You do realize that Instagram has ads that companies pay money for right? That's where they make their money, when companies purchase ads on Instagram.
I think TheRealPomex' point was that the companies pay money for those ads because facebook has the user data to ensure the ads are appropriately targeted.
Even with professional marketers, total joke and waste of money. People do not click on ads, and those that 'do', might be fake facebook bots or actually facebook messing with numbers.
My new 'ad' is that I make content that people will search for on google. Then they can check out the rest of my website.
As much as I’d love to agree with you there are a lot of idiots out there that click on ads because they legitimately believe it’s a good product/service (hint: if they have to pay someone to shove their product in your face, it’s not a good one), or can’t tell the ads from real content (I guess that’s why “chumboxes” like Outbrain/Taboola are still a thing).
I had first-hand evidence of this when my friend fell for some weight loss scam ad of Facebook. We ended up charging it back, and despite all that she’s still not convinced and will happily participate in loyalty schemes, give out personal information to anyone that asks (she literally gets one spam email every few minutes in her Yahoo mailbox) and prefers buying from unknown/shady/scammy sites like Groupon rather than more reputable outlets.
You're doing it wrong. Hire an agency who knows what they're doing.
Your "ad" is just content marketing. This difference is you pay with your time (or others time) to create it, rather than paying for it to be put in front of other's eyes.
Some of the ads I get on Instagram are completely ridiculous. I've been taking screenshots of them because they are so likely ineffective for the people who place them that it's almost humorous.
For instance, an advertisement for a Chinese restaurant. I can't click on their name to go to their profile (that seems to be optional). Clicking on the action button asks if you want to dial their number immediately - remember at this point you don't even know what city they are in, haven't seen a menu. When I have checked out some of these restaurants they are often in other states.
