Publishing Ads on Instagram with Your CRM

Your CRM allows you to extend your advertising campaigns to Instagram by connecting your Instagram account to a Facebook Page. This guide explains the benefits of this integration and walks you through the setup and publishing process.

Benefits of Using Instagram Ads

Combining Instagram and Facebook advertising expands your reach across different audience segments. Instagram excels at engaging a younger, visually-oriented demographic, while Facebook provides access to a broader age range. Using both platforms together enables powerful retargeting strategies and allows you to leverage unique ad formats from each network. Managing your campaigns from a single, unified interface within your CRM streamlines the entire process and provides combined performance analytics.

Connecting Your Instagram Account to a Facebook Page

Before you can run Instagram ads through your CRM, you must first connect an Instagram professional account to a Facebook Page. This connection is managed on the Meta platform. Once linked, selecting the Facebook Page for an ad campaign will automatically include the connected Instagram account.

Step 1: Convert to an Instagram Professional Account

If your Instagram account is not already a Business or Creator account, you will need to convert it.

1. Open the Instagram app and go to your profile.
2. Tap the menu icon in the top-right corner and navigate to Settings and activity.
3. Scroll down and select Account type and tools, then choose Switch to professional account.
4. Select either Business (recommended for advertising) or Creator.
5. Choose a relevant business category and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup.

Step 2: Link Instagram to Your Facebook Page

You can connect the accounts using one of two methods.

Method A: Through Facebook Page Settings (Recommended)

1. Go to Facebook and open your Business Page.
2. Click Settings in the left sidebar.
3. Select Linked Accounts, then Instagram.
4. Click Connect Account and log in to your Instagram account when prompted.
5. Ensure the option to Allow Access to Messages & Connected Experiences is enabled, then click Confirm.

Method B: Through the Instagram App

1. In the Instagram app, go to your profile and tap Edit Profile.
2. Scroll to the Public Business Information section.
3. Tap Page, then select Connect or Create a Facebook Page.
4. Choose your existing Facebook Page or create a new one, then tap Done.

Step 3: Verify the Connection

To ensure the connection was successful, log in to Meta Business Suite. Navigate to Settings and then Instagram Accounts. Your connected Instagram account should be listed there. If it is not, you can add it from this screen.

Once you have confirmed that your Instagram account is a Professional Account, connected to the correct Facebook Page, and verified in Meta Business Suite, you are ready to create ads.

How to Publish Ads on Instagram

To create an ad campaign that includes Instagram placements:

1. From the Ad Manager home page in your CRM, click Create Campaign.
2. Select the desired Facebook Page. A default page may be pre-selected, but you can change it.
3. Choose the Instagram account for publishing. The behavior here depends on your setup:
   • If no Instagram account is connected to the selected Facebook Page, choose Use Facebook page from the Instagram account dropdown. The ad will then use the name and profile picture from your Facebook Page.
   • If an Instagram account is linked to the Facebook Page, it will be automatically selected for the campaign.
4. Configure your ad placements. You can either use the Auto placement option, which selects all available Instagram placements, or choose specific placements manually.
5. Proceed to add your ad creative, set your budget, define your target audience, and configure all other campaign details.
6. Before publishing, you can preview how the ad will appear on Instagram by selecting the Instagram tab in the preview window.
7. Click Publish to launch your campaign across both Facebook and Instagram.

Viewing Instagram Ad Reports

After your Instagram ads start running, their performance metrics will appear in your CRM's Ad Manager, using the same reporting tools as your Facebook ads. You can view combined metrics for both platforms and analyze performance at both the overall campaign level and for individual campaigns.

Disconnecting an Instagram Account

If you need to unlink an Instagram account from a Facebook Page to connect it to a different page, this must be done through the Meta platform. Please refer to Meta's official documentation for the most current instructions on managing this connection.