The case for including Facebook in your digital strategy
Kait Richmond is a writer, producer and contributor to the M.T. Deco Blog
We know what you’re thinking: Facebook isn’t the cool place to be.
When Facebook started 20 years ago, it was a must-have for college students. But a couple years in, Facebook stopped requiring a college email address to sign up, and over time, people of all ages started joining.
Simultaneously, politics seemed to get more divisive. Facebook fell out of favor when, suddenly, your older relatives, who resided on the opposite end of your political spectrum, had a bigger platform than the family dinner table.
[Apologies if this is hitting too close to home, Millennials.]
What happened to Facebook makes it easy to understand why brands and individuals might want to steer clear of the platform. There are very real and valid concerns about what your content might be shown alongside, not to mention that the comments section can be tricky. While these concerns apply to all platforms, Facebook is one of the largest, so there’s a higher likelihood of things going wrong.
That said, there’s something to the audience there. When Facebook reached its 20th birthday earlier this year, the Pew Research Center shared 5 facts about how Americans are using the platform. There are a lot of good nuggets in there, but this one stands out: “Around seven-in-ten U.S. adults (68%) say they ever use Facebook, a share that has remained relatively flat since 2016, according to a survey conducted between May and September 2023.”
Yes, that share is flat, but that’s still a huge number of people. The only platform used more is YouTube - and it requires a lot more production than Facebook.
Something else you may be surprised by depends on where you fall politically, and what the algorithm shows you. Social media can become an echo chamber, but Pew found that the audience there is evenly divided: “47% are Republicans or Republican-leaning independents, while 46% are Democrats or Democratic leaners.”
So, as with any other platform, it’s about who you’re trying to reach. [More on how to find them - your target audience - here.] If Gen Z is part of that group, don’t write Facebook off just yet.
Meta is working hard to bring a bigger share of younger generations to Facebook, especially in the last few months. Here’s how they put it themselves recently:
“Facebook is still for everyone, but in order to build for the next generation of social media consumers, we’ve made significant changes with young adults in mind,” Tom Alison, head of the platform, shared in a post titled “The Future of Facebook.” “And with five quarters of healthy growth in young adult app usage in the US and Canada, over 40 million US/CA young adults are daily active users, and this number is the highest in three years.”
Their plan is to cater to where these people are in life, and building or improving services they will most need. For example, for young adults leaving college and renting their first apartment, Facebook Marketplace could be an essential tool.
Like just about everyone else who works in marketing, Facebook is also focusing on creators. Here’s some of Marketing Brew’s reporting on that strategy:
“One way Facebook is looking to get over that hurdle is by enticing creators and tastemakers to the platform in the hopes that their audiences will follow. That enticement has largely come in the form of cold, hard cash, offering them the ability to monetize all kinds of posts, including long-form videos, Reels, photos, and text.”
Key words: “cold, hard cash.” If people can make money on Facebook, why wouldn’t they be there? This Business Insider story from last year called the platform “an overlooked cash cow” for creators.
This is great news for most brands, too. [Unless you operate in the news space…we don’t need to tell you that referral traffic from Facebook has dropped dramatically.] If, for example, your target audience is American women between 30-49, you can engage creators and create content tailored to them directly.
An excellent point from the aforementioned Business Insider story:
“Logan Nathanson, who runs the TikTok page Our Favorite Finds that recommends tech products, said an older audience on the platform equals more spending power and more willingness to purchase the products he advertises — which in turn generates more revenue for him through affiliate commissions.
‘Our ideal target audience would be a 45- to 50-year-old mother that is impulse purchasing on Amazon every week,’ Nathanson said. ‘The generation of people on Facebook is helpful because they're definitely one of the top shopping generations.’"
If you’re on board [or getting there], we’ve got a few thought starters to help you brainstorm how you might want to show up on Facebook:
Cross-post content from other platforms: We always recommend creating content specifically for each platform, but we understand that not everyone has the time, staff, or budget for that. If you’re already creating content for other platforms, consider sharing it on Facebook and see how the audience responds. Over time, as you build and understand your Facebook audience better, you’ll have ideas about what to create specifically for them.
Create a private community: Privacy is becoming more popular - just look at Discord! Creators have been using private groups for years, and brands are following suit, especially on Facebook. It’s a great way to hear directly from followers and consumers, often turning them into bigger fans. A lot of people are there, too: a Meta spokesperson told Modern Retail that the majority of Facebook users join 15 or more groups.
Use it as a customer service tool: Actively engaging with the people who follow you or use your product is essential these days. According to Sprout, 70% of consumers expect personalized responses to their customer service needs. If you’re not quite ready to dive into content creation, consider making your Facebook page a dedicated customer service tool - just make that clear to your followers.