Instagram vs. Facebook: Which is the best channel?

When Facebook bought Instagram in 2012, was the idea to set the stage for the next successful network?

Back then, the multibillion-dollar acquisition was risky, and many criticized Facebook for spending so much on a 13-person company with an app that only allowed photos to be shared… Today, no one questions this bold choice, and Instagram is estimated to be worth $ 102 billion, ten times more than its purchase value.

In its defense, Instagram is nowhere near as many users as Facebook. Suppose Instagram has 800 million monthly active users and manages to climb to the third most popular social media spot. In that case, more effort will be needed to reach the estimated 2 billion monthly Facebook users. Why bother? Wouldn’t it be better to focus your marketing campaigns on Facebook to reach twice as many people?

Well no. As we will explain in this article, it is not a question of quantity but quality. Companies that target a young audience (under 30) may well reap more profit on Instagram than on Facebook, with equal amounts invested, especially in the sectors of fashion, beauty, and even architecture.

Moreover, we will see in this article how to adapt your marketing strategy to optimize your efforts on both platforms. But let’s first see how a relatively smaller channel can make bigger waves. It’s all in DNA, which in the case of social media, in algorithms.

Instagram versus Facebook: algorithms

In short, it’s not just visibility that’s important, but above all, having visibility with the right people.

Small reminder: we call algorithm (in the context of social networks), the code that determines which publications are seen by which users and in what order. It has been a long time since posts appeared in chronological order. And so much the better, if we think about the (very large) number of pages, it is possible to follow with a single account.

Therefore, social networks use algorithms to provide users with a more relevant experience, where they see more posts that they like and fewer posts that they don’t want to see. Of course, it’s not their altruistic nature that drives them to do this, but the fact that algorithms give them more control when it comes to advertising.

As you can imagine, this is also not an exact science, and every network has to start by groping for the right criteria to consider when creating their algorithm. And this is where the difference between Facebook and Instagram comes into its own. How is Instagram’s algorithm better optimized for marketing? The algorithms are not known and remain well-kept secrets. But Alfred Lua de Buffer, who has researched Facebook and Instagram’s algorithms, developed several hypotheses that hold when tested. Here are the factors that determine the rank of each publication (apart from advertising).

Instagram algorithm

1. Commitment. The number of hearts and comments on each post.
2. Relevance. Is the genre the most relevant to the user in question?
3. Relations. Posts from accounts the user interacts with most often take priority.
4. Time. The most recent publications have priority.
5. Profile search. Posts from accounts that the user searches for most often take priority.
6. Direct shares. Posts from accounts the user is sharing content from are prioritized, and posts from the person receiving the share are also prioritized.
7. Time spent on each post. The time spent looking at a post (without scrolling).

Facebook’s new algorithm

1. Family and friends. Posts from people we know personally have higher priority. This is important because it means that corporate publications are relegated to lower priorities.
2. The number of likes, comments, and shares the post received, taking time into account.
3. Encourage engagement. Posts that are more likely to lead to a conversation have higher priority.
4. Images and videos. Posts containing visuals have higher priority than posts containing only text.
5. Phishing is relegated. Posts that aggressively encourage people to like, share, comment, vote, or tag are relegated to lower priorities.
6. Promotional publications are relegated. Posts that attempt to entice people to buy a product or service or enter a contest are relegated to lower priorities. Also, Facebook compares the text of posts to known ads and downgrades unofficial ads.

The purpose of the (algorithm) update was to prevent fraud by further encouraging personal conversations. But it also means that brands are less exposed to the general public.

It sounds like a coordinated strategy since Facebook is compartmentalizing the two channels. Minimizing third parties’ exposure on Facebook will influence the network to become more personal again, as it was in its early days, while still allowing income through paid advertising by companies.

But marketers can still promote their brand on Instagram for free and even get better results, as long as the content is relevant.

Instagram versus Facebook: marketing effectiveness

Now that you’ve seen what happens backstage let’s see what happens backstage.

In short, Instagram is more effective indirect marketing: engaging customers, increasing recognition, showcasing new products/services, doing brand comparisons, and influencers. Also, Instagram is mainly used by those under 30 and even teenagers.

On the other hand, Facebook offers more visibility with older groups, as long as you go through paid advertising. It should also be noted that Facebook makes it easier to redirect users to third-party sites (an online store, for example). Instagram prohibits the sharing of links in posts and comments, and apart from the link that may appear on the account description, users will have to go through several steps to get to a third-party site. It is, therefore, more difficult to generate traffic through this.

7 tips to change your marketing strategy

Enough statistics and observations for today. Instead, let’s talk about what brands can do to maximize their Instagram marketing strategy’s benefits.

1.Don’t give up on Facebook.

The reach and sharing features make Facebook a still very useful network for marketers, so don’t let this channel down entirely. Facebook is a great place to post well-chosen content as well as brand news. And paid ads are more effective there than on Instagram. But if you’re looking to build your brand’s reputation and build relationships with your customers, Instagram performs better.

2.Put more visual content.

If visuals perform much better than text alone on either network, on Instagram, they are necessary. Facebook is more lenient with text-based posts (blog posts, very long statuses, etc.); On Instagram, your posts have to look good if you want to get great results.

3.Create content.

Here too, posting or sharing third-party content is perfectly acceptable on Facebook. But on Instagram, everyone assumes that you are the creator of the content you post. Instagram isn’t really about sharing other people’s work, so invest in creating great content.

4.Use hashtags.

You can’t target a particular group of users on Instagram, but hashtags still get you as close as possible. List all the hashtags that are relevant to maximize the visibility of your posts. You can put up to 30 hashtags in each post’s description, and you can add more as a comment.

5. Start contests.

Contests are a great way to engage your audience. So, feel free to jump in with an Instagram photo contest. The fact that users are promoting your brand on their photos is free publicity. Don’t forget to associate a hashtag with your campaign. You can also participate in other big trends, like the #lemondancechallenge below.

6.Be consistent in the themes.

Targeting a specific, specialized audience is a big trend on Instagram (another reason why hashtags are important). Pick a theme and stick with it if you are in tourism, post-travel photos only. Suppose you are in the restaurant business, post photos of dishes. The more you specialize, the better (as long as there is an audience, of course).

7.Optimize your bio and description.

These are the only places where you can talk about yourself; your bio and your description are vital elements. In addition to putting your website address there, add your slogan as well as a short sales pitch and, of course, hashtags. Don’t be afraid to use your logo as your profile picture, either.

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