How to advertise on Instagram for food stores

Having an online store helps you sell more than a brick-and-mortar business alone. However, paid advertising is what will make your digital business known and help it reach more people.

In this article we show you how to advertise on Instagram, and you'll also find a webinar that teaches you, from scratch and step by step, how to create successful campaigns.

Define your goal

Any ad you run should serve a specific purpose: launching a new product, relaunching your online store, inviting people to an event… the options are endless.

That's why both the image and the ad copy should be aligned with that goal and be as clear as possible to avoid confusion.

It's also important for the CTA (call to action) to match the goal you want to achieve. For example, if you've updated your online store and want people to see all your new products, the CTA should send them to your store; if you're inviting people to a fair or market event, the CTA could ask them to send you a direct message to sign up.

You might also like: What content to post on a health food shop's social media

Define your target audience

This is just as important as the previous point, because you may be sending the right message, but if it isn't aimed at the right audience, your ad won't have any impact.

Keep in mind: age, gender, socioeconomic level, geographic location and interests.

Something very useful you can do is show your ads to people who browsed your online store but haven't bought from you yet, since that shows a high level of interest in your brand. This is called remarketing.

Tips Use custom audiences: users who interacted with you on social media and/or visited your website (tracked through the pixel). Use lookalike audiences (e.g., an audience similar to the users who interacted with your social media accounts).

First steps to advertise on Instagram

Once you've defined your audience and your goal, these are the steps to follow.

1. You need a Facebook (Meta) Page and a business profile (professional account) on Instagram.
2. Your social media profiles and accounts must be linked to each other.
3. Create an account in Facebook Business Manager.
4. Add your Page and your Instagram account to Business Manager.
5. Create your ad account in Business Manager and set up your preferred payment method.
6. If you're going to outsource any services, add your collaborators or agencies so they can manage the account and do their work.

Download a ready-to-post kit for your food business's social media!

Learn more about how to advertise on Instagram for food stores

A few months ago, Ignacio Esteller gave a short live tutorial on how to manage social media campaigns from scratch. Watch the video and follow along step by step!

Keep in mind that you need to choose on which type of device your target audience will see the ad (phone or computer), and also select which social network and which account you'll publish with.

In Facebook Ads Manager you can upload your product catalog. This is key if you want to sell online. You can add products manually or through an Excel or Google Sheets file.

We recommend watching: How to create a successful social media campaign

Summary

Having an online store is a big step toward increasing your business's sales, but without paid advertising you won't be able to make it known.

Define your audience and your goal, follow the steps to run your campaigns, and nothing can go wrong!