Instagram Ads Data Connector User Guide

Instagram Ads Data Connector User Guide

Instagram Ads allows businesses to create and run paid advertisements on the Instagram platform. This guide will walk you through setting up Instagram Ads as a data source in Power My Analytics and creating reports in Looker Studio.



Prerequisites

Before connecting Instagram Ads to Power My Analytics, ensure you have:
  1. Ad Analyst access to the Facebook account associated with your Instagram account
  2. Logged into the correct Instagram account before connecting

Adding Instagram Ads as a Data Source

  1. Navigate to your Power My Analytics Hub and select Sources from the menu.
  2. Click + New Data Source and choose "Facebook & Instagram" from the gallery.
  3. Sign in to your Facebook account to authenticate.
  4. Grant Facebook business access: Select "Opt in to all current and future Businesses". Click Continue.
  5. Grant Facebook page access: Choose "Opt in to all current and future Pages". Click Continue.
  6. Grant Instagram account access: Select "Opt in to all current and future Instagram accounts". Click Continue.
  7. Finalize permissions: Click Save, then click Got it.

Creating a Looker Studio Report

Follow these steps to create a Looker Studio report using your Instagram Ads data:
  1. After adding Instagram Ads as a data source in the PMA hub, navigate to Reports > Looker Studio
  2. Select Instagram Ads under Create Looker Studio Report (opens official Looker Studio application in new window)
  3. Google Looker Studio Configuration:
    1. Step 1:
      1. Name your data source (e.g. "Instagram Ads - Organization Name")
      2. Choose Power My Analytics hub from dropdown
      3. Optional: Leave "Use report template for new reports" checked to use PMA demo template
      4. Click Next
    2. Step 2:
      1. User Account: Select Instagram Ads account (real data) or "Sample Account" (sample data)
      2. Click Next
    3. Step 3:
      1. Choose "Ad Accounts", "Action Attribution Setting", "Is Campaign using SKAdNetwork", and "Currency" for reports
      2. Optional: Allow "Ad Accounts", "Action Attribution Setting", and "Is Campaign using SKAdNetwork" to be modified in reports
      3. Click Connect (top right) to complete the data source configuration
    4. Step 4:
      1. Click Create Report (top right)
For a quick start, use our pre-built Instagram Ads demo template.

Key Reports and Fields

Instagram Ads data in Power My Analytics offers a wide range of metrics and dimensions. Here are some popular metrics you can use in your reports:
  • Campaign Metrics: Publisher Platform, Reach, Impressions, Amount Spent
  • Ad Set Metrics: Reach, Frequency, Cost per 1,000 People Reached, Impressions, CPM
  • Ad Metrics: Post Reactions, Post Comments, Post Saves, CPC, Link Clicks, Page Likes, Cost per Link Clicks
  • Video Engagement Metrics: Video Plays, 25%, 50%, 75%, 95%, 100%, Average Play Time
  • App Engagement Metrics: Mobile App Installs, Cost per Mobile App Installs, Omni App Installs, Cost per Omni App Installs, Post Reactions, Post Comments, Post Saves, Post Shares
  • Offline Conversions Metrics: Offline Purchases, Offline Purchases Conversion Value, Cost per Purchases, Offline Leads, Cost per Leads, Offline Other Conversions, Cost per Offline Other Conversions
  • Location Metrics: Country, Region, Reach
  • Designated Market Area Metrics: DMA, DMA Code, Impressions, Link Clicks
  • E-Commerce Pixel Event Metrics: Website Content Views, Website Adds to Wishlist, Website Adds to Cart, Website Checkouts Initiated, Website Adds of Payment Info, Website Purchases, Website Purchases Conversion Value
  • Lead Generation Pixel Event Metrics: Landing Page Views, Website Content Views, Website Registrations Completed, Website Searches, Website Leads, Website Leads Conversion Value
  • Hourly Breakdown Metrics: Hour of Day, Reach, Impressions, Amount Spent
  • Device Breakdown Metrics: Device Platform, Reach, Impressions, Amount Spent
  • Live Pixel Event Metrics: Hour of Day, Live Landing Page Views (hourly), Live Content Views (hourly), Live Leads (hourly), Live Adds to Cart (hourly), Live Purchases (hourly)
  • Actions Metrics: On-Facebook Purchases, Website Purchases, Offline Leads, Website Leads
For a complete list of available Instagram Ads fields, refer to the Schema Explorer.

Limitations and Important Considerations

  1. Backfilling: Limited to 2 years, with initial backfill of 13 months when first connecting.
  2. Lifetime Data Span: Lifetime metrics cover 37 months.
  3. Unique Metrics: Reach and other metrics starting with "unique" are live metrics and cannot be used in daily sums.
  4. API and authentication: Facebook and Instagram use the same underlying API. PMA's Facebook Ads, Facebook Insights, Instagram Ads, and Instagram Insights data connectors use the same authentication process. 

Unavailable Data

  1. Purchase breakouts by device and publisher platform
  2. Offsite metrics
  3. Conversions by country
  4. Custom metrics and events

Troubleshooting

See our article Troubleshooting Instagram for information on issues that may affect Instagram connectors.

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