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May 21, 2019

Why Facebook Sucks — and Why it’s Still Worth it


By Karrie Christen

I wish I’d have been one of the first businesses placing ads on Facebook. You know, back in the platform’s hay-day, before Facebook got crazy with its pages upon pages of rules and regulations, along with an army of Facebook employees policing the platform.

As the founder and Chief Marketing Officer of my marketing consulting firm The Client Attraction Formula, you might be wondering if I’ve ever considered not using Facebook. I can tell you that I’ve been frustrated and had to learn my way around more than a few changes, but I have never considered actually leaving Facebook. Why? Because I am a marketer, and I go where I see the highest return on investment.

Of all the social media platforms I use for business growth marketing and client generation, I prefer ad placements on Facebook for the following reasons:

  • 2.8 billion overall users.
  • 2.3 billion active monthly users.
  • 1.52 billion daily users.
  • Facebook is the third most visited website in the world according to the Alexa Report.
  • Facebook is still growing! 2018 to 2019 Facebook increased active users by 9 percent.
  • An average Facebook user has 155 “friends.”
  • Approximately 75% + of the adult population in the United States is on Facebook.
  • All age groups can be reached on Facebook.
  • Ad Targeting – I can determine who sees my ads.
  • I see the best ROI with Facebook ad currently.

Facebooks’ targeting and algorithms allow me affordably to reach a high number of people most likely to need or want what I’m marketing. I’m able to place my ad in front of only the people who would make up my ideal customers. In order to really know your ideal client and to find them on Facebook you need to learn where they spend their free time, what their hobbies are and what relatable pages they like or interests they have. This helps you keep your marketing dollars working for you in the most effective way.

Facebook Ads Work — When Placed Correctly

Like it or not, Facebook — and every other online platform out there, including your search engines — knows you well. This knowledge is gained through artificial intelligence that compiles aggregate data to provide better ads and a better “community” to the user. Basically, Facebook uses the data it collects and compiles it in a way that allows businesses to reach specific segments of people who have similar traits without providing a way to know who these people are individually.

What Really Matters to Facebook

The only thing Facebook creates or sells is the access to reach Facebook users for advertising purposes. Facebook exists because of the content and engagement users create — and it would disappear without users creating that content. Thus, its main goal is to keep users enjoying their experience and staying on the platform longer. When you place Facebook ads that are highly engaging, that’s a win-win for everyone in Facebook’s eyes, and it rewards the business that placed the engaging and well-targeted ad by putting the ad in front of more of the right people and reducing the cost to reach those people.

Facebook Provides Opportunities Seen Nowhere Else

The opportunities Facebook marketing provides to all businesses is impressive, even downright amazing compared to the cost in time, money and effort we needed prior to Facebook. There is nothing out there like it when it comes to targeting, reach or the low cost of getting the right people to see your ad, and this is why I urge you to make business “friends” with Facebook. It may be the ultimate cyber big brother, but when we play by its rules, it has the potential to be worth it. To get you started, I have a little homework for you that can be completed in an hour or less.

The Censorship Question

As an FFL or firearms range owner, you do need to take more precautions than most other businesses when placing ads because enterprises related to firearms and ammunition fall into a highly censored category. FFLs and ranges can successfully run Facebook ads when they follow all its advertising policies, including the probable need to send ad traffic to a standalone landing page not linked to your main business web page if that website in any way promotes the use or sale of firearms. Other considerations for firearms industry businesses include:

  • Pay attention to age-targeting restrictions in each product category.
  • Your ad may not show violence no matter what the context is.
  • If anything in your ad or where you send your ad traffic could lead to the sale of a firearm, your ad will be denied. This includes your ad, your website and any linked pages to your website. You can dispute a denied ad, so be prepared to show them how you kept to all the rules.

About the Author
Karrie Christen is a veteran marketer with 23 years in the field. After seeing her parents’ business fail and the anguish it brought to her family emotionally and financially, she was driven to create a formula that attracts all the clients a business needs to thrive. That drive became The Client Attraction Formula, which provides inspiration, education and business development strategies to small businesses. Christen has also teamed with FFL Consultants, a collaborative resource for FFLs with a goal of creating more compliant, safe, secure and profitable businesses.

You may also be interested in:

https://www.nssf.org/your-website-key-to-customer-engagement/

https://www.nssf.org/maximize-meetings/

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