Constantly evolving social media landscapes have marketers questioning: when to run paid Facebook posts and when to rely on organic traffic or impressions. This article will not pick sides and play a competitive game: Facebook sponsored posts vs organic posts. Instead, we will provide the pros and cons of each and let you decide. Keep on reading to find out if you need to monetize your channel and launch sponsored Facebook ads.
Oct 29 2021 ● 10 min read
The world's largest social network, Facebook, currently sits at more than 2.85 billion monthly active users. It is no surprise that marketers focus on this channel the most: Facebook accounts for more than 9% of digital advertising and 18.4% of global mobile digital advertising. This is one of the reasons why there are so many Facebook marketing courses and Facebook advertising agencies. 92% of social marketers are using Facebook for advertising!
Do these statistics mean that you should monetize your Facebook account? Let's find out.
If you have never created a single sponsored ad, you may not know that it can take up to 24 hours for you to get approval. Facebook has limited advert possibilities and does not allow everyone to advertise on the platform. On ads manager, where you build, plan and schedule advertising campaigns, you'll find the required info for you to fill in. Why your post may not be approved:
10 million active advertisers were using the social networking platform to promote their products and services. Every year more and more companies are implementing Facebook ads manager to their marketing strategies. You can only imagine how hard it's getting to stand out and catch someone's attention. Not only innovative ideas are required, but a lot of money too.
It is recommended for any business to allocate 5-12% of the revenue for their marketing budget. So you can imagine how much of a difference it makes to take 5% of income from a small business versus a large corporation.
Once you start using Facebook Ads Manager, you'll understand that it'll take some time for you to get the grip of it. Trying to figure out how to select the right audience and ad placement will most definitely cost you money.
Social media is for socializing. People come to Facebook expecting to see updates on their friends and family, not to make a purchase (which still can happen with the right boosted posts). Keep in mind that Facebook Ads are not Google Search ads. '74% of people are tired of social media ads'. This does mean lower conversion rates and fewer sales generated.
You used to be able to target audience with Facebook sponsored posts in three ways:
And you still can create Facebook advertising campaigns and target audiences by their specific interests, behaviors, income levels, locations, and other criteria.
However, a recent study published by academics and computer scientists from Spain and Austria demonstrated another previously unknown targeting method: Nano targeting. Essentially, Facebook Ads Manager allows you to target a single person rather than groups of people who share a common interest.
To target one person with Facebook Ad, you'll need adequate information about their interests. And, according to this research article, gathering it is not difficult.
If you weren't aware, in 2018, Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that they would be prioritizing posts from friends and family more frequently. This means that business-related pages will be put on the back burner. The only solution for you to be noticed in the crowd, reach more Facebook users and get more website traffic is to run sponsored Facebook posts.
Forbes, an online business journal based in the United States, provided insight into their marketing strategy. Long story short, their typical return on ad spend ranges from 5 to 30 times. So, if you have a campaign with a 75x ROAS, it means you may make 75 times your money back in sales for every dollar you spend on Facebook advertisements. Discover details of ad performance with Facebook ad analytics, so you can make adjustments on time.
No other kind of investing, for your information, yields a faster, more predictable, and passive return.
Facebook's algorithm is constantly changing, and you have no control over it. Developers are constantly adjusting the ordering to ensure that consumers only see content that is relevant to them. The average reach for an organic Facebook post continues to decline as a result of these changes:
This decrease demonstrates how difficult it is for organic postings to reach new Facebook users on their news feed.
Do you think organic posts are free? But what about your time? If you wanted to increase brand awareness, one source said that it would take between three to two years (depending on the aggressiveness of your strategy).
When it comes to business-related content, organic posts aren't very effective. A Facebook page whose sole purpose is to sell would struggle not only to reach its target audience but also to achieve any sales. Most marketing courses will teach you that being noticed and profiting takes a lot of work and consistency.
For many businesses, sales and conversions aren't the main campaign goals. Building relationships with followers and creating a community may become more valuable at some point. Even though a single Facebook sponsored post can reach a larger audience, an organic post will show up in the feeds of people who already love your product. Sometimes companies decide what they want to focus on. It can be either increasing sales or increasing engagement. This leads us to another positive:
Organic posts create a space for people to leave feedback and start a conversation with a brand. Businesses should benefit from this opportunity to encourage users to leave feedback and respond to their posts. Organic posts allow companies to connect with their customers and learn what they think about their products.
There is no conclusion to this article. Even the cons of Facebook organic posts may not be an issue for certain businesses. You decide what to prioritize and what to put on hold based on your marketing goals.
Our recommendation?
Get an analytics tool that will monitor and generate reports on your Facebook advertising efforts. Only over time will you genuinely learn about your audience and what works for you. Claim your free Facebook Ads report template and learn about the effectiveness of your current advertising strategy.
Published on Oct 29 2021
WRITTEN BY
Dominyka VaičiūnaitėDominyka is a copywriter at Whatagraph with a background in product marketing and customer success. Her degree in Mass Communications/Media Studies helps her to use simple words to explain complex ideas. In addition to adding value to our landing pages, you can find her name behind numerous product releases, in-app notifications, and guides in our help center.
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