The vast user base of popular social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook makes social media advertising a compelling option for ecommerce businesses. According to a 2025 Sprout Social report, 80% of marketers plan to double down by allocating marketing budget away from other channels toward social media.
According to another 2025 survey, Facebook is the most popular social media platform for marketers, followed closely by Instagram. The platforms share Meta as a parent company and use a unified back end, simplifying the process of running ecommerce ads across both Facebook and Instagram.
This unified back end doesn’t mean that ecommerce advertising strategies are the same across both social channels. Learn the key differences between Facebook advertising and Instagram ads to help your team develop creative visual content that will connect with users on both platforms.
What’s the difference between Facebook ads and Instagram ads?
Facebook and Instagram ads are similar. You run each via Meta Ads Manager (formerly known as Facebook Ads Manager). They also use the same bidding strategies and have similar audience targeting options.
For advertisers, setup and management are nearly identical. The ad types begin to diverge when you consider platform differences, costs, and audience behavior.
Placement and ad format
Ad placement describes where users will see content within the app. Facebook and Instagram both have numerous placement options, each with unique specifications and content standards.
Facebook uses diverse ad formats, including vertical videos, square videos, static images, photo carousels, and text-based content. Instagram also supports images, videos, and carousel ads. According to data shared with CNBC by Sensor Tower, more than 50% of Instagram ads run on Reels.
Facebook advertisements can appear in the main Facebook feed, Facebook Reels feed, search results, the right-hand column of the feed, Facebook Stories, and Facebook Marketplace. Instagram ad placements are more limited; they can be featured in the main Instagram feed, Reels, or Stories, or on the Explore page.
The ideal format and best creative strategies vary depending on placement, particularly since users may expect specific or different types of visual content in each location. To blend in with organic Reels content, for example, you need engaging vertical video. Right-hand column ads on Facebook, on the other hand, have static images accompanied by a short tagline.
Cost
Facebook and Instagram use the same ad bidding system, but the actual ad price can vary greatly. Factors like campaign goals, target audience, bidding strategy, and ad engagement all affect ad cost. Advertisers typically pay more for prominent placements and in high-competition industries.
Although cost is specific to each campaign, Facebook ads generally have a lower cost per click (CPC). Social media management platform Birch reports an average Facebook CPC of 76¢ between June 2025 and June 2026. Average Instagram CPC was $1.09 for the same period.
Audience
Facebook and Instagram are both home to large, global audiences, but Facebook holds the distinction of being the most popular social media platform in the world. The app has 3.07 billion users, according to Statista, compared to Instagram’s three billion. That’s 70 million more people on Facebook. This numerical advantage means that Facebook ads have a larger potential reach.
The two platforms also tend to attract slightly different users. Facebook’s audience skews older. While both apps have a large number of users between the ages of 25 and 34, Facebook is home to more Gen X and boomer users. Roughly 24% of Facebook users are over the age of 55, compared to roughly 9% of Instagram users.
On Instagram, 18- to 24-year-olds make up the second-largest user group, at 29.7%. Only 18.6% of Facebook users fall within this age range.
Tools for managing Facebook and Instagram ads
The following Meta tools and Shopify apps help simplify data tracking and ad creation. They integrate with Shopify so that your ad campaigns reflect the latest information from your online store.
Meta Ads Manager
Meta Ads Manager is Meta’s native ad management tool. It’s a centralized dashboard for creating and monitoring paid promotions across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network, third-party apps, and websites that display Meta ads. This is where you’ll upload assets, build campaigns, set ad budgets, and review performance.
You need a Facebook Business page to access Meta Ads Manager. Then, you can connect your professional Instagram profile to manage both platforms in one place.
Facebook and Instagram by Meta
Facebook and Instagram by Meta is Meta’s official Shopify app. You can use this free tool to sync your Shopify product catalog to your Facebook and Instagram business pages. Once you’re connected, you can start tagging products in posts and stories with Instagram Shopping and Facebook Shop and use these tools to sell directly on the platforms.
Connecting your accounts helps ensure that your social media product listings are always up to date. With a synced catalog, product information will update automatically to reflect accurate prices, product descriptions, and inventory info from your Shopify store.
Meta Pixel
Meta Pixel, formerly known as the Facebook Pixel, is a short string of code that you can add to your Shopify store to track how users behave after they click on one of your social media ads. It monitors user activity on your website, collecting data such as time-on-page, link clicks, and purchases.
The tool relays this information back to Meta, where you can review it and use it to inform retargeting campaigns across Facebook and Instagram.
You don’t need coding experience or technical expertise to add the Meta Pixel to your Shopify store. You create a pixel in Meta Ads Manager, then follow the instructions to install it while setting up the Facebook and Instagram by Meta app.
Tips for using Facebook ads vs. Instagram ads effectively
Here are a few tips for using Facebook and Instagram ads.
Consider Advantage+ placements
During campaign setup, you can either manually select where your ads appear or use Advantage+ placements to automate distribution. Advantage+ placements serve ads across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Meta Audience Network and make autonomous adjustments to optimize for spend efficiency.
Advantage+ placements require giving up some control, but it also takes the guesswork out of allocating ad spend between platforms.
Research your target audience
Think about who you want to reach with your advertisement. Define your target audience in terms of key demographics like average age, gender, location, and interests. When you’re designing your campaigns, you can target users based on these traits. Meta recommends starting broad, then refining your audience over time as you observe results.
Another option is to use lookalike audiences. You’ll input data about your customers, then Meta will find you new consumers who share your customers’ demographic info. You can also use Shopify Audiences for this; the tool looks at data from millions of data points to deliver you custom audience lists.
Compare this sample user profile to each platform’s audience to find the best placement. If you want to reach 18- to 24-year-old women, for example, you might choose Instagram placements over Facebook because Instagram skews younger.
You can use Meta’s Audience Insights tool to access demographic and behavioral data. This platform includes information about your followers and the general user base on both Instagram and Facebook.
Tailor ad creative based on placement
There are dozens of ad placement options available between Instagram and Facebook. The ideal content format and style for visual engagement can vary between platforms and feeds on those platforms. Meta provides ad guidelines for placements on Instagram and Facebook. They include aspect ratio recommendations, character limits, and maximum video lengths.
Review these specifications and browse organic content and the Meta Ad Library (which shows all currently running ads) to develop an understanding of the standard format, tone, and style for each platform feed.
Facebook ads vs. Instagram ads FAQ
Which is better: Facebook ads or Instagram ads?
Facebook and Instagram ads can both help businesses reach new users, build awareness, and drive sales. The best choice depends on your target audience and business goals. Many businesses run ads on both platforms.
Should you run ads on both Facebook and Instagram?
The best platform depends on your goals and target audience. Using the Meta Ads Manager’s Advantage+ placements feature to run paid ads on both Facebook and Instagram may help reach the widest possible audience and improve ad spend efficiency.
How do you run ads across both platforms?
You can use the Meta Ads Manager to run ads across both Facebook and Instagram. The Advantage+ placements feature, found within Meta Ads Manager, can help you identify the most effective advertising split. This tool analyzes ad performance across Meta platforms and automatically optimizes your split to maximize reach and engagement.
