The Big Question for Online Businesses: Should I Advertise on Facebook or Instagram?
Let’s say you’re a brand and you’ve built an amazing product. Now, you just want to get the word out there so you can start driving traffic and sales.
Where do you turn, you ask? Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook and Instagram are the two social media networking behemoths in the digital marketing space. They both have extensive reach, but they serve different audiences, which means you have to devise a tailored strategy for each platform.
As a startup or small business, every single dollar matters. When it comes time to spread your ad dollars, you’re looking for the best bang for your buck. You want to know which platform would be better to advertise on: Facebook or Instagram?
My answer: Research your target audience and test it out on both.
Okay, okay. It does seem like a middle of the road answer but it really depends on who you’re trying to reach and where your audiences spend their time on the most. Once you do your research and test your campaign for a month, you’ll be able to properly divvy up your ad dollars across either platforms, whether it’s be a 50/50 split or changing it to 75/25 or 80/20.
I’ve been heavily researching which platforms would be best for our clients to get on, so this is my way of sharing my recent findings. The purpose of this blog is for you to gain a basic understanding of which platform will work best for you.
The Facebook/Instagram Dashboard
Facebook bought out Instagram in 2012 for a whopping $1 billion. Because Facebook owns Instagram, they share the same advertising dashboard, so it makes it that much easier when you need to manage your ad dollars.
To start, you can access your dashboard here: business.facebook.com.
The beauty of this dashboard is that you’re able to seamlessly manage your Facebook/Instagram ad campaign from setting up your dollars, adding in creative assets, and looking at detailed reports.
According to Hootsuite, the platform was designed for the following reasons:
Ability for people to manage multiple accounts
Allows brands to give multiple access to their agencies or employees
Provides a central place to track your ads and view data
Keeps your personal profile separate from business so your clients or colleagues don’t see any of your personal information (or prevents you from accidentally posting the meme-of-the-day on your work account)
You can check out their awesome step-by-step guide on how to get started in the dashboard.
First Thing’s, First: Define Your Target Audience
Defining your target audience is the most important thing you can do for your brand or business. Once you get a better understanding of who they are, what they do and where they live you can create the best strategies to reach them.
Some of the major buckets to define your target audience are:
Gender
Age Group
Income
Location (zip code, region, national, international)
Mobile or Desktop
Interests and/or Similar Interests
As an owner or marketer, you want to know what they spend on and how they spend. To find that out, we do deep research on credible (and free!) new sites. I recommend eMarketer, AdWeek, AdAge, Statista, Hootsuite, sproutsocial, and Forbes to name a few. Or you can directly go to Facebook and Instagram’s blogs. Some articles live behind a paywall, but there is enough free information out there for you to gain a better understanding of your audience.
Facebook #FTW
For a majority of you, you’re hardly on Facebook. (For me personally, it’s hard for me to be on a social media site that my mom, aunts, uncles, and grandparents are all on). But the power of Facebook should not be ignored.
If you’re trying to sell something--tempur pedic dog beds, craft BBQ sauce, eco-friendly toothbrushes, online courses, literally anything under the roof--Facebook could be your best bet. Here’s why:
Facebook has massive reach. As of October 2019, Facebook has more than 2.5 billion monthly active users, where Instagram was reported to have about 1 billion (Statista).
Facebook skews older, which means there’s more $$$ to be spent.The platform is dominated by 84% of 25-30 year old users, followed by 79% of 30-49 year old users; and 74% of those making more than $75K use Facebook (sproutsocial).
Facebook is the key driver to e-commerce sites. Whereas the platform’s main experience is not necessarily dedicated to shopping, the platform drove 80.4% of all referrals to retail sites, followed by Instagram (10.7%) and Pinterest (8.2%). (eMarketer)
Team Instagram
Are you Team Instagram? Well good news. Instagram is steadily gaining in ranks for advertising dollars because of its “youthful momentum” (eMarketer). It’s a perfect opportunity to tap into the next generation; you’ll be able to increase brand awareness and gain customer loyalty.
Additionally, Instagram is honing in on the popularity of e-commerce and discovery on the platform. As a brand, this should be a prime indicator for you to take advantage of these tools. Here’s why you should advertise on Instagram:
Instagram is a shopping marketplace for discovery. 60% of Instagram users say they have discovered products through the platform and are more open to purchasing them (ClickZ)
Instagram has introduced numerous e-commerce tools for brands and creators. Tools include: shopping tags, shopping on the explore page, and shopping in stories. Instagram’s checkout feature, where users can purchase an item without ever leaving the app, is still in beta testing but has been rolled out to 20 companies including Nike, Kylie Cosmetics, and Uniqlo (Instagram blog)
Instagram’s demographics showcase the power of youth. Instagram has over 1 billion users and has global popularity. 75% of 18-24 year olds use Instagram and 57% of 25-30 year olds use Instagram (sproutsocial).
In Conclusion
My advice: Don’t be afraid and jump right in. The great thing about social media advertising is you have the ability to tweak your copy, your images, and swap out any creative assets. Although it’s out there in the internet-verse, nothing is ever set in stone. You just have to keep analyzing your data and keep testing what works and what doesn’t. And you won’t know until you try!