So long Facebook, it was nice to know you. After several years in which Facebook has been both the starting point and ending point for many marketing campaigns, it’s time to start looking around for another do-it-all platform. There are several reasons why Facebook isn’t getting it done these days.
Facebook keeps crushing organic reach
The biggest problem with Facebook, of course, is that organic reach continues to decline. That presents a huge problem for companies that have been told, over and over again, to “think like a publisher.” The problem is that they are being forced to work harder and harder just to maintain their current levels of organic reach. The bigger picture is that every other business is on Facebook these days, so there’s just so much content out there that only a small percentage of content actually gets shown to people in their Facebook newsfeeds.
The ROI case for running a Facebook business page continues to weaken
Even if you continue to commit to creating great content for Facebook, just how much value is your Facebook page really providing? If you think about your Facebook presence purely in terms of return on investment (ROI), then it’s getting harder and harder to make the case for Facebook.
At one time, of course, it was free to create a page, free to create content, and free to maintain the page. You could buy ads, of course, but that was purely optional. Thus, the ROI case for Facebook was off-the-charts: if the entire experience was essentially free, then any incremental customers you brought in via Facebook were a huge bonus. But now the ROI case has shifted – with brands and businesses now paying for reach, there’s a growing cost component to Facebook. It’s now starting to look more and more like any other form of advertising. Why not advertise elsewhere instead?
Facebook is turning against publishers in favor of consumers
If you think about it, Facebook has always been one of the more advertiser-friendly social media platforms. It was easy to set up a Facebook ads account, easy to run a campaign – and just like Google advertising – you could carefully ration your dollars however you wanted during that campaign.
But now things are changing, with Facebook hinting that it was going to start taking a much closer look at some of the dreck appearing in consumer newsfeeds. The reality is that Facebook might have become too advertiser-friendly, and that might have harmed the overall experience. So the pendulum is swinging back in favor of the consumer.
The reality is that most small businesses might have become too dependent on Facebook, viewing it as a panacea for their advertising and marketing woes. It was cheap, convenient and ubiquitous. As long as Facebook was minting cash and brands were bringing in customers, it was a match made in heaven.
But now brands are starting to get the impression that they are holding the short end of the stick – Facebook continues to make money hand over fist, while they are left spinning their tires in the Facebook quagmire of organic reach. Maybe it’s not time just yet to forget about Facebook entirely, but it might be time for brands to start looking around for another advertising platform that is better suited to their overall business objectives.