Last week, we asked if political buyers are underbuying Meta for persuasion. Usage across its family of apps is similar to YouTube’s, which is a mainstay in political media plans.
Too many political advertisers are treating Meta like it’s 2016. The platforms have greatly evolved; our buying strategies must evolve as well.
How is Meta still growing?
In 2026, Meta surpassed Google to become the world's largest ad seller by revenue, controlling 27% of total digital ad spending.
Without maintaining and growing user attention, Meta dies. Their whole business is predicated on putting ads in front of attentive users.
Think about your social media usage in 2016: you likely spent your time scrolling through news feeds and engaging with posts from friends and pages you actively followed. The content came from your “social network”.
Now think about your usage of Facebook and Instagram in 2026. Meta has changed with user behavior to continue to capture attention.
How has Meta followed attention?
Meta has continuously evolved with user behavior. Here are two examples:
Snapchat
Snapchat was a real threat to Meta. In 2016, Snapchat had ~161M daily active users and was rapidly taking younger users’ attention away from Facebook and Instagram.
Meta responded aggressively. They copied Stories, integrated the format across Instagram and Facebook, and leveraged their massive user base to normalize the behavior at scale.
Today, Stories are a core part of how billions of users consume content across Meta’s apps.
TikTok
In 2020, the app had ~55M U.S. users. By 2025, that number surpassed 115M.
TikTok is short-form, algorithmic video. You don’t need to be friends with someone to see their content; the algorithm amplifies popular videos.
Meta adapted quickly. Reels launched across Instagram and Facebook, and Meta shifted feeds away from primarily friend/follower content toward recommendation-driven video designed to maximize watch time and engagement.
Vertical video was prioritized in both cases.
How has the shift to vertical video changed ad metrics?
Vertical video outperforms in every measured category.
What does this mean for political advertisers?
Repurposing horizontal TV ads for Meta is inefficient. Campaigns that build platform-native creative will have a growing advantage in persuasion and engagement.
Care less about follower counts and more about attention. Increasingly, Meta’s algorithms determine what users see, not who they follow.
Analyze your audience against Meta’s user base. Facebook and Instagram reach different demographics, but are bought in the same place.