Facebook – we’ve all had an account at one point, whether it is still your most used social media page is another story. Facebook is one of the earliest social media platforms and is used today by billions. Created in 2004, the social media and networking site can be accessed from practically every device, allowing users to share multimedia content as well as purely text based content. Facebook changed their company name to Meta in 2021 as part of their rebranding initiative. The ‘metaverse’ consists of platforms owned by the previously titled Facebook Inc such as WhatsApp and Instagram.
Pros
Facebook is one of the top choices if you are limited on how many platforms you can choose. Your audience is highly likely to be on Facebook with around 2.91 billion monthly active users reported in the fourth quarter of 2021 – a large amount of the population is on Facebook over other, newer platforms. Due to this, they have a track record of driving sales to your site through paid advertisement.
Facebook allows you to target your intended demographic by almost anything, as long as the user has shared this on Facebook. From their age and location, to their job and major life events – if they have provided Facebook with this information, you can use it within your ads. You can reach your targeted audience much more effectively and you can avoid sending ads to those unlikely to engage with them. Facebook ads can also target people who have previously interacted with your brand either on Facebook or other platforms – for example, if you have viewed an Instagram page for a clothing brand, you might find some ads on your Facebook feed for the exact same clothing brand – after all these two are owned by the same company.
The platform offers a wide range of ad types, using photos, videos, advertising on Facebook stories, carousel posts and so much more. This means users are more likely to interact with your ads when not every advert on their feed looks the same. For every ad you make, you can set your own budget. While the tool itself is free to use, you have to supply your own advertising budget in order to run the ads. However, Facebook ads are typically quite cheap in comparison to other platforms. Low cost; high reward.
By choosing to use Facebook ads, your advertisements will run across Facebook and Instagram allowing you to reach a wider demographic. This is a fantastic benefit as Instagram tends to be used by a younger audience so by advertising on both platforms your ads will reach more people.
Facebook ads are ideal for both short-term and long-term digital marketing strategies and are typically approved within 24 hours. The platform allows you to choose your goal with each individual ad – whether you want to boost post engagement, drive more traffic to your site or generate more leads. These types of ads are reported to have a higher reach than organic social media as they expand the reach of their existing content. Paid ads on Facebook produce better engagement, greater impressions and higher conversions.
Cons
While Facebook ads can produce highly positive results, extensive knowledge is often required for a campaign to be successful and yield these kinds of results. There is a risk of losing the money you invested by not understanding how to make the most out of your Facebook ads.
To advertise on Facebook, your ads and your business must adhere to Facebook’s guidelines and advertising policies. Certain content is prohibited on Facebook for example Facebook will not allow you to advertise any adult products, including nudity or explicit situations, unless it is to promote family planning or contraception. This restricts certain businesses from benefitting from Facebook’s advertising tool. Facebook’s guidelines on wording, products, services and more can be found here.
There is often high competition on Facebook as it is a popular platform for brands and businesses to advertise on. Many companies turn to Facebook due to its billions of users but that means that you have to spend more time perfecting your ad and making it stand out from the rest in order to be successful.
Unlike SEO and CRO, Facebook ads only generate results when you are spending money, meaning there is always a cost behind the results. Services like SEO (although sometimes slower to generate results) can create more of a long-term investment as they improve your business’ organic visibility in searches and boost the conversion rate of your visitors.
Facebook as a platform isn’t used as often by certain demographics compared to other platforms – the platform is not dying out however and it can be highly beneficial to implement Facebook ads into your marketing strategy…if you know what you’re doing.
