Not every ad sells – how to advertise products on IG so that it makes sense?

From year to year, Instagram is gaining strength – and it’s not just about reach, but real sales. Advertising products on Instagram in 2025 is not just an option – it’s often a must-have for brands that want to keep the audience’s attention and turn likes into purchases. But for it to work, it’s not enough to post a pretty picture with #ad. You need to understand the platform’s mechanics, the algorithm, the role of format, and emotions. In this post, we’ll show you how to promote products on Instagram wisely and effectively – even if you’re just starting out or want to improve the results of your current actions.

Why advertise products on Instagram in 2025?

Instagram today is not just social media. It is a shopping platform, a trend search engine, and a personal showroom all in one. With over 1.3 billion active users per month and a growing number of shopping features, promoting a product on Instagram provides access to an audience that wants to buy – but on their own terms.

Moreover, the numbers speak for themselves:

• 54% of users declare that they bought something after seeing it on Instagram,
• campaigns with active product tagging achieve a 37% higher CTR,
• ROI of IG campaigns in 2025 surpasses Facebook campaigns in many B2C industries.

So if you’re wondering, how to start promoting products on Instagram, the answer is: right now – because algorithms favor active brands, and not all competitors have caught on yet.

Which Instagram ad formats really work?

Not every type of content works the same – especially when it comes to advertising a product on Instagram. In 2025, you have several strong formats at your disposal, which you can tailor to the campaign goal.

• Posts with product tagging (Shoppable Posts) – good for building a catalog, gathering clicks, and purchases from the feed.
  Stories Ads – full-screen, quick, great for time-limited promotions.
• Reels Ads – best for raising awareness and storytelling with a “must-have” effect.
• Collection Ads – ideal for promoting multiple products at once, without leaving the app.

Each of these formats can work great – as long as you match it to the purchase moment and audience’s emotions. In other words, a Reels with a product “in action” will warm up to purchase better than a catalog style photo.

Posts with product tags – a simple way to more clicks!

Tagging products on IG posts is one of the simplest yet still most underrated options. And it’s a pity because product placement on Instagram with a tag allows purchase with a single click – precisely where the user is already focused.

For it to work well:

• use high-quality photos (1080 × 1080 px minimum),
• tag the product directly on the photo – not just in the description,
• add a simple CTA, e.g. “Click to check the price”,
• focus on authenticity – lifestyle instead of packshots.

Instagram reports that users click on product tags over 130 million times a month. So if you want to start without an advertising budget – this is the simplest way to turn “placement” into sales.

How to start promoting products on Instagram? Stories Ads – full screen, full attention

If you’re thinking about how to effectively start product promotion on Instagram, then Stories ads are one of the most engaging formats. A full-screen vertical image that competes with nothing else on the screen, gives you a few seconds of pure audience attention. But that’s not enough to sell – it’s dynamics, timing, and authenticity that matter.

The video in Stories shouldn’t look like a TV ad. It should be like a quick friend’s update: specific, natural, and easy to understand. A short sentence, well-chosen music, and interactive stickers – all of these make up an effective value delivery. In 2025, the algorithm rewards light forms, with a clear CTA and a maximum of 20% text on the screen. If there’s more – your ad might not reach the user at all. Therefore, a good Stories Ad is one that in 5 seconds shows the problem, the solution, and provides a specific impulse to click.

Reels that sell – how to maximize the potential of short videos?

In a world of scrolled content, Reels have become the new front line when it comes to advertising products on Instagram. They generate the largest organic reach today and have the highest viral potential. But for a Reels to work in sales, it must tell a story – not just present a product.

A good Reels shows the product in action, the context of use, and the emotion it evokes. Instead of posting a plain demo, show something that prompts a reaction: a smile, curiosity, comparison. The clip should be dynamic but not exaggerated. In 2025, naturalness works better than flashy editing. The more authentic the situation, the greater the chance to click the description, leave a heart, and enter the store.

Importantly, the Reels algorithm promotes content watched to the end and saved – so make sure to have a strong start, a clear climax, and a neat closing with a CTA. And one more thing: add music that matches the emotion, not just the trend. Because sales are born from relationships, not copying others.

Collection ads – ideal for brands with a larger assortment

If you have more than one product to showcase, traditional formats may be too limiting. That’s when so-called collections, or Collection Ads, come into play. This format allows presenting entire sets of products in one place – with the possibility of immediate purchase, without leaving the app. And this is precisely what makes it ideal for brands that want to showcase a color range, different variants, or an entire line.

This is not only convenient for the user but also more profitable. According to Instagram data, up to 36% of people who clicked a collection ad finalize a purchase within an hour. This is an absolutely great result if you care about a quick effect, not just building reach. To take advantage of this format, however, you need a well-configured Instagram Shop and an integrated product catalog. If you have that – you can start practically right away.

Compared to other formats, collections are more like shopping in a gallery than a single impulse. But that’s exactly why they work so well – because they offer choice and a possibility of comparison, which builds trust and increases the average cart value.

How to create authentic content that converts?

In the era of content overload, authenticity is a currency whose value continues to rise. If you want to know how to promote products on Instagram that actually sell – start by building trust. And you won’t achieve that with fake poses, filters, and catalog language. You need content that looks like it’s from real people to real people.

The best results today come from UGC materials – that’s user-generated content. Video unboxings, “quick” reviews, daily product use stories. All of these not only engage but also convince, because they don’t look like ads. Showing the product in a real context gives people a picture of how their life could look with what you’re selling.

Authenticity also means visual consistency, tone of communication, and style. You don’t have to be perfect. On the contrary – imperfections attract if they are real. Because today, people buy not only what looks good – but what has a story and emotion.

Instagram algorithm doesn’t sleep – what to post, when, and how often?

In 2025, the Instagram algorithm acts like a cool machine, but it rewards very human things: regularity, engagement, and content relevance. If you’re thinking of advertising products on Instagram as a process that should bring real profits, understanding the algorithm is essential.

The simplest principle is that: Instagram rewards what people watch to the end, comment on, save, and share. Therefore, it’s not enough to just post photos – you need to provide content that really offers something. Sometimes it’ll be a tip of the day, sometimes a funny comparison, and sometimes a specific answer to a question your audience has in mind but hasn’t voiced yet.

Timing also matters. The highest engagement still occurs in the evenings, between 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM on weekdays. If you post randomly – you lose the chance for greater reach. And frequency? At least three posts a week and one or two Reels a day,if you’re aiming for growth. You don’t have to stick to this rigidly, but without regularity, the algorithm stops trusting you.

Instagram Shopping step by step – how to handle it technically?

Before you seriously start advertising products on Instagram, it’s worth having everything technically aligned. Because even the best content won’t sell anything if you can’t click and buy it. Instagram Shopping is a feature that allows tagging products in posts, reels, and stories – but to function, you need to enable it first.

Start by converting your account to a business account and linking it with Facebook’s Business Manager. Then add a product catalog in Commerce Manager – it can be a manual catalog or connected with your online store. Only after Meta approves your account will you be able to tag products directly in publications.

Sounds technical? Maybe a bit, but you configure it once, and benefit for a long time. Importantly, accounts with an active Instagram Shop see on average 84% higher revenues from platform activities. So if product placement on Instagram is to translate into results, make sure every viewer can click and directly proceed to purchase – without searching for links in bio and typing product names.

Test, compare, optimize – why is A/B testing fundamental?

Anyone who seriously considers advertising products on Instagram, should be testing. It’s not just about colors, but the entire message: picture or video? Short description or longer storytelling? CTA in the first sentence or at the end? A/B testing is fundamental today – and not only for performance specialists.

In practice, this means creating two versions of an ad, differing by one element – and checking which performs better. Sometimes a small change – e.g., in the film’s background – can raise the CTR by 30%. And no magic is needed for that – just a few tests in Meta Ads Manager and data observation.

Specific metrics are also important. Click-through should stay above 1.5%, and the purchase cost shouldn’t exceed your profitability threshold. If you’re not analyzing, you’re working blind. And in 2025, with rising ad costs and more competition, that’s no longer viable.

RefSpace – advertising products on Instagram without coding, logistics, and stress

If you want to start promoting a product on Instagram but don’t have your own store, payment system, or technical support – RefSpace does it for you. It’s a free platform that allows you to create your own store in just a few minutes (called Space), select ready-made products from various brands, and start advertising them precisely where you already operate: on Insta, in Reels, Stories, and bio.

Here’s how it works: you record a short video on IG with the product and say that more about why you use this product can be found in a video on RefSpace. If audiences like it, they can buy it immediately from your store on RefSpace. On your RefSpace, you can post longer content with your story about the product or a video review. Under the content, a “buy now” button appears automatically – the viewer clicks, makes a purchase, and you earn a commission. You’re not involved with invoices, warehousing, shipping, or returns. RefSpace takes care of everything. This means you can focus solely on creating content and building engagement – i.e., what really sells.

Moreover, you can upload not only others’ products with a commission to your Space, but also your own – such as e-books, online courses, 1:1 consultations through MeetMe. RefSpace acts like e-commerce support for creators and micro-influencers who don’t want to go through the trouble of starting a business just to recommend something.

In practice, it’s the simplest way to make money from showcasing favorite products on Instagram, which requires no investment, yet operates like a full-fledged store – with tagging options, conversion measurement, and full integration with video content. So, if you’re looking for the answer to how to start making money from your personal brand by recommending products you genuinely use and your viewers frequently ask about, you have RefSpace to simply direct them without cluttering your Instagram with too much product content.