How to Research Your Competitors Using the Meta Ads Library

You run a local skincare brand. You have spent three months advertising on Instagram, burned through a Rp15 million budget, and you can count your closings on one hand. Meanwhile, the competitor down the street seems to be everywhere — their ads keep running, month after month. The question that keeps you up at night: what exactly makes their ads sell?

Here is the good news: you do not have to guess. Every active ad your competitors are running on Facebook and Instagram is visible to you, for free, at any time, through one official tool called the Meta Ads Library. This is not a pirated tool or a grey-hat trick — it is a public database Meta built itself in the name of ad transparency. That means you can study your competitors’ ads completely legally: see the visuals, read the copy, and even estimate which ones are actually making money. In this guide we break down how to use it to borrow proven creative ideas and angles, so you never have to start your research from scratch.

What Is the Meta Ads Library (and Why You Must Use It)

The Meta Ads Library (once known as the Facebook Ad Library) is an open gallery of every ad currently running across Meta’s ecosystem: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network. Any business that advertises is automatically listed, and anyone can access it at facebook.com/ads/library — no login, no payment required.

Why is this a goldmine for a small business owner? Because you get a direct cheat sheet from competitors who have already put money on the line. When a brand keeps running the same ad for months, that is a strong signal the ad is profitable. Nobody keeps burning cash on an ad that loses money. So researching competitor ads through this tool is not idle window-shopping — it is mapping out which angles are already proven to work in your market.

Step by Step: How to Dissect a Competitor’s Ads

1. Open the library and set the country to Indonesia

Go to the Ads Library page and set the country filter to Indonesia. This matters, because it keeps the results relevant to your market and your target language. In the category field, choose “All ads” so you are not limited to political ads only.

2. Search by brand name or by keyword

There are two ways to hunt. First, type in the name of a competitor Page you already know — say, a rival skincare brand. Second, if you do not yet know who your competitors are, type a product keyword such as “face serum,” “premium hijab,” or “packaged coffee.” The Ads Library will surface every Page whose ads mention that term. That second method is often an eye-opener: you discover players who were never on your radar.

3. Focus on ads that have been running a long time

Every ad shows the date it started running, and this is where the treasure is buried. An ad that went live, say, four months ago and is still running today is almost certainly a winner. An ad that launched three days ago, on the other hand, has not proven anything yet. Prioritize dissecting these “old” ads, because they have already passed the market test: their sales are covering their ad cost.

4. Spot the “twin ads” with many variations

When a single brand runs one product photo with 8–10 different versions of copy at the same time, that is a sign they are running a serious split test — and there is usually a big budget behind that product. Notice which variation is repeated most often or kept alive the longest. That pattern leaks which angle is strongest in the eyes of the market.

What to Record While You Analyze

Do not just glance and close the tab. Keep structured notes — a simple spreadsheet works well — with these columns:

• Hook (the first 3 seconds): What opening line or visual do they use? A question, a number, or a before-and-after?
• Selling angle: Are they selling on low price, fast results, testimonials, fear (skin problems getting worse), or status?
• Creative format: A plain product photo, a UGC-style video from an ordinary customer, a testimonial, or a usage demonstration?
• Call to action: “Chat on WhatsApp now,” “Claim the promo,” or “Shop on Shopee”? Where is the traffic being sent?
• Offer: A discount, a bundle, a money-back guarantee, or a bonus?

Once you have collected 20–30 ads from 4–5 competitors, the patterns reveal themselves. You might realize 70% of the players in your niche use a video-testimonial format with a hook like “At first I didn’t believe it…” That is exactly where the opportunity lives: you can follow the proven pattern while also hunting for the gap nobody has worked yet.

A Real Example: From Cheat Sheet to Strategy

Say you sell herbal honey with an ad budget of Rp10 million per month. In the Ads Library, you find three competitors whose ads have been running for more than five months. After dissecting them, all three share one thing in common: their hook is about “trouble sleeping and always feeling tired,” not about the benefits of the honey itself. They are selling the solution to a problem, not the product.

Meanwhile, your own ads have been saying “100% pure honey, no added sugar.” See the difference? You are talking about features; they are talking about the customer’s problem. With this insight, you can build new creative that targets fatigue and poor sleep, then test it with a small budget first — say Rp50,000 to Rp100,000 per day per variation. You are no longer guessing; you are starting from an angle the market has already validated.

A good angle is half the job. The other half is making sure that angle reaches the right people. If you want to learn how to build the right target audience once you have your angle, continue with the other targeting guides on our blog.

The Limits You Need to Be Aware Of

The Meta Ads Library is not a magic wand. There are a few things it cannot show you, and it is important to be honest about them so you do not draw the wrong conclusions:

• No performance data. You cannot see an ad’s ROAS, CPM, or number of sales. Run duration is only an indicator, not hard proof.
• Targeting is invisible. For non-political ads, you cannot see which age, location, or interests they are targeting. You have to infer that yourself from the creative.
• Do not copy blindly. Borrowing patterns and angles is smart; copying the exact visuals and copy is lazy, risky, and makes your brand look generic. Take the idea, then build your own, better version.

Turn Competitor Research Into Results

The Meta Ads Library hands you a shortcut past months of expensive trial and error — but reading the signals correctly and turning them into campaigns that actually sell still takes experience. If you would rather have specialists handle the research, creative, and optimization while you keep full control of your own ad account and budget, that is exactly what we do at Aira Tech. Explore our services, see transparent pricing, or configure a package that fits your goals. For more practical playbooks on Meta advertising, browse the rest of our blog.