Facebook’s Pay To Play Model: It’s Time For Businesses To Re-Invest

Anyone who has managed a Facebook business page has seen the organic reach dwindle. In fact, you don’t even have to be a business page admin to have seen this happen. As a Facebook user, I see fewer and fewer businesses that I have “liked” on my timeline. For many businesses, the best way to increase visibility is to invest in Facebook’s Pay to Play advertising program.

What Facebook’s Pay to Play Means to Local Business

As a local business trying to reach a local or regional audience, the cost to play on Facebook is pretty small in comparison to local radio, TV or print ads. For the cost of $200 to $500 a month you can make a very successful marketing campaign on Facebook. Facebook ads can increase the number of people who like your business page, expose your brand to viewers who meet demographic criteria but may be unaware of your business, and help your current fan base stay current with your promotional offers. Now I know what you’re thinking. I worked my tail off to get all those ‘likes,’ and now I have to pay to have those ‘likes’ see my posts? You also worked your tail off to get those customers, but it’s still a good marketing philosophy to run radio, TV, and print ads to keep in touch with those customers. This isn’t much difference, just more efficient.

Facebook’s Pay to Play Ads Have Improved

As a marketing company, Paradux Media Group took it upon ourselves years ago to delve into running Facebook ads for our clients. As Facebook has changed its algorithms that restrict organic shares to what it deems the most relevant, they have given us better tools to reach more viewers by way of Play ads. As a marketer or business owner, that’s all you can ask for; if you’re going to take away ‘A,” give me an opportunity to get them with ‘B’ and Facebook has done that.

The Key to Success at Facebook Advertising

Organic search isn’t going to get better on Facebook, regardless of your content. It’s only going to become increasingly more difficult to reach your ‘likes’ every day, so diving into trying ads now if you haven’t would be a really good idea. Just like with ad creations and ad buying, there is an art to it. I know everyone thinks they’re a marketing experts, but there really is a thought process and a goal that you should have with any and all ads placed.

Here are some quick suggestions for the business owners looking to get their feet wet.

• Keep it simple.
• Create a Facebook ad account.
• Choose to boost your post through an ad or to promote your page.
• Select the criteria you would like.
• Select the geographical area, gender, and age that you would like to target.  Do you want to promote the post to those who already like your page, or broaden it to all those in the geographical area that you had selected?
• Choose a small amount to advertise for the day. Then monitor the progress daily as well as switch up the posts being advertised as well as the other parameters that you have set.
• For the best results contact a marketing/advertising professional to run your Facebook ad campaign. You’ll be more efficient right out of the gate, rather than relying on a learning curve, and you’ve minimized the potential for mistakes to happen to your page.

Get the best results from Facebook’s Pay to Play ads with help from Paradux Media Group.

Most local business owners and marketing departments invested a lot of time, effort, and money into their Facebook pages, and for most, it’s been worth it. Now, it’s time to re-invest with a slightly different strategy. Contact our team today to learn more about our social media management services. We will help your company expand its reach, from Facebook to Instagram, LinkedIn, and more.