How should D2C marketers choose between Facebook and Instagram?

Conversion rates are one of the most critical KPIs that direct to consumer marketers monitor on Facebook and Instagram. A conversion is typically defined as the point at which a user transitions from being a browser to a buyer. Conversions are a primary objective for D2Cmarketers. A high conversion rate is one of the best indicators of success and is critical to generating a positive ROI on spend. Another KPI for service companies is to generate leads for adding to databases or to book follow up appointments. Form fills are dynamic and underutilized on both platforms.

Because Facebook is the most popular social media platform for driving conversions and leads, creating effective Facebook advertisements is critical. Social media marketing is an area in which brands are investing heavily these days, owing to its ability to quickly and effectively connect them to their target customers.

Given that it is one of the largest social media platforms today, it is not surprising that Facebook is the platform in which businesses invest the most money. Facebook has almost two billion users, while Instagram has over 800 million. Facebook’s demographics cover the most people of any social media network. When it comes to large groups of individuals in general, Facebook clearly has the upper hand. If you need to reach more of a mass market, especially in higher age groups, Facebook will be the clear victor.

In terms of everyday usage, Facebook, has 54%, followed by Instagram (46%). Even when it comes to weekly usage, Facebook comes out on top (62%). Facebook has significantly higher activity from older generations than Instagram. People in their forties, fifties, and sixties are significantly more likely to use Facebook. Instagram, on the other hand, is popular among the younger generation. In recent years, digital marketers have underlined the importance of reaching out to the younger generation to start creating brand loyalty for the next several decades..

Acceptable conversion rates are generally between 2 and 5 percent. Conversion rate for Facebook is between 9 and 10% and Instagram 1.08% on average.  While costs per clicks have gone up since the IOS changes, Facebook consistently delivers less cost per click on average than Instagram as well

It is clear that both Facebook and Instagram are great platforms for ad conversions and lead generation, depending on the target audience you want to reach. Instagram is a winner for the younger generation which is also harder to reach through traditional DRTV channels ,  but if you want to reach a higher number of people all at once, not depending on the age or preferences then Facebook is the best alternative.  

With that said, since Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, you can do tests and allocate percentages of the budget to each platform or allow Meta to use their own algorithms to do so, bearing in mind closely monitoring the KPIs and adjusting as needed.

Many DRTV and infomercial marketers were late to the game on social media advertising, but are catching up now and finding fertile ground on Facebook and Instagram for purchasing their products and services.