There is a major investment in social media by businesses of all sizes, especially small and medium-size businesses, to reach their target customers as quickly as possible by the year 2025. Many small business owners and marketers are unsure of which social media platforms will provide them with the most effective results based on the large number of platforms available.
One of the most common dilemmas faced by many small business owners and marketers is whether they should spend their advertising budget on Facebook or Instagram. This confusion is understandable given the fact that both Facebook and Instagram are owned by Meta, and both provide tools that help advertisers reach their target customers.
However, if an advertiser chooses to place their ads on the wrong social media platform based on their target customer's demographics or what they're trying to achieve, it can result in:
- Low levels of engagement
- Wasted advertising dollars
- Low conversion rates
- A slower growth rate for their business
What Is Facebook Advertising?
When potential clients inquire about what Facebook advertising entails, they are essentially asking about the paid marketing solutions provided by Facebook. Through Facebook, advertisers can reach potential customers by promoting their brands, products, and services to users within the Facebook platform. Facebook advertising opens up multiple placements for advertisers, including users’ News Feeds, right-hand navigations (known as sidebars), the Marketplace feature, and Facebook's partner networks, which gives advertisers a great opportunity to target a specific audience.
Because Facebook and Instagram ads have a lot of overlap in terms of users, marketers frequently compare both platforms when considering their advertising options. Understanding the fact that Facebook ads are part of a larger ecosystem that includes Instagram is key; both platforms allow advertisers to manage their campaigns across multiple platforms with ease, yet provide unique user experiences and user engagement methods.
What is Instagram advertising
Instagram advertisements enable businesses to reach visually-oriented audiences on Instagram via the use of videos and various other creative formats. Instagram can showcase video ads on both users' feeds, as well as their stories, explore and reels.
Instagram is regarded, particularly by younger audience categories, as being an excellent source of highly engaging content when compared with Facebook ads. As such, Instagram provides an optimal avenue for businesses to develop immersive creative content on the Instagram platform while emphasising the visual appeal of their products.
Why Are These Platforms So Important in Digital Marketing?
Both Facebook and Instagram are key to creating successful advertising strategies within a highly competitive marketplace. Each of these social networks is owned by Meta and allows advertisers to access large audiences through tools that target users based on their unique behaviour or the goals of the advertiser. Their impact on digital advertising isn’t limited to ad placement and clickthrough rates; rather, it allows advertisers to reach their audience by delivering highly personalised, measurable, and scalable campaigns. So why do Facebook and Instagram matter?
Targeted Audience Reach: Advertisers can use these platforms to create ads that are more specific to their audience’s needs. By utilizing demographic information, interests, and user behaviour, advertisers can create ads that are specifically created to be relevant to their customers.
Measurable Success: With the availability of detailed reporting capabilities through these platforms, advertisers can measure success through conversion rates, engagement levels, and a variety of performance metrics to improve their advertising strategies based upon real-time results.
Scalability: No matter what type of business, whether a local shop or a major corporation, advertisers will benefit from the wide range of services offered that will allow for the efficient scaling of advertising campaigns to fit a given budget and desired promotional goals.
As technology continues to improve and evolve, new tools like Meta AI on Instagram will provide advertisers with greater, smarter means to interact with their target audiences, providing advertisers with better-targeted ads, deeper insights into their audiences, and greater flexibility and opportunity to maximise the effectiveness of their advertising efforts.
Facebook Ads: Best for Broad Reach & Mature Audiences
Facebook continues to attract users aged 25–55+, especially working professionals, parents, and decision-makers.
Strengths
- Larger and more diverse audience
- Highly detailed targeting options
- Great for lead generation & retargeting.
- Supports long-form messaging
- Better for local businesses
Challenges: Lower engagement among Gen Z Increasing competition in some industries.
Best for: Real estate, education, healthcare, coaching, professional services, and B2B campaigns.
Instagram Ads: Best for High Engagement & Younger Audiences
Instagram dominates among users aged 18–35, especially those interested in lifestyle, beauty, fitness, travel, and learning.
Strengths
- High visual appeal.
- Higher engagement rates than Facebook.
- Ideal for Reels, Stories, and aesthetic product ads
- Great for brand building.
- Strong influencer ecosystem.
Challenges: Not ideal for long explanations. Users scroll fast, so creative quality matters
Best for: Fashion, food, fitness, digital products, online courses, creators, and brand-centric businesses.
How Tijus Academy help you
At Tijus Academy, we provide digital marketing education to thousands of learners and small business owners through training focused on the real world, training technology that includes artificial intelligence (AI), and hands-on experience in running digital advertising campaigns.
Here's what our students will learn:
- How to create and manage advertisements on Facebook and Instagram.
- How to find and connect with their ideal customers.
- How to decrease their cost per lead.
- How to create and develop advertisements that convert well.
- How to develop their winning complete ad strategy for 2025.
If you are serious about developing the skills you need to successfully run paid advertising, Tijus Academy offers the education you need to confidently and professionally run ads that will convert.
Interested in how to successfully run Facebook and Instagram ads?
Join the Tijus Academy AI-Integrated Digital Marketing Program today!
