Instagram is a fast-growing social media platform known for appealing visuals and high-quality photos shared by individuals and companies alike. Instagram ads are paid content that shows up with organic content in newsfeeds and stories.

With more than 1 billion active monthly users, the Instagram platform offers your business a significant opportunity to communicate with leads interested in your products or services. You can reach even more leads and grow your business by using Instagram Ads.

When it comes to how much it costs to run Instagram ads in Nigeria, there are certain factors that should be in place first to make this possible. Instagram Ad cost depends on your bidding models, such as cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-impression (CPM).

Is Instagram advertising suitable for your business? Well, if this platform is popular with your target audience, Instagram could be a very powerful tool. Statista reports that 37% percent of Nigeria Instagram users are 25 to 34 years old.

This Facebook-owned platform has over 1 billion active monthly users, so it’s certainly worth your consideration.

Instagram Ads is still new to some companies that deal with social media ads, so we want to help give your company some strategic tactics.

This guide will help you navigate the cost of Instagram ads, how the cost is determined, and much more!

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How do Instagram ads work?

Depending on your campaign objective, ads appearing on Instagram can have up to 18 call-to-action button options, can link to your website, and give users options to download applications or shop online stores.

You don’t actually even need an Instagram account to advertise on Instagram. Since Facebook is its parent company, all you need is a Facebook Business Page. However, it is best to have an Instagram account so you can familiarize yourself with content that resonates best with your target audience and complement and amplify your organic Instagram marketing efforts.

What makes Instagram advertising worth the price?

Advertising on social media brings many benefits, and there are some particular benefits of paying for ad impressions on Instagram rather than simply running campaigns and promotions directly from your business’s account.

Advanced targeting

With over 1 billion monthly users, Instagram ranks second after Facebook. These platforms have an incredibly robust arsenal of targeting data and since Facebook owns Instagram, Instagram advertising utilizes the same comprehensive demographic and geographic data. This advanced targeting is what makes Facebook Ads work so well, as you can be incredibly prescriptive when targeting various audiences. Whether you are utilizing Facebook’s native audiences based on interests, behaviors, or other demographics, or utilizing your own custom audiences that utilize your Pixel or SDK, email lists, or other sources, you can find success in reaching the right people in your prospecting and retargeting campaigns.

Higher engagement rates

Instagram is known for its high engagement rates—both organically and through paid ads. Images on Instagram receive an average of 23% more engagement than when shared on Facebook. When it comes to organic engagement, brands on Instagram say that they have about 4% of their followers seeing their content compared to the nearly non-existent organic reach that Facebook has today. While it’s better, it’s still wise to pay to play in order to expand your reach and visibility with paid ads. While any form of visual content can perform well, brands typically see more engagement from video ads—about 38% more. As a visual platform, images and videos are powerful in driving more engagement than on other more text-based social platforms.

External links

Instagram does not currently allow clickable links in organic posts. You can include a link in your caption or message, but the recipient has to copy and paste it into their browser or visit the link in your Instagram bio. With Instagram advertising, you can include outside links, which enables you to designate a destination URL to your website or another external URL. To be able to better track website traffic from your Instagram Ads, it’s recommended to use your own domain as you should have your Pixel implemented there, whereas you may not have it on other website URLs that you don’t control.

Cost of Instagram Ads

Instagram sponsored ads are not as expensive as many people make them be. One of the most pressing questions from advertisers who are interested in advertising on Instagram is “how much does a click or conversion cost“?

Instagram Cost Per Click (CPC)

For all metrics, Instagram CPC in 2022 ranges from ₦166 – ₦295. This takes into account all clicks that happen on an ad, which includes not only link clicks, but likes/reactions, comments, and shares.

For ads that have a destination URL, Instagram CPC in 2022 ranges from ₦207 – ₦395.

Instagram Cost Per Engagement(CPE)

CPE in 2022 ranges from ₦10 – ₦50.

Instagram Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM)

CPM in 2022 ranges between ₦1037 – ₦1452 for better-performing campaigns and their respective ad sets.

When it comes to CPMs, our findings show that Facebook tends to be higher than Instagram, by nearly 2x but CPCs tend to be lower by nearly half on Facebook compared to Instagram.

There are however many elements that affect the cost of your Instagram ads.

The cost of Instagram ads ultimately comes down to the audience you are targeting that’s why knowing your Instagram demographics is so critical.

With a budget of ₦18,000, you could create an Instagram-sponsored ad that would run for 7 days. The key is what your target is and how you want to approach it. While brands who know the power of Instagram ads spend hundreds of thousands running ads on the platform others see no need at all and stay behind.

Our Ad Campaign Plans & Pricing

Note: This reach is estimated, which means that you cannot get exactly the numbers listed. It could be more or less than the figures listed, lots of things determine the results, like your price per click or impressions, your target with your ads, etc.

Factors that influence Instagram ad pricing

Similar to other platforms, Instagram ad pricing is influenced by a number of variables.

Campaign objective

Campaign objectives can cause your advertising costs to be automatically higher or lower, depending on which you choose and how it relates to where your target audience is in the funnel.

For example, if you select a brand awareness campaign objective, it will be lower in cost than something lower down the funnel and that has a higher value objective, such as conversions. Having broader, colder audiences see your ad to drive brand awareness is a lower-value action compared to targeting a user further down the funnel—who is more familiar with your brand and offerings, and ready to open their wallet or take a higher-value action.

Audience size

If you are targeting broader audiences, they are typically lower in cost as there is less competition for a group of people. As you narrow your audiences, perhaps by reducing their geotargeting or age ranges, you may see the price go up as competition for those eyeballs increases in parallel. Retargeting audiences are typically smaller as well, hence why we often see higher costs in retargeting campaigns.

Budget

The budget also influences Instagram ad costs because if you have a small budget, it may take longer to get out of the Learning Phase if your campaign or ad set is starting anew. Costs may be more expensive at first before the system learns and understands your campaign type and optimization goals, and how your audience engages with your ads. If your ads are well engaged, Facebook and Instagram will reward you with lower costs over time.

Click-Thru 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. Aim for a healthy CTR which is about 2%. If you have a healthy CTR, you should see your costs decrease.

How to Reduce Your Instagram Ads Cost

Sometimes it may feel as though advertising is too expensive. How much do Instagram ads cost for businesses on a tight budget? Are there ways to reduce these costs? Again, the answer is that it depends. 

However, advertising is necessary for growing your business, so you’re better off learning how to manage your Instagram ads properly. This will help you enjoy the rewards of effective social media advertising.

You can lower the cost of your Instagram ads by using careful targeting and having clear goals to keep you on track and prevent overspending. Try using automatic bidding to help avoid costly mistakes as you learn to use the platform. Once you set a daily budget, your costs won’t go past this limit. You can also use automatic bidding to make sure you stay within fixed costs for Instagram ads per month.

Automatic Bidding

If you haven’t used Instagram ads before, using automatic bidding for your campaign is beneficial. For you, it’s a simple way to get a bid that’s right for your campaign.

Automatic bidding is the best way to go if you don’t have any historical data informing you of a good CPC to set for your campaign. This will help you determine the bid amount that matches your campaign.

By using automatic bidding, you are preventing your company from overbidding to run an ad. The shortage of previous data can make it tough for you to know the right bid amount. You might bid more than you need to.

Automatic bidding is a smart way to minimize the expense of your Instagram ads.

You can also consider creating specific landing pages with highly relevant content to your ad, which can help ensure your quality score stays high. Your home page may have a wide variety of information that may not be relevant to your ad. 

Testing can also benefit you because nailing relevancy in your ad copy can help reduce costs. You must test your ad to make sure you put out the best version possible. Testing your ad lets you make a more relevant copy of the ad. Relevant ad copy means you will have a higher ad spot, leading to a lower CPC.

Why you should hire a Digital marketing agency

Everybody is advertising on social media but not everybody is getting results!

Are your social media channels exposing your business to potential customers, driving massive sales to your business, and increasing your business turnover? If your answer is not a BIG YES! Then you need to hire social media experts right away!

Being on Facebook or Instagram or having a website is no longer enough to stand out in this overcrowded digital space. You need to be making loud impressions that will distinguish your brand from your competitors, totally attract and engage your visitors and ultimately convert your social media fans to paying customers.

Digital Marketing is how Smart companies are driving sales and patronage massively to their businesses. Don’t be left out!! Let the number one digital marketing agency in Nigeria handle your campaigns.

Conclusion

Advertising on Instagram is an effective way for you to reach valuable leads who spend time on the platform every day. Many users shop while they scroll, and if you target carefully, they may be looking for what you’re selling. 

Get ad targeting right, decide on a budget that will work for you, and start creating campaigns that will deliver results. Expert advice can also help you lower your costs and get the most out of your Instagram ads. If you need help with social media marketing, digital strategy, or other consulting support, don’t hesitate to contact us.