What to know before you boost on Instagram

Boosting your post and stories are a great way to reach an audience beyond your followers. You can create Instagram ads from posts and stories that you've already shared with your audience. Before you boost a post or story, make sure your business has done the following:

• Established an organic audience. Being authentic is at the core of the Instagram community, posting frequently and regularly is a free way to engage your audience.

• Share organic photos and videos of your products, services, or a behind-the-scenes look at your day to day. Posting organically before advertising lets people you trust learn more about what's important to your business and what it's about.
   

Once you're ready to advertise, you control how much you want to spend and who you'd like to your ads to reach. When creating an ad, you'll choose the following:

1. Goal: Choose what results you'd like from this ad. You can select more profile visits, more website visits or more messages.
2. Audience: Select who you'd like your ads to reach. When you select Automatic, Instagram will advertise to people similar to your followers. You can also create your own audience for more detailed targeting.
3. Budget & Duration: You control how much you spend on your ads. Choose how much you'd like to spend and how long you'd like your ads to run. You can pause your ads at any time.

After you've made your selections, you'll be able to review your payment options and submit your ad.
Your ad will be review to make sure it complies with Meta's Advertising Standards, most ads will be reviewed and start to run within an hour.