Digiday+ Research: Instagram is head and shoulders above Facebook in the eyes of brands

Digiday’s survey found that brands’ and retailers’ use of Facebook has remained strong, while their use of Instagram grows stronger still. Eighty-eight percent of brand and retailer pros said in both 2022 and 2023 that their companies posted content to Instagram — an undeniably strong percentage. However, in 2024, that percentage shot up to a whopping 99%, indicating brands’ reliance on the platform.

Facebook’s usage by brands and retailers trails its sibling Instagram’s, but is still noteworthy. Eighty-eight percent of brand and retailer pros told Digiday this summer that their companies posted content to Facebook within the last month, a return to 2022’s percentage after dropping slightly to 84% last year.

The percentages of brands and retailers who use Meta’s two dominant platforms is a testament to the importance of both platforms in marketers’ social media strategies. (You can read more on that in this Digiday+ Research report). While other platforms might get more media attention (ahem, X), Instagram and Facebook have held steady as the dominant and reliable channels when it comes to social media marketing.

Instagram’s and Facebook’s dominance in social media marketing rings true when it comes to brands and retailers actually purchasing advertising on the platforms as well (as opposed to simply posting content to them). In fact, Digiday’s survey found that the percentage of brands and retailers who purchase ads on Instagram in particular has been trending significantly upward in recent years.

In summer 2022, 64% of brand and retailer pros told Digiday their companies had purchased advertising on Instagram in the past month. By last summer, that percentage rose to nearly three-quarters (72%), before rising again to 84% this summer.

Similar to brands’ and retailers’ usage of Meta’s Facebook platform versus Instagram, fewer brands are buying ads on Facebook — but those who invest in Facebook ads still make up a very significant percentage. This year, three-quarters of brand and retailer pros (75%) told Digiday their companies purchase advertising on Facebook, up from 70% last year (which was a slight drop from the 73% who said the same in 2022).

The high percentages of brands and retailers who are not only using Instagram and Facebook but putting marketing spend toward them present further evidence of Meta’s continued dominance in social media marketing. But what about the social media giant’s newest member of the family, Threads?

Digiday’s survey found that the platform is struggling to gain traction among brands and retailers.

As of this summer, just 11% of brand and retailer pros told Digiday that their companies posted content to Meta’s fledgling platform in the last month. This lack of adoption, which feels extreme in the face of Facebook’s and Instagram’s usage among brands, could spell trouble for the year-old platform when it comes to adding to Meta’s social advertising trove. Meta announced earlier this year that ads are coming to Threads, but with adoption of the platform still so low, only time will tell whether selling ads on Threads will be worth Meta’s time — especially in comparison to ad spend on Instagram and Facebook.