Facebook and Instagram may be part of the same company, but they’re very different social media networks. Instagram is visual, while Facebook allows for more written posts.

If you’re trying to decide how to grow your brand online, you should compare Instagram vs. Facebook. Then, you can choose the right platform for you.

Keep reading to learn some of the pros and cons of each social network.

Pros of Facebook

Facebook marketing can be a good option for many businesses. Here are some of the benefits of the platform.

Popular Among Adults

Facebook is one of the most popular social networks for adults. Just under 70 percent of American adults use Facebook, and the majority of them use it each day.

If your target customer is a US adult, you can use Facebook to market your company to your ideal audience. You can target adults with specific interests when marketing yourself on Facebook.

More Active Visitors

Not only does Facebook have a lot of users, but it has a lot of active users. Because of that, you can use it to reach more and more people.

You can grow a following on your personal page or a business page. Then, you can create a short-term marketing campaign to reach people who don’t follow you. Target the campaign to your ideal customer, and you can grow your brand awareness.

Many Ways to Build Brand Awareness

Once you set up your Facebook account, you have many options for your social media brand awareness strategy. You can use your personal profile to market to friends and family.

Another popular Facebook marketing method is to create a business page. You can use it for ads and general posts. But you can also join Facebook groups related to your business, and you can market your stuff there.

Cons of Facebook

Unfortunately, Facebook isn’t for every business. Consider these downsides before you focus on Facebook marketing.

Hard to Grow Organically

When comparing Instagram vs. Facebook, Facebook requires more work to grow your presence. Rumors have been going around that Facebook is prioritizing personal posts.

Because of that, it can be hard for your business page to show up in followers’ feeds. You can use ads, but growing your page without spending money is getting harder each year.

Maintenance and Advertising Costs

If you decide you want to use Facebook ads, you’ll need to pay up. And while you can run a short, cheap campaign, you may not get huge results.

You will need to spend a lot more and run a longer ad if you want to grow more. And your ad needs to meet Facebook’s standards with an image that doesn’t contain much text. So you may also need to hire someone to create or run the ad for you.

Pros of Instagram

If you don’t want to use Facebook, Instagram can be a good option. Here are a few advantages to using Instagram marketing.

Many Ways to Engage

Instagram gives users multiple choices for social media brand awareness. You can use your Instagram feed as well as stories and IGTV videos.

Posting organically can get you results, but you can also run Instagram ads. Ads can be photos or videos, so you can choose how to engage your current and potential followers. Then, you can grow your business with Instagram.

Can Grow Organic Reach

If you don’t have a huge Instagram marketing budget, you can still grow your reach organically. You can use hashtags to reach people in your target audience.

Tagging your location can also help you reach more people in your area. Whenever someone scrolls through a hashtag or location page, they can see your post. And if you use the same tags regularly, you can grow your brand awareness.

A Visual Platform

All of the post options on Instagram are visual. You can post photos and videos in your feed or stories, and IGTV is all about visual videos.

As a business owner, you can brand your feed and stories to match your business branding. You can use the same colors in your posts as your brand. And if you create a graphic for your story, you can use your brand colors and fonts to stand out.

Cons of Instagram

When comparing Instagram vs. Facebook for brand awareness, you should consider the disadvantages of Instagram. Here are a couple of issues you may experience.

Hard to Link Outside of IG

Once you build social media brand awareness, it can be hard to turn your following into customers. Instagram only gives you one link in your bio, so you need to be strategic about what you put there.

And unless you have at least 10,000 followers, you can’t add links to your stories. You can link to an IGTV video or share a feed post, but you can’t send users to your website to buy a product or service.

Not the Best for Written Content

Another downside to using Instagram marketing is that it’s not as good for using written content. Users only see a small portion of your caption when scrolling, so you need to make that first sentence interesting enough for people to read more.

Even then, the platform is still more visual. It’s a great place to market graphic design or photography. But if your business isn’t as visual, you may have a hard time creating enough content for your profile.

Should You Use Both?

If you’re trying to decide between Instagram vs. Facebook, you should consider your business and audience. But you can connect the two to increase your reach and grow your digital presence.

You can use the Facebook Business Suite to manage both platforms by scheduling posts and responding to comments. And you can create one post that works for both networks, so you don’t have to create twice as many posts.

Instagram vs. Facebook: Which to Choose?

When deciding how to market your business, you may hear a lot about Instagram vs. Facebook. Both platforms can help you succeed in growing your business.

But if you want to focus on one platform, you should consider where your ideal customers are. Facebook is great for all ages, but younger adults use Instagram just as much.

Are you ready for some help with your marketing strategy? Contact us today.