Monkey Bizness franchisees, like most small business owners, utilize advertising on Facebook. The reasons go far beyond the number of users on Facebook or any other broad statistic that you hear in the press. We utilize Facebook because of the ability to target the demographics that make our customer base.
Based on our research and analysis of competitors big and small, we don’t believe most companies have figured out how to fully utilize Facebook. Quite frankly, small business owners are the probably the furthest away from figuring Facebook out. Never the less, advertising on Facebook can be so effective that it negates some of these things.
However, there have been some disturbing trends lately that should be catching small business owners attention. Citing data from Nielsen’s digital content rating solution, Brian Wieser, a senior analyst at Pivotal Research Group, said in a research note that the amount of time people spend on the company’s main social network has declined by around 7% over the last year. Worse, a separate Pew Research Center survey found that nearly half, or 44% of people in the 18 to 29 age group say they have deleted the app in the past year. Further, 42% of people have said they have taken a “several weeks or more” break from checking their Facebook page in the past year. Heck, 26% of people have even reported deleting the app from their phone. Do you see a trend starting to develop?
In comparison, Google saw a 10% increase in digital consumption. All is far from lost for Facebook as subsidiaries such as Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger all increased in capturing users attention. No wonder Facebook has been pushing ads on all three platforms heavily over the past few months. And don’t discount Facebook too much as 23% of all ad revenue in 2018 is expected to be spent on its’ platform.
Still, due to a combination of privacy changes, stagnant user growth, and almost negative growth with the population under 25, some small businesses are left trying to figure out if the platform is still the best place for them. Here are 4 considerations for those small businesses contemplating the problem.
1. Stick with Facebook – Despite all that I said above, Facebook is still a powerhouse when it comes to being able to reach your customers. The demographics and targeting are not as powerful as they were a year ago (thanks to Facebook excluding third-party data now), but it is still more powerful than any traditional advertising medium. And, while Facebook’s younger user base may not be growing as fast, you must remember that you can still advertise through their audience network, which includes mobile app ads and ads on other sites. Lastly, it is still a bargain. For as little as $5 you can reach up to 1,000 of your target demographics.
2. Look at other platforms – Face it, your users may be using a different platform other than Facebook. If you have a younger demographic, Instagram might be great for you. For Monkey Bizness, we are trying to reach younger moms with children between ages 1-9 years old. We are trying to identify different platforms where these moms hang out including sites like Nextdoor. For the product you are selling, my guess is that there are social platforms that your demographic frequents.
3. Use Influencers – Skip the advertising altogether and utilize a social media influencer. A Social Media Influencer is a user on social media who have established credibility in a specific industry. A social media influencer has access to a large audience and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity and reach. Start to engage with them and see if you can use their reach to spread the gospel of your product or service. We won’t go into how to accomplish this strategy (do an internet search or read Gary Vanderchuk). While this probably won’t be free, it can be a great way to reach your demographic if you know that they follow a certain personality.
4. Privacy Proof Your Facebook Page – This might be close to item #1, but hear me out. At Monkey Bizness, we have been able to build up a good following of our customers. At one of our new locations, we have built up a following of around 2,000 users just a few months after being open (and still growing). We continue to run campaigns specifically at attracting customers to like our page. By doing this, we can build up our organic following. This way our normal posts are reaching a higher number of people. If one of those people interacts with us or likes what we posted, then we can reach just as many people with a normal post as with a $5 or $10 ad.
No matter what you choose, the one constant is you must be pushing out good content that people want to see. That’s a whole different blog post, but hopefully, this gives you a good idea of some strategies to take to address the ever-changing Facebook.
To learn more about franchising with Monkey Bizness, contact us now.
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