WARNING: I HAVE NO EXPERIENCE WITH PAID ADVERTISING. I'm just taking what I learned and putting it in one place so you can reference it conveniently. I recommend you use this chapter purely as a starting point to know more.

Should you run Instagram ads?

Some things to know (taken off influencer accounts, but DO check and test out yourself what's good for you).

At the end of the day, everything you do has to be based on the results YOU receive in your journey. Dispose what doesn't work, improve on what does.

(side tip: For Youtube, it's best to promote the videos that DO WELL. Don't promote a video that flopped. Bring more eyes to what already gets a lot of attention, that builds up quickly. Meanwhile, a flop may just remain a flop no matter how much you advertise it.)

ANYWAYS.

According to Modern Millie, Facebook ads work better than Instagram ads. On Facebook you can be as targeted or as wide as you want. Facebook knows where its users live or has gone for Uni. So if you have a product only for people of New York, you can save some money by specifying that your ad should only show for peeps in NYC.

Personally, I don't click on ads. As soon as I find out it's sponsored I'm suddenly not interested. However it does make sense to run paid ads sometimes. 

It's best to have a product before you spend too much money on paid advertising too. 

Another form of paid advertising is giveaways. This is probably not a good idea. Some people may follow for the giveaway and unfollow later. Unless you can actually retain followers, it's probably a bad idea. 

If it's a digital product, it's easier to distribute. A physical product comes with some problems. Who's going to pay the shipping fees? Sometimes this costs more than the actual product! Is the giveaway available internationally? Or only in your own country?

Another thing to note is does Instagram's community guidelines allow it? Make sure you read it to stay up-to-date.

I predict giving a digital product away to everyone who has signed up to your email newsletter is a good way to get peeps to sign up! Signing up to newsletters are pretty straightforward and they get free stuff. Win win situation. 

Have you done paid advertising? What's your experience with it?