TL;DR: Instagram has no ads manager of its own. You build Instagram ads in Meta Ads Manager: click Create, pick a campaign goal that supports Instagram, choose your Instagram account in the ad, and keep or narrow the placements. Boost is the short version, with fewer goals, formats and targeting options. An Instagram account helps, and Meta lets your Facebook Page stand in if you have none.
Instagram ads run from Meta Ads Manager
The tool is the same one that runs Facebook ads. Meta's Help Center has a page named "Create Instagram ads in Meta Ads Manager". Its summary is short. After creating your ad, you "make sure that you've selected Instagram in the ad preview section".
An Instagram ad is a Meta ad with Instagram among its placements. The campaign, the budget, the audience and the reports all sit in Ads Manager.
What you need first
Meta's page starts with one line: "Make sure you have an Instagram account you'd like to use to run ads." It then gives two ways to link an existing account:
- Add the Instagram account to a business portfolio.
- Connect the Instagram account to your business's Facebook Page.
A Facebook Page is part of the setup either way. In the ad, you "choose a Facebook Page to represent your business on Facebook's Feed".
You can start with no Instagram account at all. Meta's step says that without an Instagram account, your Facebook Page can represent your business on Instagram. The ad then runs on Instagram under the Page's name and picture.
The steps
Meta's own list has twelve steps. These are the ones that decide whether the ad reaches Instagram.
- In Ads Manager, click + Create.
- Choose a campaign goal that supports Instagram. Meta lists six: Awareness, Engagement, Traffic, Leads, App promotion and Sales.
- Set the audience, the budget and the schedule in the ad set.
- In the ad, choose your Facebook Page, then your account below Instagram account. Click Add an account if yours is missing.
- Write the headline, the text and the call-to-action button.
- Below Ad preview, check that Instagram is among the placements.
- Click Publish.
Two of the six goals carry a condition on Meta's page. Traffic reaches Instagram with Website or App as the conversion location. Leads does the same.
How to show an ad on Instagram only
By default the ad runs on every placement. Meta recommends keeping it that way and says so twice. One page advises Include all available placements "to give you the best value for your ads". The other recommends running on Facebook and Instagram "at the same time".
Meta still documents both ways to narrow it:
| Where | What to do |
|---|---|
| In the ad set, at placements | Select Show more settings, then select Instagram under Platforms |
| In the ad, below Ad preview | Click Remove next to every placement except Instagram |
Instagram-only makes sense when the creative only works there. A vertical video cut for Reels is the usual case. Check the Reels and Stories safe zones before you publish it, and the sizes for each placement.
What the Boost button leaves out
Meta has a page on the difference. A boosted post is "an ad you create from an existing piece of content" on your Page or Instagram account. Meta still counts it as an ad, and your bill shows it as one.
| Boost | Ads Manager | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | A post, Story or Reel you already published | A new ad, or an existing post |
| Goals | Website clicks, Page engagement, local business promotions | Those, plus leads, app promotion and sales |
| Targeting | Interests, age and gender | Those, plus lookalike audiences and overlapping audience types |
| Formats | The post, unchanged | Carousel ads and more creative options |
Meta's own summary of the limit: boosted posts "don't have as many customization and detailed targeting options as a traditional Meta ad". Its page adds that "campaign creation, budget settings and performance metrics are only available in Ads Manager".
Boost fits one job: more reach for a post that already works. For anything you want to measure against a sale or a lead, build the ad in Ads Manager.
You can still use an Instagram post as the ad
Leaving Boost does not mean leaving your posts behind. Meta documents creating ads from existing Instagram posts in Ads Manager. The post keeps its likes and comments, and it gains the goals and the targeting of a full campaign.
Instagram ads in Adsap
Adsap creates the same ads through Meta's Marketing API, from the web app or an AI assistant. Three points match what Meta describes above:
- The Instagram account is optional: leave it empty, and Adsap uses the Instagram account connected to your Page. With none connected, the ad runs under the Page, as in Meta's step.
- An Instagram post can become the ad: pick a post from your account and place it in an ad set.
- Everything starts paused: you see a preview first, and nothing spends until you switch it on.
Frequently asked questions
No. Instagram ads are built in Meta Ads Manager, the same tool as Facebook ads. The Instagram app only offers Boost, which turns an existing post into an ad with fewer options.
Yes. Meta's Help Center says that without an Instagram account, your Facebook Page can represent your business on Instagram. The ad then shows under the Page's name.
In the ad set, select Show more settings at placements and select Instagram under Platforms. Or, in the ad, click Remove next to every placement except Instagram below Ad preview. Meta recommends keeping all placements.
A boosted post is an ad, and Meta bills it as one. It starts from an existing post and offers fewer goals, formats and targeting options than an ad built in Ads Manager.
Meta lists six: Awareness, Engagement, Traffic, Leads, App promotion and Sales. Traffic and Leads reach Instagram with Website or App as the conversion location.
Sources
All Meta pages read on 10 November 2026. Meta's Help Center pages carry no update date.
- Meta Business Help Center, Create Instagram ads in Meta Ads Manager: the account condition, the six goals, the twelve steps, the Page standing in for an Instagram account.
- Meta Business Help Center, How to create Instagram ads in Meta Ads Manager: the placements step and the recommendation to include all placements.
- Meta Business Help Center, The difference between boosted posts and Meta ads: the definition of a boosted post and what Ads Manager adds.
- Meta Business Help Center, Create ads from existing Instagram posts with Meta Ads Manager.