When you are trying to get a business off the ground, you might often be encouraged to engage in social media marketing. It’s not hard to see why. Not only is social media free to use, it’s already popular with literally billions of people.
In 2024, more than 5 billion people — 62.3% of the world’s population — were on social media. Instagram and Facebook are two of the most visited social media sites, but how many people use Instagram vs Facebook?
Facebook alone holds a massive share of the market, with 3.07 billion active users worldwide as of July 2024. Meanwhile, Instagram has surpassed 2 billion active users. As you take in these compelling statistics, you might be wondering:
- “What are the differences when it comes to Facebook vs Instagram users?”
- “Should my business be on both platforms, or would just one suffice?”
- “What kind of marketing options are available with each site?”
These are all questions this article is poised to answer. You might already know which side you would back in the general ‘Facebook vs Instagram’ debate. No shortage of us regularly use both sites for personal pursuits!
From your experience, you might associate Facebook with a generally older crowd served personalized ads in their feeds. Conversely, thinking of Instagram could remind you of starry influencers like footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, the battle between Facebook and Instagram on the marketing side of things is a lot more complicated than ‘Facebook ads vs Instagram influencers’!
Some people might even argue that there isn’t much of a ‘battle’ at all, as Facebook and Instagram are today owned by the same company (Meta). This muddies the waters and makes the task of choosing between these sites even trickier.
What is Instagram marketing?
Instagram marketing is method of social media marketing which involves promoting a brand on Instagram.
Before diving into the marketing aspect of Instagram let's first recap the popular social platform.
A shared passion for photography led Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger to establish Instagram in 2010. This new entrant to the social media landscape was released as an iOS app in October that year.
Before the year was out, Instagram had already attracted more than a million users. The app’s number of monthly active users (MAUs) had swelled to 10 million by September 2011.
The following April, Instagram finally brought out an Android app, triggering a wave of over a million downloads in less than 24 hours.
That same month, Facebook acquired Instagram in a $1 billion deal. Since then, the image-sharing site has been bulked out with many other features and functions Instagram users today could doubtless scarcely imagine doing without.
If your business does make a home for itself on Instagram, here are some of the onboard features you could take particular advantage of…
Stories
Have some big news to break? Of course, the nature of news is that its relevance spikes and then quickly fades. So, you would probably prefer not to leave newsy posts cluttering your social media accounts pages for too long.
That’s where the importance of Instagram Stories comes in. You can use them to string together a series of photos and videos people will be able to consume all in one go.
Each Story will only be visible for 24 hours before vanishing from your Instagram profile. It’s why this functionality lends itself well to communicating news. Alternatively, you could just use Stories to play on people’s ‘FOMO’ (fear of missing out) and consequently strengthen their engagement with your brand.
Reels
Instagram Reels are short-form videos. Unlike Stories, these won’t disappear after a particular length of time. Instead, they will be posted permanently to the Reels tab of the user’s profile.
So, how long are Reels?
They can play for up to 60 seconds. Reels are therefore well-suited to the hectic lifestyles of modern consumers who have little time to watch lengthier videos.
- Instagram monetization: Ways to get paid for Instagram reels
- Instagram reel size: Create eye-catching reels
Live video
Sometimes, your followers might want to set aside time to watch you on video for much longer than a minute. How convenient, then, that you can even livestream on Instagram. ‘Lives’ (as live streams are colloquially known) can work well for behind-the-scenes content aimed at humanizing your brand.
When you are planning to start a ‘Live’, remember to let your followers know in advance. State on Instagram exactly what day and time the livestream will happen.
Some of your fans might like the depth of a live stream but ultimately still prefer ‘on-demand’ video content they can watch whenever they want. To cater for this taste, why not upload the long-from video to a hosting site?
The best all-round option for video hosting is Whop. Here, you can have your own online shop known as a ‘whop’. Learn what a whop is and how to use Whop’s Files app to upload video to it.
What is Facebook marketing?
Facebook marketing is simply a type of social media marketing by which a brand is promoted on Facebook.
Facebook significantly predates Instagram, having been launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and a bunch of his Harvard University classmates.
It’s also much more versatile. Though the range of features on Instagram has broadened over time, many of them are still fundamentally built around photo and video sharing.
With Facebook, too, you can share photos and video content. However, the text you can put on Instagram is largely limited to your profile’s bio and the captions you can directly attach to posts. Conversely, on Facebook, what you write can be just as significant (if not more so) than what you show.
Facebook has Stories, Reels, and livestreaming features all akin to Instagram’s. Given its two-decade-plus history, however, you might not be surprised to learn that Facebook offers a wider range of marketing tools overall compared to Instagram. Here are several of the Facebook-specific options…
Pages
Once you’ve got an account on Facebook, you can create a Page there for your business. You can see this Page as your company’s ‘home’ or ‘listing’ on Facebook.
To help illustrate this point, here’s a look at the Facebook Page of ParlayScience:
As you can see, you can include an intro to your company on its Facebook page as well as upload Photos and Reels.
What can you expect from Facebook Reels vs Instagram Reels? The latter can be up to 30 seconds longer, but only Facebook Reels can appear on feeds of people who don’t actually follow your brand.
Incidentally, ParlayScience is also on Whop — demonstrating how, from a marketing perspective, use of both Facebook and Whop can work hand in hand.
Groups
Many longtime internet users are likely to remember the days of online forums. In a sense, they haven’t gone away, as Facebook groups work much like them.
Your brand can start and promote its own Facebook group to build a community of people passionate about your industry.
Need some inspiration? Learn about the largest Facebook groups and why they work.
Events
Is your business set to hold an event? Even if it will be held entirely online, you can promote it beforehand by creating a Facebook event page dedicated to it.
Instagram vs Facebook: How do they differ for marketers?
It’s important to understand the differences in how these platforms are used. When it comes to Facebook vs Instagram users, the latter are younger and tend to be looking for new visual ideas.
In contrast, people on Facebook come from a wider range of demographics but typically use the platform to keep in touch with friends and family.
This has major implications for brands trying to cut through the noise on social media. Facebook users mainly want to see content from people they already know. So, Facebook users could understandably be annoyed when they think brands are trying to butt in like unwanted guests at a party!
Hence the recent rise of ‘influencer marketing’, where brands partner with people who already have strong social media followings.
Influencers aren’t necessarily celebrities who originally made their name outside of social media. One archetypal example of a tech influencer is iJustine, who enthuses about new gadgets — like phones, tablets, and laptops — on her Facebook and Instagram portals.
You certainly don’t need to reach out to a Hollywood star to harness the promotional power of influencer marketing. In 2024, ‘nano influencers’ (influencers with less than 10,000 followers) consistently achieved the highest engagement!
Algorithmic differences
As people do not generally use Instagram in the same way as Facebook, the two platforms also differ in their algorithms. An algorithm is basically code intended to ensure that content especially relevant to the user appears prominently in their feed.
When you know key differences between these algorithms, you can better ascertain how to create content that will come across as natural in users’ feeds.
So, how do Facebook and Instagram differ in the weight they attach to the following algorithmic factors?
- Relevance: Facebook judges this to be stronger in posts from your friends and family. That’s less of a factor on Instagram, where it’s easier to connect with members you don’t know, like top celebrities.
- Engagement: The more likes and comments a post gets, the higher you can expect it to rank. This principle applies on both platforms.
- Imagery: Obviously, a big focus on imagery comes as standard with Instagram anyway. However, even on Facebook, adding images and video to a post can push it further up users’ feeds.
- Promotional: Is the post trying to sell something? On Facebook, this post will be demoted. This might not quite happen on Instagram if the post is from an account you often search for or interact with.
On the face of it, then, Instagram might seem like a better home for branded content. On both platforms, though, many of the updates you publish on your company’s page could fail to reach large sections of your target audience. That’s where the importance of ad spending comes in…
How does Meta’s ad platform work?
This platform, Meta Ads, can be used by brands to feed social media adverts to people likely able to benefit from what is being advertised.
You might have heard of ‘PPC’ (pay-per-click) advertising, where you only have to pay for an ad when someone clicks on it. This is how ads on Meta work.
Research has found the average cost per click (CPC) to be $0.83 on Facebook and $0 to $0.25 on Instagram.
So, on balance, Instagram looks like the more cost-effective place for ads. However, other factors besides the CPC will inevitably come into play.
For a start, think about which specific demographics you ought to target with your ads. Getting this right can help you persuade people to not only click on the ads but also buy from your online store.
Facebook vs Instagram: Which is the most user-friendly?
You might be seriously considering marketing on Facebook and Instagram simultaneously. One thing that could give you pause for thought, however, is the dread of monitoring all the campaigns you run on these channels.
Mercifully, you can put those worries to rest by signing up for Meta Business Suite. After getting this (and your Meta-based campaigns) up and running, you will be able to quickly see what’s going on with Facebook and Instagram.
With Meta Business Suite, you can time-effectively do all of the following:
- View notifications that pop up when people interact with your page, e.g. by posting a comment 🔔
- Make prompt replies to messages 💬
- Schedule posts, stories, and ads 🗓️
- See data on how your business pages are faring 📈
Ready to register with Meta Business Suite? Load business.facebook.com to bring up the webpage displayed below. There, you can read more about Meta’s business tools.
Facebook or Instagram account holders can use their existing login details to access the Meta Business Tools interface straight away.
It’s fair to say that using Facebook or Instagram in a personal capacity certainly isn’t for everyone. So, it’s not a stretch to suggest that you might not already have an account with either site.
Still, you might recognise what potential they could reap for your business and so be eager to create an account. You can do that by clicking — yes — ‘Create new account’ on the above-mentioned webpage. This move will prompt you to sign up with Facebook.
Before signing up for Meta Business Tools, you might prefer to create a formal account or page on a Meta social media site if you…
- Are inexperienced with using Facebook or Instagram
- Can’t decide which of these two sites to try promoting your business on first
Know little about how to use Instagram vs Facebook? Sign up for one the traditional way and play around with your chosen social network to help teach yourself the core principles. Here’s how to set up a corporate presence on either site…
Getting started with Facebook
Here’s how it works on the web version of Facebook. First, log into Facebook with your personal account. Then, click ‘Pages’ on the left-hand panel. A new left-hand panel will appear. On that, click the ‘Create new profile or Page’ link.
You should now be faced with what you see below. Select the ‘Public Page’ option.
Scroll down and hit the blue ‘Next’ button. Facebook will be keen to detail many different ways in which you stand to benefit from setting up a Page…
Click the blue ‘Get started’ button to load this WYSIWYG (‘what you see is what you get’) editor:
The ‘Page name’ can simply be your company’s name, while the ‘Category’ can refer to the industry in which the organization operates. The ‘Bio’ section is optional to fill in, but can sum up what the business does.
After you fill in at least the two text fields labeled ‘Required’, the ‘Create Page’ button will turn blue and clickable. You know what to do…
Using Instagram
Creating a business account on Instagram entails creating a standard account first. Once you have done that, log into the Instagram app on your smartphone. Then, tap your profile picture (or where it would be if you had uploaded one) in the bottom right corner.
Doing this will bring up your Instagram profile. Tap ‘Edit profile’ and, on the next screen, ‘Switch to professional account’. Now keep tapping ‘Continue’ until you are prompted to select a category for your business.
After selecting that category, you can specify whether you want it to be displayed on the company’s Instagram profile. Then, click ‘Done’.
This is only an introduction to the overall process, which will invite you to complete further steps to provide a fuller picture of your business.
Facebook vs Instagram: Comparing the social media marketing platforms
Neither Facebook nor Instagram is going to be able to serve every single kind of digital marketing need. That’s why, before settling on either platform, you must think carefully about what boxes you are striving to tick with your promotional strategy.
Below is a look at several such boxes — and, for each, which of the two Meta platforms would be best at ticking it.
🏆 Best for reach: Facebook
The numbers alone tell much of the story here. Figures suggest that Facebook has about a billion more active users than Instagram.
So, if you are pressed for time as an entrepreneur, why shouldn’t you just devote all your marketing dollars to Facebook? In many instances, you probably should — not least as the Facebook user base is fairly evenly spread across a range of age groups.
As of July 2024, nearly a third — 30.8% — of Facebook users fell into the age range of 25 to 34. As for the remaining users…
- 22.6% were aged 18 to 24
- 20.2% were aged 25 to 44
- 12.2% were aged 45 to 54
- 7.9% were aged 55 to 64
- 6.3% were aged above 65
However, some products or services you offer might be best advertised specifically to younger generations.
When it comes to Facebook vs Instagram users, the latter skew younger. Here is how various age segments on Instagram compared to each other in size as of April 2023:
- 32% were aged 18 to 24
- 30% were aged 25 to 34
- 15% were aged 35 to 44
Instagram also has more of a ‘shop window’ effect that can powerfully persuade people to buy new things. In 2024, 72% of shoppers said Instagram influenced their purchase decisions.
The most important takeaway here is that products aimed at young people can prove more cost-effective to market on Instagram vs Facebook. This is despite the latter’s much larger total number of users.
🏆 Best for ‘arty’ businesses: Instagram
Many businesses rise and fall on the quality of their visual material. Good examples include companies in these sectors:
- Photography 📸
- Fashion 👗
- Beauty 💄
- Design 🖥️
- Architecture 🏠
You should seriously consider carving out an Instagram space for your own brand if it falls into any of these categories.
People using Instagram for personal enjoyment want to immerse themselves in visual content. Indeed, Instagram places imagery right at the forefront — not only in the main feed but also in the Explore and Reels tabs.
Wouldn’t it be ideal for people who explore your social media pages to feel as though they are browsing your physical shop or studio? At your workplace, you are bound to have many of your artworks and designs pinned up where visitors can see them.
Now, you can recreate this same kind of look with your Instagram page. For inspiration, check out how the Chicago-located Art on You photo studio displays photography on its own Instagram page:
Love creating downloadable art? By adding previews of it to Instagram, you can encourage people to purchase the art itself. Learn more about how to make money as a digital artist.
🏆 Best for sales: Instagram
Of course, your company’s end goal is to sell products or services. The whole point of marketing is to make sure the people who would most benefit from these offerings know that they exist.
Meta is aware of this, which is why the company has built ecommerce infrastructure into both Facebook and Instagram. The idea is that when you are on either social network and see a product advertised there, you can buy it within the app.
For example, there’s Facebook Marketplace, where you can sell physical (but not digital) products.
Familiarize yourself with the what, why and how of selling on Facebook Marketplace.
On the other hand, it is possible to sell digital products on Instagram via its Shopping feature. However, this isn’t the only reason why Instagram triumphs over Facebook in the ecommerce stakes.
There’s also the fact that, by dint of its more visual nature, Instagram much more closely emulates the window of a brick-and-mortar retail shop.
It’s a point alluded to earlier, but think about it. Often, when you buy something special in person, it’s because you have caught sight of it through the shop’s window or on a shelf.
Similarly, when browsing Instagram, it’s easy to spot a product you consequently salivate at the prospect of buying. Statistics bear this out. Internet users are 70% more likely to purchase online as a result of being on Instagram.
Still, as an ecommerce platform, even Instagram has some flaws that could be deal-breaking for beginner entrepreneurs. For example, your company’s Instagram profile will need a minimum of roughly a hundred followers before you can enable Instagram Shopping.
Whop is an appreciably more flexible alternative to Instagram Shopping. It takes just minutes to create your own whop and then link your social media profiles to it. This can all lead you to keep 97% of the money you make from online sales.
🏆 Best for conversions: Facebook
There’s been a lot of focus in this article on how you can use social media to get people flocking to your brand. All the same, there can be quite a long build-up before such newcomers decide to buy from your company.
Ultimately, people purchase from brands they trust — and you can build that trust with the content you put out. You want this content to be engrossing, educational, and informative — in short, effective at helping people to overcome problems.
Some of this material will need to be offered for free. After all, many of your target customers could be unwilling to give your brand a chance if you don’t ’whet the appetite’ first. Social media can be a great place for you to post snippets of:
- Art 🖼️
- Articles 💻
- Novels 📚
- Videos 🎥
Certain whops could assist you with putting together such ‘preview’ content. Just look at Reels Builder...
Joining Reels Builders’ free tier will grant you 5 credits to spend on whipping up AI-generated videos suited to social media use.
Run out of video credits too quickly? Then step up to one of Reel Builders’ paid subscription packages, like Reels Builder AI Standard or Reels Builder AI Advanced. You will get not only more credits but also extra guidance and advice.
As pointed out earlier in this article, Facebook and Instagram have notable drawbacks as ecommerce platforms. So, if you do opt to promote your brand on either site, it would remain wise for you to sell your products exclusively on Whop.
Linking out to Whop is easier on Facebook vs Instagram. That’s because only the former allows clickable links to be inserted into the text of posts.
On Instagram, you can only include those links in your bio. That’s why so many Instagram posts publicising products say “link in bio” when clarifying how users can actually buy them!
To diffuse at least some of this awkwardness, you could turn to a link-in-bio tool like Stan Store or Linktree.
Instagram vs Facebook: What’s the better marketing avenue overall?
To a certain extent, it depends on what you want to sell. If you are targeting a more mature audience, you could struggle to find many takers for your products on Instagram.
Another undoubted factor is precisely what strategies you pursue with your social media marketing. Don’t fret if you are a beginner to social media marketing — even the experts were in your position once upon a time. You could start by taking the Growth Academy Course available on Whop.
This whop offers an Instagram Incubator Course packed with expert advice on how to ‘go viral’ with your Instagram content.
Joining this whop will also grant you access to the Growth Academy Discord server, where you can network with creators and learn from them.
There are many nuances to the ‘Instagram vs Facebook’ debate. Generally, though, Instagram is best for drumming up interest in your brand, while Facebook is better at tempting people into buying from your brand.
Hone your social media marketing skills with Whop
Made up your mind about whether to promote your business on Facebook or Instagram? That’s only the start of your social media marketing adventure, as you must also ascertain how to leverage your chosen platform to the best effect.
By signing up for courses and communities on Whop, you can learn crucial dos and don’ts of marketing. This popular platform is awash with such online resources.
Given the vast range of whops here on Whop, you are bound to find many aligned with your commercial objectives. For example, want to build a luxury brand on Instagram? The Master Instagram Branding whop could fit the bill perfectly.
Considering selling directly through either Facebook or Instagram? First, check if you meet the eligibility requirements. These could turn out to be steeper than you had accounted for, especially if you are running a business for the first time.
This gets to the heart of why you can save a lot of time and hassle by assembling your digital storefront on Whop instead. This would get your digital business in front of millions of eyes straight away — you don’t have to develop any large social media following first!
Ready to level up your social media marketing strategy? Join Whop today and start exploring expert-led courses and communities tailored to your goals.
