Despite many proclamations of its demise, Facebook continues to see high usage. Billions of users rely on the app to stay up to date on news and on updates from family and friends.
It may not have the cool factor it once did, but many check their Facebook feed daily to make sure they do not miss key updates.
In fact, Facebook usage has seen a resurgence due to the popularity of Reels, which have drawn more people into the app for longer sessions.
While Instagram, TikTok and YouTube generally see stronger engagement performance, Meta's flagship app remains a critical connector — and a potentially valuable opportunity for marketers.
Facebook's audience insights tool provides data on a brand page's audience:
It is a helpful starting point, but largely based on previous activity, which makes it less valuable for newer pages.
All brand pages can benefit from the benchmarking section, which provides an overview of comparative page performance versus similar pages — and recommends similar pages for comparison.
Marketers can take note of metrics like posting activity, post types, engagement behaviours and style. Unlike audience insights, this works immediately for a new page.
Meta's Ads Library is another key feature.
Take the comparative brand list from audience insights, enter those brands into the Ads Library, and you can see how other businesses are using paid promotion and what is resonating best with their audience.
As a public tool showing competitors' live creative, it offers the best research return for the time invested.
Marketers can pose conversational queries to Meta AI, asking it to outline key trends and influencers in their niche.
In Meta's Creator Marketplace, you can search for relevant influencers by topic and filter for Instagram or Facebook creators, with direct links to post examples plus notes on recent engagement stats and audience make-up.
Brands running ads can also create an audience of people who follow their page and then examine other pages to glean context on potential interests and audience crossover.
From those insights, marketers can build a general overview of key content types, topics and influencers.
They can then formulate an effective strategy based on proven approaches — including ad outlines — by examining what types of messaging and creative generated strong results.
Meta's Advantage+ AI-powered ad tools continue advancing in their capacity to find the right audience for each brand and campaign, making them worth considering in paid strategy. For how much of Meta's ad business now runs through Advantage+, see Meta Grows Ad Revenue 27% to $59.4B.
Meta also offers organic creative AI tools aligned with what is working in the app.
With a clear approach in place, marketers can post with defined intent and measurable targets aligned to brand goals, guided by what is working, which formats to use and when to post.
Start with benchmarking. For a new page, audience insights lacks the underlying data. Comparative page performance is the only immediately usable evidence.
Reflect the Reels rebound in your format mix. If Reels is what recovered Facebook usage, a static-image-led approach is sitting out the recovery.
Put the Ads Library into a recurring routine. Competitor creative rotates continuously. Checking once produces a snapshot, not intelligence.
Split your approach by platform. What works on Instagram does not transfer intact. The Instagram sequence is covered in Instagram Marketing in 2026: Five Steps in Front of 3 Billion Monthly Users.
Build recurring formats, not individual posts. The principle in The New Fundamentals of Social Brand Strategy applies here too.
The popularity of Reels, which has drawn more people into the app for longer sessions.
Audience insights is largely based on previous activity, so it is less valuable for newer pages. However, all pages can use the benchmarking section to compare performance against similar pages.
Enter your comparative brand list from audience insights into the Ads Library to see how those businesses use paid promotion and what resonates best with their audiences.
Topic-based influencer search with filters for Instagram or Facebook creators, direct links to post examples, and notes on recent engagement statistics and audience composition.
To apply what you just read to your own site, start with a free audit of where things are now.
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