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In the competitive world of digital marketing, the secret to outperforming your rivals often lies in knowing exactly what they’re doing and then doing it better. One of the most effective platforms for this competitive research is Facebook, where millions of brands run paid advertisements every day.
But here’s the exciting part: In 2025, Meta’s advertising ecosystem continues to evolve with increasing transparency and automation. While the Ad Library remains a goldmine for insight, AI-powered campaigns and machine learning-driven ad delivery are now the new norm. This makes understanding your competitors’ strategies even more crucial—and slightly more nuanced.
Whether you’re a startup founder validating your niche, an eCommerce brand trying to cut through the noise, or a digital marketing executive looking to sharpen campaign performance, competitor research on Facebook ads gives you a crucial edge. These methods are designed to help marketers at any level take smarter actions without wasting time or budget.
This guide is especially helpful if you’re running a small business, freelancing in digital marketing, or managing a brand’s online presence at an SME. Whether you’re handling your own Facebook campaigns or collaborating with an agency, these strategies will help you make smarter decisions without inflating your ad budget.
We’ll walk you through four smart, sneaky (but completely legal) ways to spy on your competitors’ Facebook ads. But before we get to that, let’s cover what you should be looking for and why it matters.
Before you start diving into ad research, it’s important to understand the types of insights you can uncover:
These insights can inform your ad creation, from design to message to timing. You’ll not only avoid wasting budget on trial-and-error campaigns, you’ll design smarter, more effective ads from the start.
Let’s be clear: spying in this context is not illegal or shady. All of the methods shared in this article rely on publicly available tools or industry-standard techniques. You’re not hacking into accounts or accessing confidential data, just leveraging transparency and marketing intelligence.
By ethically monitoring your competitors:
Now that you understand what to look for and why it’s useful, let’s explore the four powerful ways to peek behind the curtain of your competitors’ Facebook ad campaigns.
The Facebook Ad Library is a powerful, free, and publicly accessible tool developed by Meta (formerly Facebook) to promote transparency in advertising across its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. Originally introduced to combat misinformation and increase accountability in political advertising, the Ad Library has since expanded to include all active ads, regardless of industry or content type.
This means that anyone from marketers and competitors to journalists and curious consumers can browse and review the ads being run by any Facebook Page, completely free of charge. You don’t need special access, credentials, or a business account to use it. Simply type in the name of a brand or organization, and you’ll be able to see all of their currently running ads, including variations of the same ad (such as A/B test formats), the date the ad began running, and which platforms it appears on (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or Audience Network).
This level of visibility is incredibly valuable for businesses conducting competitive research, as it offers a real-time window into the creative strategies, messaging, offers, and visual content competitors are using to attract and convert their audiences. It’s essentially like walking through your rival’s digital storefront without them knowing you’re there.
How to Use It:
Source: Facebook Ads Library
What You’ll Discover:
You can now filter by ad status (active/inactive), region, and media type. Meta also retains ad history for up to 7 years (except for political content). This lets you study seasonal trends and long-term testing strategies.
Why It’s Sneaky:
You’re gaining a front-row seat to your competitor’s current marketing strategy, seeing exactly what products or services they’re promoting, how they’re crafting their messaging, what visual elements they use, and which platforms they’re advertising on, all without them ever knowing. This kind of access gives you the ability to study their campaigns in real time, spot patterns in their promotions, and understand how often they refresh or rotate ads. Best of all, this method is completely free to use and entirely legal, thanks to Meta’s commitment to advertising transparency. You’re not breaching any privacy or accessing confidential data; you’re simply using publicly available tools to inform your own smarter marketing decisions.
These are advanced spy tools specifically designed to dig into ads from multiple platforms, including Facebook. They offer search filters for industry, ad type, language, CTA, and more.
Source: https://www.adspy.com/
Source: https://bigspy.com/en
How to Use:
What You’ll Discover:
Source: How to use AdSpy for a winning Dropshipping
Real-Life Example:
If you’re running a fitness gear brand, you can use AdSpy to search for terms like “resistance bands” and discover high-performing ads from companies like Gymshark. You’ll see which headlines grab attention and what type of offers convert (e.g., 40% off bundles).
These tools do the heavy lifting of data scraping for you, collecting, organizing, and analyzing thousands of Facebook ads from across the world in real time. Instead of manually searching brand by brand, you can instantly see which ads are getting the most engagement, what messaging trends are gaining traction, and how global brands are adapting to different markets. Whether it’s a fitness campaign in the U.S. or a fashion offer trending in Southeast Asia, you’re no longer limited to just your local competitors. It’s like having a marketing crystal ball that reveals what’s performing best across industries and regions, allowing you to spot opportunities, test proven strategies, and stay two steps ahead in the digital game.
Which Tool Is Right for You?
Which Tool Should You Use?
Here’s a quick comparison to help you decide:
If you’re new to spying on ads, start with BigSpy’s free version. For deep global ad research, AdSpy gives the most power—at a price. Tools like this now allow filtering by ad layout, emotional tone, and even video script themes—giving you richer insight into what styles are resonating across different industries.
Meta’s Business Suite, a free tool provided by Meta for managing Facebook and Instagram business accounts, offers a useful feature called “Pages to Watch” that allows you to monitor and analyze the performance of your competitors’ Facebook Pages. Once you’ve added competitor Pages to your watch list, Meta provides a side-by-side comparison of key engagement metrics, giving you a clearer picture of how those brands are performing on Facebook relative to your Page.
Through this feature, you gain access to important data points such as:
For example, if a competitor is consistently posting five times a week and receiving high engagement on video posts or user-generated content, you can use that insight to adjust your content strategy. On the other hand, if another competitor is posting frequently but receiving very little interaction, that might be a sign that their content isn’t resonating, and it’s a learning opportunity for what to avoid.
This kind of benchmarking helps you measure your performance in context, identify what kind of content your shared audience values, and spot potential gaps in your own content calendar. It’s especially useful for small to medium-sized businesses trying to learn from established brands in their industry without needing expensive software or analytics subscriptions.
Best of all, the Pages you add to your watch list won’t be notified, making this an entirely discreet and risk-free way to gather valuable competitor intelligence.
How to Use:
What You’ll Discover:
“Pages to Watch” now tracks video performance across Instagram Reels and Facebook Reels, allowing you to gauge competitors’ success in short-form formats. With the help of this ,you can check the following:
Real-Life Example:
Say you’re running an online pet store. You add “PetSmart” and “Chewy” to your Pages to Watch. Over time, you’ll notice that Chewy posts product videos more often and gets better engagement and insight you can apply to your posting strategy.
Due to privacy changes like iOS 14.5 and GDPR compliance, retargeting now depends on explicit cookie consent and server-side tracking setups like Meta’s Conversions API or Enhanced Conversions.
They’ll never know you’re watching, but you’ll still gain high-level performance insights that can guide your strategy. By silently observing their posting habits, content types, and audience engagement patterns, you’re able to identify what’s working well for them and what’s not without ever alerting them to your analysis. This gives you the advantage of adapting and optimizing your own Facebook marketing approach based on proven strategies, all while staying under the radar.
One of the most straightforward yet highly effective ways to gain insight into your competitor’s marketing strategy is to step into the shoes of their customer. This classic, old-school trick remains incredibly valuable in the age of data-driven advertising. The idea is simple: act like a potential buyer on your competitor’s website and observe how they respond.
Start by visiting their website or landing page. Spend some time browsing different product categories, clicking on specific items, or even adding a few products to your shopping cart. This behavior triggers their tracking systems, most likely a Facebook Pixel or similar analytics tool designed to record user actions and build custom audiences for retargeting purposes.
Next, sign up for their newsletter or promotional emails if they offer one. Most ecommerce or service-based websites invite visitors to join a mailing list in exchange for a discount or exclusive access to new content or product launches. By subscribing, you get a front-row seat to their email marketing funnel, seeing how they communicate with new leads, what kind of messaging they use, how often they email, and what offers or incentives they use to convert prospects into paying customers.
While this technique still provides value, it’s important to note that retargeting capabilities have changed significantly in recent years. Since Apple’s iOS 14.5 update and increasing global privacy regulations, Meta’s ability to track users across apps has been reduced. Retargeting now relies heavily on first-party data and Consent Mode via server-side tracking.
As a result, you may not always be shown retargeting ads unless you’ve explicitly accepted tracking cookies or the brand uses enhanced conversion tracking setups. Also, many brands now use behavioural analytics to personalise their funnels, which may not be fully visible to outside observers.
This process offers a firsthand experience of their entire sales funnel from initial brand touchpoint to post-visit follow-ups. You’ll learn:
By experiencing this journey as a customer, you gain insider insight into the full lifecycle of their marketing system, which can help you build or improve your funnel with proven strategies. Plus, it’s completely under the radar. Your competitor has no idea they’re revealing their conversion strategy to a future rival.
How to Use:
What You’ll Discover:
Source: https://www.emailaudience.com/email-retargeting/
Real-Life Example:
You’re running a women’s fashion boutique. You visit “Shein” or “Zalora” and add a few items to your cart. Within 48 hours, you’re likely to be hit with retargeting ads like “You forgot something!” or “Take 20% off now!” You can adopt similar urgency-based strategies in your campaigns.
Why It’s Sneaky:
You’re experiencing their entire sales funnel firsthand, starting from the initial customer engagement (like signing up for their newsletter or browsing their product pages) to the follow-up tactics they use to drive a purchase. This means you’ll gain deep insights into how they segment their audience, what types of emails they send (e.g., welcome series, promotional offers, reminders), how frequently they communicate, and how they use Facebook retargeting ads to stay top of mind. More importantly, you’ll see the psychological triggers in action, such as limited-time offers, personalized product recommendations, and social proof that they use to nudge customers toward conversion. By observing this process, you’re essentially walking through the same journey your competitors have designed for their ideal customers, which gives you a unique perspective on how to improve or optimize your own conversion strategy.
The Facebook Ads landscape has evolved significantly since this article was first published. If you’re reading this in 2025, here are some key developments to consider when conducting competitor research:
These additions will help bring your competitor analysis strategies up to date and reflect the current state of Meta advertising.
In 2025, traditional ad spying isn’t enough. With Meta’s AI-powered Advantage+ and Andromeda systems driving ad decisions, it’s important to study both ad output and funnel structure. Use tools like SimilarWeb to examine landing pages, BuiltWith for tech stacks, and Pixel Helper to verify retargeting setups.
In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, knowledge is power, and when it comes to Facebook advertising, your competitors’ strategies can be one of your greatest sources of inspiration and insight. By using smart, ethical techniques like exploring the Facebook Ad Library, tapping into advanced ad spy tools, monitoring engagement through Meta Business Suite, and walking through their customer journey via email and retargeting, you gain more than just information; you gain strategic clarity.
These sneaky (yet perfectly legal) methods allow you to uncover what works, what doesn’t, and how you can differentiate your brand while still staying competitive. Whether you’re a startup trying to break into a crowded market or an established business looking to refine your campaigns, spying on competitors’ Facebook ads can help you avoid guesswork and create data-informed ads that truly convert.
Similar to other digital marketing channels, running ads on Facebook costs money. With these updated strategies for 2025, you’re not just observing—you’re reverse-engineering success. Stay curious, stay ethical, and always innovate beyond what your competitors are doing. In a world where Meta’s AI handles much of the heavy lifting, the winning edge often lies in creativity, timing, and your ability to learn fast and adapt faster.
If you’re looking to dive into the Facebook Ads platform, check out our 2-day hands-on Facebook Advertising Core Competencies course. Get face-to-face training and real-time consultation with an industry expert, peer-to-peer learning and interaction, and hands-on practical learning sessions that enable you to take away actionable strategies you can implement right after training.
Apart from Facebook Advertisement, we also cater to the other aspects of Digital Marketing under the core modules of:
With the 7 core modules completed, this holistic Digital Marketing programme will ultimately lead up to a Certified Digital Marketing Strategist (CDMS) V2. Feel free to also browse our array of digital marketing courses taught in-person in Singapore or online.
Just remember: your goal isn’t to copy, it’s to innovate smarter, market better, and deliver more value to your audience. Competitor research is the starting line, not the finish line. Use what you learn, but always aim to make it your own. These strategies aren’t just for spying—they’re tools to help you make better-informed, audience-centric creative and targeting decisions.
John is the co-founder of Secret Hideout, a creative marketing agency based in Singapore. He has worked with clients such as SBS Transit, SITEC, MRM McCann, and CISCO Security.
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John is the co-founder of Secret Hideout, a creative marketing agency based in Singapore. He has worked with clients such as SBS Transit, SITEC, MRM McCann, and CISCO Security.
Receive the latest blog articles right into your inbox.
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