# Facebook Ads vs Instagram Ads: Which Should You Use? > Facebook ads vs Instagram ads is a false choice. Real data from live ads shows the pros run both at once. Here is what the numbers say and how to decide. Published August 19, 2026 · [The Hello Radio Blog](/blog) Facebook ads versus Instagram ads is mostly a false choice, and the data makes that clear. The overwhelming majority of experienced advertisers do not pick one, they run the same ad across both at once and let the delivery system decide where each impression goes. If you are agonizing over Facebook or Instagram, the pros already answered the question, and the answer is "both." Let us look at what the numbers actually show, why running both is the default, and the narrow cases where you might lean one way. ## What the live ad data says This is not opinion. In the [Hello Radio archive](/library), a live archive of real ads from big brands refreshed every morning, you can see exactly which placements each active ad runs on. The pattern is striking: - **About 92 percent of active ads run on both Facebook and Instagram at the same time.** - **More than 99 percent include Instagram** in their placements. - **About 93 percent include Facebook.** - Only a tiny sliver run on one platform alone: a few dozen Facebook-only ads, a few hundred Instagram-only, out of thousands. Read that again. The most sophisticated advertisers in the world, running thousands of ads between them, almost never choose. They put the ad on both and let the system sort it out. When the pros are this unanimous, it is worth understanding why before you do something different. ## Why running both is the default The reason is structural. Facebook and Instagram share the same ads system. When you create an ad, you can let it run across both platforms and all their placements, feed, stories, reels, and more, from a single campaign. The delivery system then spends your budget wherever it is finding the cheapest results in real time. This matters because you usually cannot predict in advance where your buyer is cheapest to reach. The same person scrolls Facebook in the morning and Instagram at night. By running both, you let the auction find the cheapest path to a result instead of guessing and boxing yourself in. Restricting to one platform throws away that flexibility for no gain, which is exactly why so few advertisers do it. There is a creative wrinkle worth knowing. The two platforms favor slightly different formats: Instagram leans more visual and vertical, Facebook carries more text and link-style placements comfortably. But the answer to that is not to pick a platform, it is to give the system creative that works across placements, which good advertisers do anyway. ## When you might lean one way The data says run both, and that should be your default. But there are a few honest cases for leaning: **Your audience is genuinely one-sided.** A small number of businesses really do have a customer that lives on one platform. An older demographic may index toward Facebook, a younger, visual, aspirational audience toward Instagram. If you have real evidence of this, not a hunch, a lean can make sense. Even then, most advertisers run both and let the budget flow to wherever results are cheaper rather than hard-excluding a platform. **Your creative is format-specific.** If your ad only works as a polished vertical video, it may perform better where that format shines. But the better move is usually to adapt the creative for both placements rather than restrict the platform. **You are studying one platform's patterns.** For research and inspiration, you might focus on how brands present on Instagram versus Facebook. That is a creative study, not a budgeting decision. Notice that even the exceptions rarely justify turning a platform fully off. The delivery system is better at finding your cheapest results than your intuition is. ## The decision, simplified Here is the whole thing in practice: 1. **Default to both.** Run your ad across Facebook and Instagram from one campaign. This is what nearly every serious advertiser does. 2. **Let the system optimize placement.** Give it room to spend where results are cheapest rather than forcing a platform. 3. **Make creative that works across placements.** This is where [the static versus video decision](/blog/static-vs-video-ads) actually matters, far more than the platform choice. 4. **Only lean on real evidence.** If your own results clearly show one platform winning for your business, adjust. Otherwise, trust the data and the delivery system. The energy people spend debating Facebook versus Instagram is almost always better spent on the offer and the creative, which are what actually decide whether the ad works on either platform. ## The placements hiding inside each platform One reason the platform debate is a distraction: Facebook and Instagram are not single surfaces. Each contains several placements, the feed, stories, reels, and more, and an ad can run across all of them. When you run both platforms, you are really letting the system choose among a dozen or so surfaces, spending where a result is cheapest at that moment. This is why forcing the choice to the platform level is such a blunt instrument. The meaningful differences are at the placement level, and the delivery system already navigates those for you far better than a manual pick would. A vertical video might shine in stories and reels across both platforms, while a clean single image might do its best work in the feed. The system tests your creative across placements and leans into whatever performs, which is a finer and smarter optimization than "Facebook or Instagram" could ever be. The takeaway is the same one the data keeps pointing to: give the system your creative and room to work, and let it handle the placement math. Your job is to supply creative good enough to win those slots cheaply, which loops right back to the offer and the hook. ## Frequently asked questions ### Should I run Facebook ads or Instagram ads? Both. Real data from thousands of live ads shows about 92 percent of active ads run on Facebook and Instagram at the same time, because the two share one ads system and the delivery engine finds the cheapest results across both. Picking one platform throws away that flexibility for no benefit unless you have real evidence your audience lives on just one. ### Are Instagram ads more expensive than Facebook ads? Costs vary by audience, placement, competition, and creative, and they shift constantly, so a fixed comparison is misleading. The practical answer is that running both lets the delivery system spend wherever results are cheapest at any given moment, which is better than betting in advance on one being cheaper. ### Do Facebook and Instagram ads use the same manager? Yes. They share the same ads system, so you create and manage ads for both from one place and can run a single ad across both platforms and all their placements. This is exactly why running both is the default for experienced advertisers. ### Which platform is better for my small business? Almost certainly both, run together, with the delivery system optimizing placement. Only lean toward one if you have genuine evidence your customers concentrate there. Spend your real decision-making energy on the offer and the [creative that stops the scroll](/blog/what-makes-a-good-facebook-ad), which decide the outcome far more than the platform does. ## The takeaway Facebook ads versus Instagram ads is a choice the professionals do not make. The live data is nearly unanimous: run both at once and let the shared delivery system spend where results are cheapest. Save the platform debate for a rare, evidence-backed exception, and put your energy into the offer and creative that actually determine whether an ad works on either one. --- Hello Radio · https://www.hellorad.io