This applies to both ad publishing models offered by Instagram, okay? We’ll talk about both below:

How to Create an ad on Instagram Using Ads Manager?

The hardest part of Instagram paid traffic is setting things up initially — and even that isn’t so hard.

To start using paid traffic on Instagram, the first step is to create a Facebook Page for your business. The second step is to activate Meta Ads Manager.

This second part is also very easy. You just log into your business Facebook account and follow the steps provided by the platform.

You’ll see a screen like this:

Once on this screen, all you need to do is click “Create.” You’ll choose one of the campaign objectives:

And then fill in each of the details the platform requests:

After clicking “Next”, it’s time to handle some of the operational and financial aspects of your campaign. The first step is setting the conversion buttons:

This is where you define what people viewing your ad will be able to do. That colorful bar that appears at the bottom with “Visit website” or “Send a message” is chosen here.

Once you’ve determined that, it’s time to set the campaign duration and budget:

This part is very important. You can choose a total budget or a daily budget for your campaign.

A total budget means you set an amount that won’t be exceeded over the entire campaign duration. Meta will manage the daily spend — some days more, others less.

🔎 Read also: Social Ads – How to Use Social Media to Generate More Leads

A daily budget means you set a specific amount per day, and Meta decides at what times the money will be spent.

If you think this is all too complicated, don’t worry — there’s a simpler way. Take a look at how to use Instagram paid traffic the easy way:

How to Boost a Post Directly on Instagram?

Besides using Meta Ads Manager, you can also boost your post directly through Instagram — a faster and simpler method, though with fewer targeting options.

This is very easy to do, but remember you still need a linked Facebook account.

You don’t need to access Ads Manager, but once you boost a post, it will appear there for you to review later.

Here’s how to create an ad directly through Instagram:

• Go to your profile;
• Click on Ad Tools;
• Select “Choose a post”;
• Choose the post and click Next;
• Define the objective, audience, budget, and duration;
• Click Next.

That’s it! You’re essentially doing what the Ads Manager does, but with fewer targeting and customization options.

What’s the Minimum Amount to Advertise on Instagram?

You need to set a minimum daily budget of R$6.00 to start advertising on Instagram.

The amount is a bit unusual because of the U.S. dollar. Instagram and Meta require all ads to cost at least $1.00 per day or $29.00 per month.

As the dollar fluctuates, this minimum amount in Brazilian reais also changes. If the exchange rate is between R$4.00 and R$5.00, the minimum ad cost will be around R$4.00.

How does Instagram paid traffic billing work?

Payments are set up directly through Meta Ads Manager or Instagram itself.

You can pay by credit card, debit card, bank slip (boleto), PayPal, or PIX. To add your payment details, just click on “Settings” and then on “Payment Settings” in the menu that appears.

What are the Instagram Ad Formats?

Well, I’ve already mentioned some earlier, but let’s dive deeper into all possible formats for running paid traffic on Instagram.

You probably already know some of these formats from either running or receiving ads on Instagram.

But there are some others that might surprise you — and your audience too.

Having a varied ad strategy on Instagram is essential to ensure your best performance on the platform.

And when you use the various types of ads Instagram offers, you’re testing each one to understand not just what they do, but which ones deliver the best results.

They’re all simple to set up and launch. But they have size variations that are worth discussing in more detail.

Let’s go?

Story Ads

These are ads shown only in the stories of your target audience. Important: they don’t need to follow your page to receive these ads.

Stories can include images with feed dimensions — the ads will still work. But ideally, you should create an image or video in the story format so your ad doesn’t look poorly formatted.

The best setting for story ads is 9:16 — vertical image or video, 1920x1080p resolution.

However, story ads also support 16:9 and 4:5, the latter being the same as feed resolution.

Stories can include videos up to one minute long, just like feed posts.

Single Image Ads

These are the most basic Instagram ads, shown in the feed during user scrolling.

They can appear as square, vertical, or horizontal in the feed.

Images must be in .png or .jpg format and at least 1080×1080 pixels.

The ads also support 4:5 dimensions — for images that aren’t square.

Video Ads

Video ads are also essential to paid traffic on Instagram.

They can be up to one minute long and must be in .mov, .mp4, or .gif format.

The standard resolution for videos is the same as for images: 1080x1080p, square.

You can also upload videos with different resolutions, but Instagram may display them horizontally with black bars above and below.

Shopping Ads

For this ad type to work, you need to integrate your Instagram with your website.

Instagram shop ads always appear in square format, 1080x1080p, and can only be created as single image or carousel ads.

When someone clicks on your ad, Instagram takes them straight to the product page on your site.

Carousel Ads

These are just like image ads, but instead of one image, you can use up to 10.

The ad can appear in square format (1080x1080p) or vertical, depending on your settings.

In the feed, it will appear square; in stories, vertical.

Running carousel ads in stories is a good idea because you can combine multiple story cards. Sometimes one card isn’t enough to convey everything you need.

Reels Ads

You can run Reels ads in two main ways.

The first is using automatic placements. You upload a video in Ads Manager during setup and select which placements to include.

Using automatic placements, Instagram will place your video as a Reels ad — as long as it’s compatible in format.

But you can also create a separate campaign using only Reels. No big secret here — just select “manual placement” when setting up your campaign.

Videos in Reels ads can be up to 15 minutes long — quite different from the other ad types.

Ads in the Explore Section

There are two primary placements for ads in Instagram’s Explore section.

First, there are ads on the Explore home page. They appear directly in the content grid, where users see both organic posts and sponsored content.

But you can also configure the “Instagram Explore” placement, which sounds similar to “Explore Home Page.” The names are very close—so be careful not to mix them up.

With the Explore placement, your ad appears within the grid of posts accessed by a user after they click on any of the Explore blocks—not just on the home page.

You can also choose to include your Feed ads in this area by selecting manual placements when setting up your ads.

Understanding Instagram Audience Targeting

Instagram paid traffic wouldn’t mean much without the ability to define your target audience—deciding exactly who you want your ad to reach.

It’s not that hard to set up, though it is a somewhat advanced task. Over time, you’ll get the hang of the best tactics.

Instagram’s audience targeting system is intuitive: you select your audience’s gender, interests, and demographics. Here’s a guide with screenshots:

How to Target in Ads Manager

When creating your campaign, you must fill in targeting details:

This is when you define who your ad will reach. It’s the most important part of Instagram paid traffic.

Beyond basic info like age and gender, you can also create a custom audience. Click “Create New” to start.

You’ll then pick the origin of your custom audience. See the guide to understand what each option means.

Detailed targeting is also important for refining your audience:

Here, you add demographic, interest, and behavior data related to your target audience. Explore the available options! This is more advanced, but you’ll learn it over time.

Are There Restricted Audiences on Instagram Paid Traffic?

You cannot advertise to children or adolescents on Instagram. All ads must target users aged 18 or older.

But don’t worry—Ads Manager won’t allow placements outside that range.

There are also restrictions on content categories. You cannot promote:

• Tobacco products
• Alcoholic beverages
• Health-related products
• Animal sales
• Online gambling sites

What Is the Meta Pixel?

The Pixel is an ad setup tool that enables remarketing on Facebook and Instagram.

When you create a Pixel, you generate a tracking code for your website. Once implemented, when someone visits your site and you run remarketing ads, that user will receive personalized ads from your brand.

With the Pixel, you can build custom ad audiences—like people who performed specific actions on your site.

For example: if a visitor adds items to a cart but doesn’t purchase, you can target them with tailored ads.

Any user action on your site can be tracked and used in Instagram ads. Not having a Pixel today means missing valuable opportunities.

To create a Pixel:

• Open Meta Business Manager
• Select your business
• Go to Data Sources
• Click on Pixel
• Click Add
• Name your Pixel and optionally add your website URL
• Click Continue

You’ll then receive the Pixel code, which needs to be installed on your site. We have a step-by-step guide to help you with that.

Tips for Getting the Best Results from Your Ads

Now that you know how Instagram paid traffic works and how to set up your first ads, let’s go over key techniques for optimizing campaign performance.

It’s not just about posting anything and hoping for the best—you’re investing money, so you’ll want a good return.

Here are the top strategies:

Copywriting

Your ads need persuasive copywriting aimed at conversion.

Instead of asking “Do you know our product?” your ad should say something like “Our product does X, Y, and Z for you.”

The core of good copywriting is presenting your product’s value in the first line. And in ads, where space is limited, you must be concise and clear.

Check out our article on copywriting for ideas on creating compelling Instagram Ads.

Always Include the Right CTA

Earlier, we mentioned adding a call‑to‑action in your sponsored posts. This is crucial—choosing the right CTA matters.

Avoid automatically relying on default options. Each CTA is designed for specific goals.

Learn how each works, then select the one that aligns with your ad objective.

Have a Good Landing Page

Between 2021 and 2022, Meta tightened the rules around destination pages.

If your landing page lacks HTTPS, loads slowly, or offers a poor user experience, you’ll struggle to generate conversions.

Meta combats bad experiences by throttling reach for ads with low-quality destination sites—essentially shadow-banning them.

So improve your site continuously and monitor these critical elements.

Research Your Competitors

Did you know you can view all active ads from competitors on Facebook and Instagram?

Go to the competitor’s Facebook Page, scroll way down, click “Page Transparency,” then “See More,” and then “Active Ads.”

You’ll enter their ad library, where you can view their creative, CTAs, ad copy, and different ad versions.

You won’t see audience targeting—protecting your own strategy from being replicated easily.

Monitor Daily

It might seem tedious—ads run automatically—but daily monitoring is crucial.

Especially when managing multiple audiences.

Targeting setup can be complex. If you’re running many campaigns, you must monitor performance closely to avoid wasting money.

Track reach and conversions. If reach is low, your targeting is too narrow. If conversions are low, adjust your creative or audience.

Also, mistakes happen—one wrong click could burn your budget quickly. So check your spend regularly.

Test, Test, and Keep Testing

Continuous testing is the most important element.

The more you test, the better your results will be. Simply running ads already counts as testing.

The key is measuring results. Is it working? Or can it be improved?

That’s the experimental mindset—but you can also run formal A/B tests for your campaigns.

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I hope this guide clarified things and laid out your next steps clearly.

Have questions? Leave them in the comments—I read and reply to every single one. Thanks for reading, and a big hug!