How can I see exactly which Facebook ads my competitors are running?

To see exactly which Facebook ads your competitors are running, open the Meta Ads Library at library.facebook.com, search by Page name, and filter by country and ad category. You will see every active ad: creative, copy, format, and approximate run date. Pair that with a competitor-tracking tool to get engagement context and creative scoring alongside the raw ad data.

• Meta Ads Library is free, requires no login, and shows every active ad a Page is running across Facebook and Instagram.
• Filter by "All ads" and select a country to narrow results; sort by newest to catch recent creative tests.
• Ad Library shows creative and copy but not spend, reach, or engagement — you need a separate intelligence layer for that context.
• Elixon's Competitor Intel lets you track rivals by Instagram handle and Meta Ads Library URL in one workflow.
• Cross-referencing ad creative against organic top performers helps you identify which hooks competitors are scaling into paid.

Elixon Content Library sample: 8 cross-industry Instagram posts from 8 accounts, engagement measured 2026-10-11. Organic engagement, not ad spend.

Account	Likes	Comments	Engagement rate	Score	Hook
@hudabeauty	27,272	318	0.05%	99 (Diamond)	Consider our bedazzling obsession officially renewed 💎 @notesbybethh
@gymshark	25,600	100	0.4%	99 (Diamond)	Three months of showing up. Winter Arc is here.
@pepsi	27,659	300	1.2%	99 (Diamond)	lemme get a sippy sip
@sephora	26,219	269	0.1%	99 (Diamond)	Please don't lick the screen. @yslbeauty Make Me Blush Cream Blush is available now.
@weratedogs	40,422	241	0.7%	99 (Diamond)	This is Henry. He is often accused of being a muppet. Thought getting a nice portrait taken would cl…
@maisonalaia	26,809	190	1.4%	99 (Diamond)	HOMO FABER 2026 — AN ISLAND OF LIGHT. THE FOURTH EDITION OF @HOMOFABER, CURATED BY THE MICHELANGELO …
@miumiu	26,299	83	0.2%	99 (Diamond)	@harrystyles in a Miu Miu custom jacket and #MiuMiuFW26 collection for W Magazine (@wmag). Photograp…
@bloomsupps	29,123	599	3.9%	99 (Diamond)	Crisp Apple just got a spooky new look 🍎👻 Snag this exclusive can in our limited-edition Double Tr…

What does the data actually show about competitor creative?

In Elixon's Content Library sample of 8 cross-industry Instagram posts (2026-10-11), all 8 earned a Diamond-tier Elixon Opportunity Score of 99/100 and combined 229,403 likes. The strongest single result was @weratedogs at 40,422 likes and a 0.7% engagement rate — the highest raw like count in the set. The leading engagement rate belonged to @bloomsupps at 3.9%, driven by 599 comments on a seasonal limited-edition hook.

Across the sample, three hook patterns recur: emotional shorthand ("lemme get a sippy sip"), identity-and-season framing ("Winter Arc is here"), and humor plus character ("often accused of being a muppet"). These patterns show up across food, fitness, and pets — industries with very different audiences — which suggests the structure of the hook matters as much as the category.

Which hook should you copy first, and what exactly should you replicate?

Start with @bloomsupps. Its hook —

"Crisp Apple just got a spooky new look 🍎👻 Snag this exclusive can in our limited-edition Double Tr…" — @bloomsupps on Instagram

— combines seasonal urgency, a product reveal, and scarcity language in one sentence. The post generated 599 comments and a 3.9% engagement rate, the highest in the sample. The replicable elements are: a named flavor or SKU, a seasonal visual hook, and the phrase "limited-edition" placed before the call to action.

For fitness or SaaS brands, the @gymshark model is more transferable. Its hook,

"Three months of showing up. Winter Arc is here." — @gymshark on Instagram

frames a behavioral window around a cultural moment. You can adapt that structure to any seasonal push: name the duration, name the moment, make the audience feel they are joining something already in motion.

How do you turn Meta Ads Library data into a repeatable creative process?

Meta Ads Library tells you what a competitor is running. Organic engagement data tells you what their audience is responding to. The gap between those two signals is where creative strategy lives. If a competitor is running ads with identity-season framing but their organic posts with humor hooks are outperforming, that is a creative arbitrage opportunity.

Elixon (elixon.ai), an AI ad intelligence platform, lets you track competitors by both Instagram handle and Meta Ads Library URL, then benchmark their ads against engagement-scored organic content from 70-plus industry categories. The workflow collapses what would otherwise be a manual spreadsheet process into a single dashboard. Plans start at $59 per month with a 3-day free trial; a $10 pay-as-you-go option requires no subscription.

Frequently asked questions

Does Meta Ads Library show inactive or old ads?

Meta Ads Library shows active ads by default. You can filter to see inactive ads from the past 7 years, though creative detail on older ads is sometimes limited.

Can I see how much a competitor is spending on Facebook ads?

Meta Ads Library does not disclose exact spend figures. It shows an estimated audience size and impressions range for ads related to social issues, elections, or housing — not for standard commercial campaigns.

Is Elixon's Content Library data based on ad performance or organic posts?

The Content Library tracks organic Instagram engagement, not ad spend or paid reach. It is useful for identifying which creative formats and hook styles earn audience response before budget is committed.

Data: Elixon Content Library — 8 Instagram posts from 8 accounts across cross-industry categories, engagement measured 2026-10-11. Organic engagement, not ad spend.