Think Facebook Ads Donโt Work? (Think Again..)
How many times have you heard Facebook Ads Donโt Work?
Something along the lines of
They donโt work for my business..
They arenโt suitable for my industry..
Our customers arenโt on Facebookโฆ
I hear this every day from Business Owners
They all have the same excusesโฆ
โ But Iโm in B2B
โ I donโt sell online
โ I donโt sell a physical product
โ My Audience is too old and isnโt on Facebook
โ I donโt have thousands to spend
Sound familiar?
Well.
YOU HAVE BEEN LIED TOโฆ
Andโฆ
Iโm going to show whyโฆ
We will admit.
Facebook ads may not work as they used to.
AND
Thatโs why itโs so important to go about them the right way.
The image below is the results from a recent campaign we managed
Client Facebook Ads Results
Time for a little perspectiveโฆ
Facebook is the worldโs largest social platform.
People all over the world use it.
And they use it for multiple reasons, while posting all kinds of contentโฆ
That is, itโs not specialised.
Itโs not video only (like YT).
Short posts only (like Twitter).
Or photos mostly (like Instagram).
This makes Facebook unique โ where it attracts all kinds of users.
Letโs hammer that in.
Worldโs largest social media platform.
Users can interact with videos, posts and photos.
Unique.
That means you can tell your businessโ story in any way you want to slice and dice it.
Maybe the question you should ask yourself is.
Why wouldnโt you advertise on Facebook?
Growing โActive Userโ Base.
Facebookโ registrations are continuously growing.
With Facebooks tighter verification methods this means more of your legitimate customers to connect with.
Hereโs a stat for you.
Statista monitored Facebooks daily active users over financial quarters.
Facebook increased their user base by 8%(source). Doesnโt sound like much right?
They added 20 million users. In a year.
Thatโs like everyone in Australia signing up to Facebook.
We donโt know of any other ADVERTISING platforms that are growing at that rate.
Itโs Getting More Popular in Developed Countries.
A popular argument to bring down the value of Facebook ads is โDeveloped countries are using it less.โ
Before we discuss why thatโs wrong letโs try and understand it.
The argument requires a few assumptions.
First-world users are shifting to โVisual social platformsโ like YouTube or Instagram.
And teens are abandoning Facebook for trendier platforms.
Resulting in businesses being encouraged to advertise on other platforms than Facebook.
Again. Letโs call our good friends at Statista to help us out.
Social media use in Western Europe is on the rise (source).
Specifically, FB has gained 4.3 million active users in Western Europe, from 2017-2018.
Thatโs roughly 70% of the population of Victoria.
[Image of Victoria here]
Why This Stat Matters.
Consumer trends in first world countries set the pace for the rest of the world โ especially in tech.
And if Western Europe is continuing to use Facebook, then expect lesser developed countries to do the same. And thatโs where many successful businesses will be. Thus, thatโs where you should be too!
But โ consumer numbers arenโt everything. Thereโs another important fact to noteโฆ
FB is a Hotspot for Mobile Users.
Around 53% of internet users access it through mobile. This is a commonly known fact.
Statista coming in with another important stat.
Of all Facebook users, 95% use their smartphones out of habit.
And 32% routinely use their laptop. (source)
Putting those numbers in context. Look at your friends, family or even yourself.
What do you do when youโre bored?
When youโre waiting at a cafe?
When an ADVERTISEMENT comes on TV?
Most likely, pull out your phone.
Basically, this means that Facebook is a mobile marketerโs dream come true. In fact, whatever mobile marketing you do, Facebook users must be a prime target.
Other Implications.
If youโre a business in the tech/software industry, you probably have a mobile app or two. And you need to find a market for it.
Facebook makes for the perfect market. With a 95% mobile use rate, you can quickly sell app downloads, just be designing ads for mobile compatibility!
Need More Stats?
The Facebook mobile stats are vital. Because the majority of your competition are already aware of it. And itโs showing in Facebookโs ad revenue.
Facebookโs income is โoverwhelminglyโ sourced from mobile ads (source). Specifically, in Q2 2018, FB madeโฆ
- $11.86 billion from mobile ads (but)โฆ
- $1.17 billion from desktop ads (and) $0.19 billion from sales.
In essence, FB mobile advertising overshadows computer advertising by about 10 times.
FB is Actively Cracking Down on Fake Accounts.
We alluded to this fact before, but letโs give it a number. In Q1 of 2018, FB took down 583 million fake accounts (source). And with this measure, FB constantly ensures that its user-base only includes โactive accounts.โ
Why This Matters to You.
Because now, you waste less time targeting fake (and sometimes inactive) accounts.
Think about it. Who wants to spend marketing resources on bots and no-responders? Even worse, who wants to spend time on accounts that are only designed to feed othersโ โfollow countsโ?
The answer is, no one. Including your business.
Facebookโs active clean up measures make this reality.
You can now get max ROI when deploying Facebook ads.
FB is Now a Senior Platform.
We can thank Pew Research for insight in this area (source).
If you want to market to older folk, feel free to do so.
For starters, FB has one of the highest user rates by adult age groups. It actually ranks second (at 68%) behind YouTube (at 73%). And of those adults that use it โ 74% visit daily.
Add to that the reduced usage by teens. The previous source indicates that teenagers are less likely to use Facebook, opting for more visual platforms.
What This Means.
First, more seniors are using Facebook. Itโs the reason why FB use is continuing to grow through the years, even though less teens use it.
But letโs look at a new source from AARP (source). There, youโll see that in 2011, seniors made up 18% of FB users. Yet in 2018, that share rose to 32%. Thatโs a 14% increase.
As for those ages 30-49, there has been an 8% increase in their usage rates.
Thus, Facebook isnโt a young personโs platform anymore. Itโs slowly turning into a website for mature individuals. And it works well for businesses that sell products aimed at those age groups!
Any Examples?
How about medical care services?
Many vie for senior citizens, especially those close to retirement. After all, seniors are a major market for healthcare specialists.
Or how about services that target โhigher net worth individualsโ? The market for those tends to be individuals past mid-life, who have enough savings to affords expensive projects (like buying real estate, stock market investing, etc.).
Basically, if youโre a business that targets a more mature audience โ you need FB. Thatโs where your audience is flocking. And thatโs where you should be!
Millions of Businesses Brand on FB.
The previous points discussed marketing from a โbusiness to end consumerโ perspectiveโฆ
But what if youโre a business that sells to others? What if youโre a manufacturer/supplier of items used to make end products? If thatโs your situation, Facebook can still help you.
How So?
First, your ads will target โbusiness decision makers.โ Those include managers, executives, marketing directors, etc.
You want to get their attention, then appeal to them with business offers, deals, and projects. And through FB, your likelihood of success in this domain increases.
Why? Because stats from FB show that business decision makers use FB 74% longer than normal users (source).
And do note that decision makers are busy people. Thus, the time they spend on FB isnโt for checking friendsโ posts. They do so with the intention of networking with other businesses.
And this leads us to the next statโฆ
Active Advertisers.
On average โ 6 million businesses on FB are actively advertising (source).
And by that, we mean heavy spending for self-promotion. So this stat excludes those who use FB for customer service. It also includes those who only use it to โkeep track of followers.โ
It also excludes businesses that havenโt established a โproper brandโ yet.
But of those who have, 75% pay to promote their posts (source). So as you can see, FB is absolutely vital in business marketing efforts.
It explains why so many business decision makers are there. And thatโs because theyโre supervising the marketing, feedback of customers, and their brand reach.
So take this as an opportunity. If youโre not joining FB for end customers, then do it to find business partners!
FB Ads are Easy and Effective.
Letโs set aside statistics for now.
FBs ads are easy to make. Plus, you can customise them to accurately target your audience. So you donโt have to waste money marketing to disinterested clients.
FB lets you customise ads by location. You can make sure that only certain locations see your ads, so theyโre effective for local businesses. You can also target by gender, and minimum/maximum age. So if your products are for a certain segment of the population, your ads only reach those.
You can also target by education, interests, gender, and relationship statuses.
Itโs Sophisticated Targeting.
With FB, your pay-per-click. When you factor in targeting, you find that you get great ROI on every ad dollar you spend.
Add to that ad reach. You can send out ads to those โconnected to your business,โ thus gaining them as customers!
In a Nutshell.
Is Facebook changing? Yes it is.
Its demographics, approach, and consumer priorities are changing. But does it mean that itโs dead as an ad platform?
Absolutely not.
FB ads are necessary. They should be a staple in your marketing efforts!
Looking to increase your twitter following? Checkout this Twitter Follower Guide
Would you like to see some fast results?
Now, thereโs money to be made by applying the marketing ideas youโve read about in this postโฆ Lots of money! Seriouslyโฆ
But, to get that money into your bank account , youโre gonna need to apply AND probably customise these ideas so that they will work in your own unique situation.
If you want to take a shortcut and save yourself some trial and error experimentation in doing that, I can help you get up and running, quicklyโฆ
FREE CONSULTATION
If the few ideas Iโve shared with you so far make sense, then Iโd like to offer you a FREE consultation so you can see how my practical, results orientated approach can give you an advantage over your competitors, win you more sales and clients and then turn those first time buyers into loyal customers that will bring tens of thousands of dollars in lifetime value.
And, this time, a FREE consultation means exactly that, a free consultation โ not a โfreeโ sales pitch.
The world is full of โpay-me-then-Iโll-show-you-what-I-can-doโ people โฆ but Iโm not one of them. During your free consultation Iโll work with you to identify the very best strategy for you and your business and then show you exactly how to implement the strategy.
Iโll hold nothing back during our consultation.
Frankly, my goal is to impress you.
Why โ because, if I can show you how to get better results and make more money from our very first session working together, then you might just want to put me on your team.
And putting me on your team is remarkably easy and affordable.
From as little as one half day per month we could be putting marketing right at the top of your list of priorities, ensuring that you hit your targets and achieve your business goals quickly.
Youโve nothing to lose. So give me a call today on 03 9068 6905 to book your free consultation. Or you can shoot me through a message here: : https://digitalbond.com.au/strategy/
