Instagram Promotion: Making More Noise About Your Brand

Profile photo of Karen Lin, author

Karen Lin

Instagram 101 | Dec 24, 2024

Want More Real Instagram Followers?

Every day, millions of people spend their time scrolling through Instagram. That’s potentially millions of eyeballs on your brand. However, your posts’ reach and content engagement are only as good as your follower count. Those who don’t follow you may not see your gorgeous, aesthetically pleasing photos and videos. Unless, of course, you invest in Instagram promotion.

To reach a wider audience, you need to include Instagram ads, influencer marketing and promotion services in your marketing strategy. That way, more people can see what your brand has to offer. And yes, that typically means having to “pay to play”. Today, we’ll walk you through Instagram promos and why they’re such a good investment. We’ll also let you in on some of our top tips to promote your brand for free! Keep reading to learn more.

A person scrolls through Instagram on an iPhone, with a black coffee mug, black notepad and pen on the table.

What Is an Instagram Promotion?

An Instagram paid promotion is a way of investing money to get a wider audience to see your brand online. This could be in the form of Instagram advertising, boosting organic posts, influencer marketing, and many more. As long as you’re making an effort to actively promote your brand, you can consider it an Instagram promo.

Promos on Instagram are a huge part of any successful brand’s digital marketing strategy. You’ll have to decide on your budget, choose your target audience, plan content creation, and so much more. If you put in the legwork, the results can be significant. With effective promotion, your Instagram posts get more reach. As a result, you can gain more followers and content engagement like post comments, shares and likes. Paid promotions allow businesses or influences to boost Instagram presence, increase brand awareness, and start raking in profits.

The Benefits of Knowing How To Promote Your Business on Instagram

Whether you’re a big brand or a business, you should know how to promote your brand on social media. If you don’t, you could be missing out on thousands, or even millions, of views on your content. Here are some of the biggest benefits of promoting on Instagram:

Boost Brand Awareness

When you promote your Instagram page, you give it a higher chance of being seen by others. This boost in visibility can introduce your brand to a wider audience. So if you’re a new brand or upcoming influencer, promotions should be a part of your marketing strategy.

Target the Right People

Promos allow you to reach your specific target audience. You can choose to run an Instagram ad campaign that targets certain people. These users can fall under the age, gender and demographic you’re trying to attract. You can select where to place your paid promotions. Thanks to the Instagram algorithms, the people who matter most will see your content.

Make Noise About Your Offers

Paid promotion on Instagram is an excellent way to let people know about any sales and offers you currently have. Promos can bring awareness to discounts and cool deals your brand can provide. Reaching more people with these offers can bring in more sales and conversions.

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Switch to a Business Account To Do Instagram Promos

Before promoting on the Instagram app, switch to a professional or business account. Personal profiles aren’t allowed to promote or boost posts – only professional accounts are. Luckily, switching from a personal to a professional Instagram account is super easy. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Go to your Instagram profile and click the menu on the top-right corner of the screen.
  2. Scroll down and click Account Type and Tools under the For Professionals tab.
  3. Click Switch to professional account.
  4. Read the instructions and answer questions about your brand. When you’re finished, tap Done. That’s it! Your page is now a professional or business account.

Before doing any Instagram promotions with your professional account, tidy up your profile first. Make sure you polish your account so your profile photo, bio, location and website links reflect your brand personality. Put your profile on public as well so that your target audience can actually find you.

Three Ways To Get Instagram Paid Promotions

Everybody says there’s no such thing as a free lunch. This is completely true, even when we use promotions on Instagram. Instagram is getting more and more competitive for brands. Billions of users go on the social media platform every month. This makes it a terrific opportunity for brands to strut their stuff. It’s incredibly difficult to get on people’s Instagram feeds. After all, thousands of other brands are competing for their place there too.

So, investing money in Instagram promotions is a smart way to ensure your content reaches your target audience. You could say this makes Instagram a largely “pay-to-play” platform. Relying on organic reach could be a bad digital marketing strategy. Your reach, content engagement and sales will all depend on increasing your follower count

If you have a small fanbase and don’t show up on their feeds, no one will see your Instagram posts. You need to put in money for your audience to see your brand. Want to know how to promote your brand the right way? Here are three ways to do Instagram paid promotion:

1. Boosted Posts: How To Promote Instagram Posts Through Ads

The most common way to do promos on Instagram is by boosting feed posts, reels or your Instagram story. Boosting a post means turning an organic piece of content into an Instagram ad that you can manage. Your ad reaches a wider audience that can draw in new followers and content engagement, like post comments and likes.

Here’s how to promote Instagram posts by boosting them, step by step:

  1. Go to your Instagram profile and choose the content you want to boost. This can be a regular feed post, an Instagram Reel, or a Story. Make sure it is a digestible tidbit post, as Instagram doesn’t recommend boosting posts that are larger than 8MB.
  1. Below the post, click the blue “Boost post” button.
  1. Choose a goal for your new ad. This can be brand awareness, sales conversions or any other goal aligned with your digital marketing strategy.
  1. Then, select your target audience. Choose specific demographics to ensure that your content reaches the right people.
  1. Set a budget and duration depending on how much money you want to spend on your boosted post.
  1. Review the details of your boosted post and click Done.

2. Collaborations: How To Promote Your Instagram by Tapping Another Brand’s Audience

Not a fan of ads? Here’s how to promote your Instagram to your audience in a more modern, seamless way. This method involves working with other brands and influencers. By collaborating with another Instagram brand, you can tap and “borrow” their followers and lead them to your page. These Instagram promos involve a paid partnership between you and an influencer or partner brand. Together, you will create branded content to promote your products and social media accounts.

You can post branded content as a joint post between you and the influencer you’re working with. That way, it shows up on their followers’ feeds, too. You can turn these posts into ads later on, which exponentially increases the audience you reach. However, that makes it a more expensive promotion. Note that if you work with an influencer to promote your brand, your investment will be higher than boosting posts.

3. Hire Instagram Promotion Services, Like Path Social

The first two paid Instagram promos we covered are ones that anyone on the app can see. But if you want to gain more reach and content engagement discreetly, we have a third option. Why not try Instagram promotion services? You can work with a growth service like Path Social to help boost your Instagram presence. We can help you promote content to your target audience. Unlike ads and paid partnerships, this type of promotion isn’t a hard sell, which can work in your favor.

Path Social’s targeting algorithm shows your content to the people who are most likely to engage with it. This will boost your content engagement rate and reel in more followers for your fanbase. The best part is that the new followers you gain are long-lasting, engaging, and never fake. It’s a terrific way to grow your brand without having to work on big marketing ad campaigns.

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How Much Do Instagram Promotions Cost?

Concerned about whether Instagram promos are cost-effective? Don’t worry. The total Instagram promotion cost is different for each promo project or campaign. That means you can tailor the promotion budget according to what your business can afford. When you boost Instagram posts, you can choose your budget. This can go as low as a few dollars per day. 

If you’re looking to tap influencers for collaborations, you can negotiate their talent fee. You can also send them your products for free as payment if they’re amenable to that. That way, you won’t be spending as much as if you were to pay them a monetary fee.

How To Get Free Instagram Promotion

Promos on Instagram are mostly paid advertising or marketing efforts. However, you can also promote your brand organically on the platform. Many smaller brands and influencers promote on Instagram and increase their social media presence without paying a cent. Instead of spending money on boosted posts and influencer partnerships, they get extra creative with their Instagram marketing strategy

Working on a tight budget for your brand? Here are a few ways to get a free promotion, either on your own or from others:

Cross-Post in Social Media Platforms for More Instagram Promo

One of the easiest ways to do free Instagram promos for your brand is to cross-post your content. Post to your other social media accounts, like Facebook and TikTok. This way, people in your target audience who aren’t as active on Instagram still have a chance to see it. You can link your professional Instagram account with your brand’s Facebook page. That way, when you post anything on Instagram, it shows up on Facebook, too.

If you have a blog or website, you can embed Instagram posts on some pages to increase your content’s visibility. Embedding your posts on other websites also allows visitors to click on your Instagram profile to visit your page. Populating your other platforms with content from Instagram is a smart way to maximize your content creation efforts. This free Instagram promotion technique also keeps your brand active in multiple online spaces.

Promote Instagram Account by Reposting Your Content on Stories

Another way to promote Instagram accounts for free is by reposting your feed posts on Instagram Stories. When you post organic content on your feed, there’s no guarantee that all your followers will see it. Sometimes, you’ll upload a photo while many of your followers aren’t online. Your post may also drown in a sea of content on some followers’ feeds. 

Reposting it to your Stories is one way to ensure that more of your followers see your content. It doesn’t just increase your post’s reach. It’s a way to keep your brand visible on more than one channel.

User-Generated Content: How Can I Promote an Instagram Profile With UGC?

Instagram business owners and influencers always ask, “How can I promote an Instagram profile for free?” Rarely do they ever think that their customers can give them free promos on Instagram instead. User-generated content is organic content your customers spontaneously make that features your products. By creating posts like these, your followers are technically promoting your brand to their followers for free. 

A wider audience will see your products. Since it’s their friend posting about your brand, it’s not as off-putting as a traditional ad. Encourage your followers to post user-generated content by giving them an incentive to do so. Consider offering discount vouchers for each piece of content they make featuring your brand.

Instagram Reels: Can You Promote Reels on Instagram?

Experimenting with Instagram Reels allows you to promote your brand more on the platform. People who don’t follow you are more likely to discover your Reels than your feed posts.

That’s because Instagram puts relevant Reels on people’s Reels tab, which many people scroll through all day. This increases the chances of someone in your target audience discovering your brand.

You can also gain more views on your brand’s Reels by reposting them on your Instagram Story. Some people might also be wondering, can you promote Reels on Instagram? Yes, if you want to pay money to boost an Instagram Reel and get more views, you can do that. That makes Reels a versatile channel for Instagram promotion, as it works organically and through paid promotions.

Host a Contest or Giveaway as a Fun Instagram Promotion

Another fun way to promote yourself on Instagram is by holding a contest or giveaway for your followers. Part of the mechanics to win free products from your shop can include sharing a post or following your account. That way, you gain followers, likes, comments and shares

Now, this Instagram promotion technique isn’t technically free. You’ll still be giving out some of your products to the winner. But this gives the followers who get free products a chance to post user-generated content for you. If your followers repost content they promote your services even further, so it’s a pretty cost-effective method.

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How Do I Track the Success of My Instagram Promos?

Running promos on Instagram is only one part of the process when you’re trying to achieve organic growth. The real success lies in understanding how well your campaigns perform and adjusting your strategy. You can do this with Instagram Insights. Here’s how to access it: 

  1. Go to your profile and tap Insights in the top right corner.
  2. View the metrics under the Overview section.
  3. Click on the shared content for a performance breakdown.

With Instagram Insights, you can view several important performance metrics. These give you an idea of how well a campaign is doing and whether you need to change things. Here’s a quick guide to the three key performance indicators (KPIs) you should be monitoring:

  • Reach and Impressions – Reach is the number of users who have seen your promo. Impressions show the number of times Instagram has displayed your promo, including multiple views from the same user.
  • Engagement Rate – This metric measures how well your target audience is interacting with your content. It calculates things like comments, likes, shares, saves and other elements. A high engagement rate means your audience is successfully connecting with your promo.
  • Conversions – Conversions track the number of desired actions users take when they’ve interacted with your content. For example, purchasing products or signing up to your website. You can use this to determine how effective a call-to-action (CTA) is. 

Tips To Optimize Your Instagram Profile For Promos

Before you run paid promotions on Instagram, you should always make sure to optimize your profile. This gives your promos the best chance of success. Follow our expert tips on how to optimize your profile for promos and boost your Instagram presence:

Create a Strong Bio

Your Instagram bio is the first thing your potential followers or customers will see. Because of this, it needs to clearly explain who you are, what you do, and why it matters. You need a concise, straight-to-the-point description, and use a tone that resonates with your target audience. Let followers know why they should follow you or take action. Highlight your unique selling points, offers, and promotions that set you apart from other profiles.

Achieve Brand Consistency

To achieve brand awareness, you need to maintain cohesive branding across your Instagram profile. This builds trust and recognition which is vital for any successful promo to create an online presence. Use a high-quality profile picture with a logo or image that aligns with your brand identity. Stick with a consistent color palette and style in your posts, stories and reels to create a unified look. Instagram promos should fit seamlessly into your regular posting schedules and align with your overall theme.

Use Powerful CTA Buttons

If you want to create effective call-to-actions, you need impactful buttons. Great CTAs will drive users to your website, products, or services. Think “Shop Now”, “Get Started!” and “Contact Us Today”. The CTA buttons you choose should fit your campaign goals and intended audience. They should make it easy for users to take the next step.

Clean Up Your Links

Make sure your profile links to the right places. This is especially crucial if you’re promoting a specific product or service. Put the link to the relevant page in your bio so users can easily find what they need. Change your bio links regularly to suit your latest campaigns, promos or offerings. This helps your followers access the most relevant and up-to-date information.

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Instagram Promos Aren’t the Only Way To Boost Your Following

Investing in paid promotion on Instagram is one of the best ways to reach your intended target audience. By boosting posts and encouraging user-generated content, you can put your brand out there. It doesn’t matter if you invest a hefty budget to boost posts or promote your brand organically. You will surely reap the benefits of Instagram promos. In no time, you’ll see higher reach, impressions and content engagement on your posts.

But traditional Instagram promotion isn’t the only way to make that happen. Focusing on your growth strategy can reel in more followers too. At Path Social, we can help you with this. Our AI targeting algorithm helps your community grow. We promote your content to the people who are most likely to enjoy it. That gives you more exposure to a wider audience and boosts content engagement. As a result, you’ll get more followers and, consequently, more people to promote your brand and products to. So, start growing your fanbase with Path Social today!

FAQs

Is paying for Instagram promotions worth it?

Yes, paid promotions can help you attract your target audience and increase engagement rates. You can boost posts, reels and stories to reach more interested people. It’s particularly useful for businesses and influencers who want to find potential customers based on their interests, demographics and behaviors. However, it’s important to understand your audience, campaign goals and measure success to achieve positive return on investment (ROI).

How much do promos on Instagram cost?

The cost of Instagram promos varies based on your targeting options, ad format and the specific budget you set. Instagram lets you set a daily or total budget and will show your ad until the budget runs out. The price can range widely from a few dollars to hundreds depending on your goals.

Is boosting Instagram posts a waste of money?

No, boosting Instagram posts isn’t necessarily a waste of money. However, effectiveness depends on your specific goals and the Instagram ad strategies you use. You need to target the right audience, regularly post high-quality content, and monitor the posts’ performance to adjust strategies accordingly.

How much should I spend on Instagram promotions?

How much you should spend on paid promotions depends on your budget and goals. We recommend starting with around $5.00 per day, or $150 per month for each ad campaign. This way, you can test the performance of your content before spending any more money. If your content gains enough traction, you can scale up the promos.

How do I track the success of my Instagram promos?

You can track the performance of your promotions using Instagram Insights, which you can access from your account. This feature allows you to monitor key metrics like reach, impressions, clicks, engagement rates, and followers. You can use these important metrics to improve future promos on Instagram.