Introduction to sponsored listings
Beta refers to pre-release features or products that are under active development and available for users to try out.
Sponsored listings with promotions help more customers discover and choose your store on Instacart. Every sponsored listing includes a promotion, so you always set up two things together:
- A customer promotion, such as $10 off a $50 order or 15% off a $30 order, that gives customers a reason to shop with you.
- A cost-per-click (CPC) bid, which lets your store compete for a more prominent spot on the Instacart Home grid and in cross-retailer search.
You pay for clicks on the sponsored listing, and you separately fund the savings customers get when they redeem your promotion. You set up and manage everything in Instacart Ads Manager.
A promotion is included with every sponsored listing. You can't run a sponsored listing without one.
Sponsored listing campaign and promotion
A sponsored listing has two building blocks. They have separate settings and separate budgets.
| Sponsored listing campaign | Promotion | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The ad that competes for a more prominent spot. | The discount customers get at checkout. |
| What you set | Lifetime budget for clicks, start and end dates, and bill payer. | Banner, minimum spend, savings amount, promotion budget, targeting, and your maximum bid. |
| What you pay | A cost for each click. | The savings customers receive when they redeem the promotion. |
| How they fit together | One campaign holds one or more promotion ad groups. | Each promotion ad group is one promotion. |
How this differs from retailer promotions
Retailer promotions give customers a basket-level discount, and your store is shown based on standard ranking. Sponsored listings with promotions add a bid, so your store competes for a more prominent spot. You create the promotion inside the sponsored listings flow. You can't boost an existing retailer promotion. If you already run a retailer promotion for the same banner, pause it first.
A banner also can't run a retailer promotion and a sponsored listing at the same time. For more information about retailer promotions, see Introduction to retailer promotions.
What it costs and how you're billed
A sponsored listing with a promotion has two costs. You pay for clicks on your ad, and you pay for the discount customers get when they use your promotion.
| Charge | What you pay | When you're charged |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per click (CPC) | A cost for each click on your sponsored listing. | When a customer clicks. You aren't charged when your listing is only shown. |
| Promotion savings | The dollar-off or percent-off discount customers get. | When a customer uses your promotion at checkout. |
What you pay for clicks
You set a maximum bid, which is the most you're willing to pay for one click. Instacart uses a second-price auction, so if you win, you only pay what you need to win. You might pay less than your maximum bid, but never more.
What you pay for the promotion
You choose the discount your customers get:
- Dollar off, such as $10 off when they spend $50.
- Percent off, such as 15% off when they spend $30, up to a dollar limit you choose, such as $20.
The discount is applied automatically at checkout once the order reaches your minimum spend. Each time a customer uses it, the discount amount counts toward what you pay for the promotion. For more information about promotion costs, see Billing and budgets for promotion groups.
How you're billed
- Charges are invoiced based on your advertising agreement with Instacart.
- You can see how much you've spent at any time in Ads Manager. Spend is updated daily.
- If you pause a campaign, you aren't charged for new clicks while it's paused.
How budgets work
Your sponsored listing uses two separate budgets:
- Campaign budget (advertising spend). Pays for the clicks your sponsored listing receives.
- Promotion budget (customer savings). Pays for the discounts customers get when they redeem your offer.
Your campaign budget and at least one promotion budget both need funds for your sponsored listing to keep running. If a budget runs out, serving stops until you add budget. For more information, see Manage campaigns and budgets.
Where sponsored listings appear
Sponsored listings appear in the two places where customers choose which store to shop, and only when the listing is relevant to the customer:
- Home grid. Your store can appear in a sponsored position in the retailer grid. It doesn't appear in any other Home module.
- Cross-retailer search. When a customer searches across stores, your store can appear in a more prominent position in the retailer results.
When customers open your store, they see your promotion. The discount is applied automatically at checkout when the order meets your minimum amount. Customers don't need to enter a promo code.
Who can use sponsored listings
During the closed beta, sponsored listings are available to retailer advertisers who meet all of these requirements:
- U.S. retailers only. Canadian retailers aren't eligible yet.
- Grocery and club or warehouse banners that have been invited to the beta.
- Retailer advertisers who have access to Ads Manager.
If you aren't sure whether your account has sponsored listings enabled, contact your Instacart representative. If you don't have one, email ads-help@instacart.com.
Requirements
- A promotion created in the sponsored listings flow. Every sponsored listing includes a dollar-off or percent-off basket promotion. You can't boost an existing retailer promotion. Pause the retailer promotion for that banner and create the promotion in the sponsored listings flow instead.
- One active sponsored listing campaign per banner at a time. A banner can be in only one active sponsored listing campaign. You also can't run a retailer promotion for the same banner at the same time. If you try, Ads Manager shows a validation error.
- One banner per promotion ad group. A single promotion can't include several banners. To cover several banners, add one promotion ad group per banner to the same campaign.
- A start date and an end date. Every campaign needs both.
- Acceptance of the sponsored listings product terms. You accept these when you create your campaign.
What to decide before you start
- The banner you want to promote.
- The promotion type (dollar off or percent off), minimum amount, and savings amount.
- Your lifetime campaign budget and a budget for each promotion.
- Your start and end dates.
- The customers you want to target.
- Your maximum bid per click.
You can't change some of these settings after you launch.