How to See Boosted Posts on Instagram

Wondering what ads your competitors are banking on to grow their business? It's not a secret. You can see the exact boosted posts and sponsored ads any brand is running on Instagram, and learning how gives you a massive advantage. This guide will walk you through three simple methods to uncover any company's paid strategy, from a quick glance to a deep analysis of their campaigns.

Why Should You Care About an Account's Boosted Posts?

Before we get into the "how," let's quickly cover the "why." Spending a few minutes on competitor research isn't just about being nosy - it's one of the smartest things you can do to inform your own social media strategy. It gives you a direct line of sight into what your rivals are prioritizing and what messages they believe are effective enough to put money behind.

Gain Powerful Competitive Insights

When a brand boosts a post, they're signaling that the message is important. By looking at their active ads, you can instantly see:

• Which products they're pushing: Are they promoting a new collection, a best-seller, or trying to clear out old inventory with a sale?
• What pain points they're targeting: The ad copy will reveal the specific problems they claim to solve for their customers.
• Their core calls-to-action (CTAs): Are they driving traffic to their site ("Shop Now"), trying to get sign-ups ("Sign Up"), or aiming for brand awareness ("Learn More")?

This information is basically a cheat sheet for understanding how they position themselves in the market, allowing you to find gaps you can exploit and refine your own messaging.

Find Genuine Creative Inspiration

There's nothing worse than staring at a blank content calendar. If you're feeling stuck, browsing your competitors' ads is one of the best ways to get inspired. You can see which ad formats are popular in your niche. Is everyone running short-form video ads? Are carousels the go-to? Or do simple, beautiful images still do the trick? Pay attention to the visual style, tone of voice, and storytelling angles they use. You don't want to copy them, but you can learn from what seems to be working and adapt those ideas to fit your own unique brand.

Get Clues About Audience Targeting

While you can't see the exact targeting parameters a brand has set up in Meta Ads Manager (like age, location, or interests), the ads themselves provide strong clues. A post showcasing a high-end luxury item is likely targeting a higher-income demographic. An ad highlighting a starter product might be aimed at new customers who haven't purchased before. Looking at several of their ads can help you piece together a picture of the different audience segments they're trying to reach.

Method 1: The Quickest Way - Via The Brand's Instagram Profile

If you just want to check the ads of one specific competitor, this is the fastest way to do it. It takes less than 30 seconds and can be done right from the Instagram app on your phone. This method takes you directly to the brand's personalized section within the Meta Ad Library.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Navigate to the Profile: Open Instagram and go to the profile page of the brand you want to investigate.
2. Open the Profile Menu: Tap the three dots (…) in the top-right corner of their profile. This will open up a settings menu for that specific account.
3. Select "About This Account": Near the bottom of the menu, you'll see an option called "About This Account." Tap on it.
4. Tap on "Active Ads": You'll see a screen with some basic information about the account, such as the date it was created and its location. Below that, you'll find the magic button: "Active Ads." Tap it.

That's it! Instagram will redirect you to that brand's page in the Meta Ad Library, where you'll see a complete feed of every ad they are currently running across all Meta platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and Audience Network). From here, you can scroll through to see what they're promoting.

Method 2: The Deep Dive - Using The Meta Ad Library Directly

If you want to do more extensive research, search by keywords, or use advanced filters, then going directly to the Meta Ad Library is your best bet. This is a powerful, free tool built by Meta for transparency, and it's an absolute goldmine for marketers and founders.

You can access it by going to facebook.com/ads/library on your desktop or mobile browser.

How to Use The Meta Ad Library for Research

1. Set Your Basic Search Filters

Before you start searching, make sure you've set the right parameters:

• Location: Choose the country you want to see ads from. If you want a global view, you can select "All."
• Ad Category: For most market research, you'll want to choose "All Ads." The other option, "Issues, Elections or Politics," is specifically for ads of a political or social nature and isn't relevant for most commercial research.

2. Search by Advertiser or Keyword

Here's where the real analysis begins. You have two main ways to search:

To see a specific company's ads: Simply type a brand or company's name into the search bar. The library will pull up a list of matching Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts. Select the one you want to see, and you'll get a real-time view of every single active ad they are running.

To search for general ideas: This is a less-known but incredibly valuable technique. Instead of searching for an advertiser, you can search for a keyword. If you run a local coffee shop, you could search for terms like "Iced Latte," "Cold Brew," or "Coffee Subscription." The Ad Library will show you every ad from every brand that uses those terms in its copy. This is an awesome way to see wider industry trends and get creative ideas beyond your direct competition.

3. Analyzing and Filtering the Results

Once you've run a search, you'll see a grid of ads. Now it's time to refine and analyze. Use the "Filters" button to narrow things down:

• Platforms: By default, you'll see ads from all platforms. You can filter to see only those shown on Instagram. This is great for focusing your research specifically on what works for the grid, Stories, or Reels.
• Media Type: Want to see only video ads? Or just carousels? You can filter by images, memes, videos, and more.
• Impressions by Date: You can see ads that were active during a specific time period, even if they aren't live anymore. This is handy for checking out competitor campaigns around holidays like Black Friday.

What to Look For in an Ad:

As you scroll through, pay close attention to dates and variations.

• Started Running date: If an ad has been running for weeks or months, it's a very strong signal that it's performing well. Brands don't waste money on campaigns that don't work.
• Ad Variations: Look for ads that use the same image but different copy, or the same copy with different visuals. This tells you the advertiser is A/B testing, and you can get a sneak peek at what variables they consider important enough to test.

Method 3: Spotting Boosted Posts in Your Own Feed

Finally, the most organic (but least predictable) way to see what others are boosting is to simply pay attention while you scroll through your daily Instagram feed.

How to Identify an Ad

The easiest way to tell if a post is a paid promotion is to look for the tiny "Sponsored" label directly underneath the account's username. If you see that, you're looking at an ad. This content didn't appear in your feed purely based on the algorithm, a brand paid to place it there.

It's also helpful to realize many of the ads you see are "dark posts." This means they are ads created in Meta's backend that don't actually appear on the brand's Instagram profile grid. This is what makes the Ad Library so useful - it shows you everything, not just the posts they've chosen to feature on their public profile.

Use Your Feed as a Research Tool

To get Instagram to show you more ads from brands in your industry, start engaging with them. Follow your competitors, visit their websites, and interact with their content. Instagram's algorithm will quickly categorize you as an interested consumer and begin serving you their boosted posts and ads directly.

When you do see a relevant ad, tap the three dots (...) on the post itself. You can save it to a collection for inspiration later, or you can tap "Why you're seeing this ad" to get high-level information on how the brand might be targeting its audience.

Final Thoughts

Arming yourself with information on what your competitors are promoting is no longer a guessing game. Whether you do a quick check on a brand's profile, a broad keyword search in the Meta Ad Library, or just keep a keen eye on your feed, you now have the tools to understand the paid strategies driving growth in your niche.

Seeing what works for others is one half of the equation, the other is having a streamlined way to apply those learnings to your own content. That’s exactly why we created Postbase. We saw marketers get bogged down by clunky, outdated tools that made planning and scheduling feel like a chore. So, we built a modern platform with a clean visual calendar and rock-solid scheduling for the formats that actually perform today - like Reels and Stories. It helps you turn those great insights from your research into a consistent, effective content strategy without the headache.