The Gist: Among major social platforms, Facebook is by far the most influential in terms of purchasing behavior. 16% of U.S. consumers have made a purchase based on a Facebook ad, for example, while only 1% have made a purchase based on a Snapchat ad.


Where should you advertise if you want people to buy? According to our latest research, Facebook seems like a prime bet. Besides being the top social media platform, it’s not just a place to stalk that high school frenemy, but a place where many consumers are making their purchasing decisions.

In a survey of over 1,900 U.S. consumers, here’s what we found:

Recent CivicScience data shows that 16% of consumers have made a purchase based on a Facebook ad, compared to only 4% on Instagram.

16% of consumers have made a purchase based on a Facebook ad, with the next largest segment, 4%, answering that they’ve made a purchase based on an Instagram ad. Neither Twitter nor Snapchat seem to be driving consumer purchases in the same way.

So, even as other social media platforms gain traction, Facebook still remains in a league of its own.