How to boost a post on Instagram

• A professional account. Instagram's main boost page says professional; its Ad tools page says a business account, so a business account covers both
• To be over 16, according to Instagram's troubleshooting page
• An ad account. The first time you boost, you choose an existing Facebook ad account or keep your Facebook and Instagram accounts separate
• In the EU, EEA and Switzerland, advertising is limited if your Accounts Center has a subscription to use Meta products without ads
• If you're in or targeting the US and the ad is about credit, employment, housing, social issues or politics, you must choose a Special Ad Category

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Boost a post on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Use Ad tools to boost an Instagram post, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Troubleshoot boosting content or managing ads on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026

Boosted posts can appear in Explore, Home Feed, Explore feed, profile feed and Stories. Instagram reviews every ad against its ad policies and notifies you when it's approved or disapproved and when it ends. You can also start from Professional dashboard, then Ad tools, then Choose a post, where goals include more profile visits, website visits or messages.

Our advice: boost a post that's already doing well with your followers, and pick the goal that matches what you want customers to do next.

1. Go to your profile.
2. Tap the post you'd like to boost.
3. Below the post's image, tap Boost.
4. Set the Goal, Audience, Budget (per day) and Duration, then tap Next.
5. Tap Preview ad to check where the ad will run.
6. Tap Boost post.

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Boost a post on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Use Ad tools to boost an Instagram post, checked 15 October 2026

When you boost in the Instagram iPhone or iPad app, you pay through the Apple App Store with available funds. Instagram says an Apple service fee of 30% of your total ad payment, before taxes and local fees, may apply in most regions, and Apple keeps it. Boosting on instagram.com, Meta Business Suite or Ads Manager avoids it, and the ad is delivered the same way.

Meta's business help centre adds that Apple handles tax on in-app purchases, and Meta won't issue you a separate invoice for ads bought that way.

1. Click Profile, or your profile picture.
2. Select the post, then click Boost.
3. Choose a Goal, Audience, Budget and Duration.
4. Select Boost post.

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Avoid the Apple service fee by boosting on instagram.com, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Boost a post on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026; Meta Business Help Centre: About Apple taxes for boosted posts on Facebook and Instagram iOS apps, checked 15 October 2026

Yes, with stricter rules. Check these before you post, as Instagram suggests:

• Reels: 90 seconds or less, full-screen vertical 9:16
• Reels: no licensed music. Use Sound Collection or original audio
• Reels: no face or camera effects, GIFs, product tags, interactive stickers or third-party camera filters, and not already shared to Facebook
• Stories: only active stories, ones in your highlights, or ones reposted from your archive
• Stories: no polls, quizzes, music, link stickers, emojis or GIFs; only Instagram's own effects; a single card, not a carousel
• Stories: one interactive element (location, hashtag, countdown, tappable text or an @mention of your own account), and up to 5 mentions

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Boost an Instagram Reel, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Boost an Instagram story, checked 15 October 2026

You have to delete the ad first, even if it has already ended:

1. Go to your profile and tap Professional dashboard, then Ad tools.
2. Tap Edit next to the boosted post, tap Delete ad, then Delete.
3. Go back to your profile and tap the post.
4. Tap Options, select Delete and confirm.

Source: Instagram Help Centre: Delete a boosted Instagram post, checked 15 October 2026

• Your account is personal or private, or you're under 16. Switch to a professional account
• "Reels containing tappable elements cannot be boosted". Choose a reel without stickers or other tappable elements
• "This video's resolution is too low". Upload a higher quality video or pick another post
• "Boosting is currently unavailable in the app". Use instagram.com, Ads Manager or Meta Business Suite
• "We're unable to connect to your Meta ad account", or the ad account you want isn't listed. Check which ad account is connected
• The reel uses licensed music or was already shared to Facebook. Pick a different reel

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Troubleshoot boosting content or managing ads on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026; Instagram Help Centre: Boost an Instagram Reel, checked 15 October 2026

Disclosure: this is our product. A boost works best on a post that already earns attention. Zolyp plans, writes and designs your regular Instagram posts and publishes them once you approve; it doesn't run ads, so boosting stays in Instagram. There's a 3-day free trial, no card required.