Why Your Instagram Ads Aren’t Converting (And How Influencers Can Fix That)

Instagram’s ad revenue is projected to reach $67.27 billion in 2025 — second among all social platforms (behind Facebook) and fourth overall (after Google, Facebook, and Amazon). This surge in spending highlights not just Instagram’s popularity, but its proven power to drive business results.

But the truth is, not all Instagram ads pay off. So why aren’t your ads delivering the results you expected? And more importantly, how can you overhaul your Instagram ad strategy to drive real conversions in 2025? Let’s dive in.

Why Your Instagram Ads Aren’t Working

If your Instagram ads are underperforming, the issue isn’t always faulty targeting or weak offers. More often than not, it comes down to one thing: your creative.

Today’s consumers are experiencing ad fatigue like never before. They don’t want to be bombarded with overly produced, irrelevant ads. Instead, they crave content that feels engaging, helpful, and most importantly, personalized to their interests.

So what’s the real key to paid ad success on Meta?

Creative, creative, and more creative.

Meta has long preached the importance of creative volume and diversity, but with the launch of Andromeda (its latest AI development) it’s more critical than ever. Andromeda automates the testing and delivery of countless ad combinations, personalizing them in real time for each user.

This means brands aren’t just running a few A/B tests anymore. They’re testing thousands (or even tens of thousands) of creative variations to find the right message for every consumer, at every stage of their journey — from awareness to conversion and beyond.

This level of dynamic personalization is the key to scalable performance on Meta today, and soon, across all performance channels.

And that’s exactly where influencer content shines.

Why Influencer Content for Instagram Ads?

Instead of relying on expensive shoots or generic brand ads, marketers can tap into influencer content to drive stronger engagement and faster optimization across Meta’s ad placements. Here’s how creators give brands an edge:

• Diverse range of creative: Because creator content naturally varies in voice, style, and format, it gives brands exactly what they need: a large library of diverse assets that can be mixed, matched, and personalized at scale. 
• Higher relevance and relatability: With a goldmine of authentic creator content, you can easily match the right message to the right audience, boosting click-through and conversion rates.
• More creative volume, less heavy lifting: Partnering with influencers makes it easy to produce a wide range of ad variations without draining internal resources.
• Longer-lasting content value: One piece of influencer content can be turned into dozens of ad variations for the Instagram Feed, Stories, Reels, and beyond.

The best part is that Meta makes it easy to leverage influencer content for your ads. Once the influencer’s branded content goes live on their Instagram account, you can boost their posts in several different ways.

Types of Influencer Ads on Instagram

Once you have influencer content in hand, there are several powerful ways to amplify it through Instagram ads. Here’s a breakdown of the key formats every marketer should know.

Dark Posts

Dark posts are paid ads that run under your brand’s Instagram handle but don’t appear on your public feed, page, or Stories. They’re served directly to the audiences you choose through Ads Manager — making them perfect for testing different messages or creative without overwhelming your organic presence. 

You can easily upload influencer content into Ads Manager to create dark posts, customize targeting, and extend reach across Instagram and the wider Meta network.

Allowlisting

Allowlisting (formerly called whitelisting) lets brands run ads through an influencer’s Instagram handle with their permission. Once a creator grants access, you can fully control targeting, placements, and creative optimization — making the ad feel even more authentic to audiences. 

While you can manage allowlisting manually through Meta Business Manager, Aspire streamlines the entire process — making it faster and easier to test and scale influencer-driven campaigns. Explore how Aspire simplifies allowlisting here.

Partnership Ads

Partnership Ads (formerly Branded Content Ads) allow brands to take an influencer’s organic branded post and amplify it through paid media. Originally posted by the creator, these ads are then promoted through Meta’s Ads Manager, combining the creator’s credibility with the brand’s media dollars.

When paired with business-as-usual (BAU) ads, Partnership Ads consistently outperform, delivering:

• 53% higher click-through rates
• 19% lower cost per action
• 99% probability of outperforming BAU ads

Meta’s Partnership Ads offer tools to:

• Clearly tag the collaboration (both creator and brand appear in the header)
• Edit the original caption or add call-to-action buttons like “Shop Now”
• Access detailed performance insights for both brands and creators

Aspire makes it even easier to launch Partnership Ads — helping you secure content rights, connect your Meta Ads Manager, and get ads live seamlessly. Discover how to easily launch Partnership Ads through Aspire.

Bonus: Advantage+ Catalog Ads

Advantage+ Catalog Ads use AI to dynamically select and showcase the best products from your catalog based on each shopper’s interests and behaviors — no manual setup needed. Ideal for ecommerce brands with lots of SKUs, this format delivers highly personalized shopping experiences at scale. 

Powered by Andromeda, Advantage+ Catalog Ads now make it easier than ever to integrate influencer-generated content into your campaigns. Brands can pair product catalog ads with influencer content for more authentic, shoppable experiences that feel personal and relatable.

Turn your Instagram ads into a conversion machine

The key to Instagram ad success today is creative volume and diversity — and influencer content is the fastest way to deliver both. By tapping into creator partnerships and leveraging the right ad formats, you can scale your campaigns, improve performance, and turn Instagram into a true growth channel.

Download The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Influencer Marketing for more expert insights, best practices, and winning tactics.