Factors That Led To a 34% Conversion for a Boosted Instagram Post
I was recently explaining the top of funnel strategy (aka how to get people into the funnel) to a client for their brand new lead magnet we developed. The focus was to strategy was to create an Instagram post about the lead magnet and then boosting that right through IG. And while I don’t always recommend boosting a post on Instagram vs. setting it up in Meta’s ad manager, sometimes it just makes the most sense and allows you to test the post organically before putting any ad dollars into it. For this exact reason, that’s exactly why I chose this strategy for a client.
But the clients were skeptical, to say the least.
They had tried boosted posts before and they didn’t convert so they thought this was a waste of time and money.
But when I looked at their previous ads, it was very clear why they didn’t convert.
They were promoting a paid offer which doesn’t always converts well.
It was an in-person event for a very niched audience so not only was their targeted radius teeny tiny, but being a niched audience meant their overall targeting was miniscule.
Which I get it, if you’re having a local event you need to market locally, but their new offer that the funnel was for was an online course so we didn’t have to be so limited in our targeting.
Here’s what my plan of attack was for the boosted post and why it converted so well:
First, we made sure they had a high-value lead magnet in the form of a 5-day email course.
Second, we made sure we had a solid landing page for the lead magnet that also then redirected to a thank you page that automatically upsold the paid course. (We also optimized the existing sales page for the paid course.)
Now that we had all our systems in place at the bottom of the funnel, it was time to get people into the funnel.
We first tested this organically to make sure it actually converted into email signups by setting up a pop-up on their website, promoting it organically on social media, and to their existing email list.
Once we confirmed it all worked, we created a boosted post on Instagram using that organic social post.
I left our targeting pretty wide in terms of age (25-50), gender, and location (US only) and I only targeted based on interests (depending on your business this might be a little tricky to do!)
The Ad Results
We ran a test ad for $5/day for 10 days with an estimated reach of 5200-14000 ($50 total ad spend).
And from that ad, we got 62 click-throughs and 21 sign ups for a 34% conversion rate and $2.38 cost per conversion.
Even if they only got one sale from that ad in particular (which they got more), they would have made their money back.
Now that we knew the entire system worked as intended, we could scale the ad spend up and be able to pretty accurately predict it’s ROI given the test ad.
Key Takeaways
This campaign taught us that a thoughtful, tested approach can turn a modest budget into measurable success. By ensuring every piece of your funnel is optimized and validated first, you set the stage for scalable growth. Here are the key takeaways:
Build from the bottom up: Always ensure your sales funnel is optimized before driving traffic. Our lead magnet, landing page, and upsell were critical to the strategy.
Test organically first: By validating the conversion path with organic efforts, we minimized risk before committing ad dollars.
Smart targeting matters: A wider, interest-based audience targeting can be more effective—especially when transitioning from a local, niche event to a scalable online offer.
Small tests lead to big insights: Even a modest ad spend can yield impressive results (34% conversion rate at just $2.38 per conversion). Once proven, this system can be scaled confidently.
By taking these steps, we transformed skepticism into measurable success, proving that a strategic, tested approach can unlock predictable ROI. If you're ready to refine your funnel and harness the power of targeted ads, let’s discuss how I can help you achieve similar results.
Looking to have a strategic brain and eye on your marketing efforts? Learn more about how we can work together.
