Facebook Advertising in 2021: What SMBs Need to Know
June 6, 2021 | By Christine Sunde
Whether you are someone who partakes or not, social media has become a prevalent part of today’s everyday life. Leading the way since its start in 2004, Facebook reached over 2.8 billion monthly active users by the end of 2020. Not only is it the third most visited website, users also constantly access Facebook at an average of 8 times a day. Instagram does not trail far behind with over 1 billion active users and boasts an even more appreciable stat to marketers – 71% of users are under the age of 35. What ties the two platforms together? Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, solidifying Facebook’s powerful presence among all social media platforms.
This tremendous reach is one of the strongest ways for SMBs to advertise to an unbeatable volume of users with specific targeting. So it is not surprising to learn that over 160 million businesses use Facebook every month to communicate with their customers. However, since an organic post only reaches 6.4% of the page’s likes on average, more than 93% of social media marketers have turned to paid Facebook ads followed by 73% using paid Instagram ads.
These numbers essentially boil down to the fact that an organic approach is no longer enough to drive actual business. While an organic approach should not be ignored and the platform offers easy advertising tools such as boosting posts, those strategies are meant to easily achieve goals associated on the platform like increasing followers or engagement. A paid approach is the most cost effective way to drive quantifiable results that can be measured. Specific strategies, creative, campaign structure, and custom targeting can be used to achieve business goals and revenue. It is also crucial to constantly review performance and optimize targeting, budget, and creative as business trends constantly evolve.
The most recent evolvement is an industry trend towards data privacy, causing Apple to rollout an iOS 14 update resulting in multiple effects. This software update will prompt users to give permission before being tracked across apps and websites. SMBs running paid advertising Facebook or Instagram campaigns would be impacted by these data sharing limitations as it is unclear how many users are likely to opt out.
What are some of the potential impacts caused by the update?
- Audience targeting limitations
- Domain verification required for conversion tracking
- Conversion points now limited to 8 per domain
- Conversion point ranking required
- Data delay on conversions
- Shorter attribution window for conversions (7-day click/1-day view through)
Effectively navigating today’s constantly evolving social media landscape can be difficult, but there are a few best practices to keep in mind. Go with the grain when it comes to creative and tailor your advertising efforts to resonate with your target audience. Focus on demonstrated interest when it comes to audience targeting and use how your current customers show their intent when it comes to your business. Use any familiarity that people currently have with your business to your advantage when setting up your advertising campaign. Also use the first party data you currently have access to like your CRM data, customer lists, or purchase lists. And as a SMB owner busy with a myriad of things when it comes to your business, STMS’s agency services team is always here to help professionally manage your social media campaigns.
