Although there are many excellent social media platforms to use for marketing, two in particular are the most popular: Facebook and Instagram. To be successful in using these two platforms when marketing your business, you should understand their similarities and differences.

On Instagram, there are nearly 500 million active users every month, which is more than Twitter. As part of the Facebook acquisition of Instagram in 2012, unique capabilities and targeting options were inherited. Because of that, these platforms offer you tremendous advantages. For the amount of advertising that people share, Instagram is about even with Facebook. However, there are some important differences to consider.

Similarities

Instagram and Facebook have achieved great success because of these features.

  • Messaging – Both platforms have concise messaging, which can be adjusted. For both platforms, messages that are short and to the point seem to work well.
  • Creatives – Top-performing creatives on Facebook can be repurposed on Instagram. Now, from the form perspective, this might take a little bit of adjustment. The good news is that you do not have to reinvent everything. Since these platforms share the same targeting, what works on Facebook will work on Instagram.
  • Ad Types – There is no question that these platforms have the best-performing ad types. However, the ad types currently offered on Facebook have not yet extended to Instagram.

Differences

Just as there are similarities between Instagram and Facebook, there are a number of differences. For some, it has to do with their different audience compositions.

  • Mobility – Without question, mobility on Instagram is paramount. For advertisers to increase conversion rates on Instagram, the experience on the landing page must be 100 percent optimized for mobile users.
  • Performance Metrics – Between the two social media platforms, performance metrics are not always the same. For instance, with Instagram ads, click-through rates are higher. However, when it comes to Instagram’s conversion rates, they are often less than those seen with Facebook.
  • CTA Response – The majority of people who rely on Instagram are under 35 years of age. Therefore, the audience as a whole has less buying power than the more mature aged Facebook users.

The Bottom Line

In looking at the similarities and differences between Instagram and Facebook, you can see that both offer incredible potential for drawing in more customers. Overall, Facebook tends to be ahead in that the return on investment is better because of segmentation, top creatives, and targeting data. Even so, both platforms are beneficial for growing a business.