The Benefits and Limitations of Advertising on Facebook — UNBXD

In the fast-paced digital landscape, social media channels have become essential platforms for marketers to connect with their target audience. However, with numerous options available, it can be challenging for marketers to determine which channels are worth their investment.

Facebook statistics for marketers

Facebook has 2.9 billion monthly active users
2 billion of those use Facebook every day
This means Facebook ads have the potential to reach 28% of the world’s population
Facebook’s largest demographic in terms of age is 25 to 34 which accounts for 29.6% of their total audience

12.7% of Facebook users are aged over 55, making this the most popular social media in older generations in both the US and the UK

Facebook’s demographics

Facebook is far from being the new kid on the block, with almost two decades worth of research, learning and growing under its belt and nearly 3 billion monthly active users to show for it. As the most popular social media platform in the world, Facebook is a key player in the world of both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) marketing.
Facebook has a wide demographic reach with the ability to cater to a wide range of businesses. If your target audience includes older generations, you’d be remiss not to work Facebook into your social media marketing campaigns. However, despite research showing that younger generations may be abandoning Facebook, nearly 60% of the platform’s users are under the age of 34. However, this may be more to do with younger generations' increased affinity for social media as a whole, with YouTube and TikTok both overtaking Facebook as the preferred platform.

Facebook’s key marketing features

Post scheduling

Plan your marketing calendar in advance and let Facebook’s post scheduling service do the rest - no need to set reminders to post certain things weeks from now.

Wide range of formats

Facebook supports various ad formats, including image ads, video ads, carousel ads (multiple images or videos in a single ad), slideshow ads (looping video or image) and collection ads (a combination of images and videos).

Messenger bots

Facebook Messenger allows any business to easily build a bot to handle simple queries through the platform, saving you time and driving conversions. Queries these bots can support with include changes in shipping information or recommending products.

Page insights

Facebook’s extensive Page Insights tool allows you to analyse the performance of your page and posts. View your likes, views, reach and reactions to figure out what is working for you, and what isn’t.

Ad manager

Choose between a range of objectives from three categories: awareness, consideration and conversion. Facebook’s ad manager will then support you in defining your audience, setting your budget, and scheduling your ads.

Microtargeting

You can target specific audiences through location, age, gender, language, and even their liked pages such as interests or other brands.

Lookalike audiences

Lookalike audiences allow you to reach new people who are similar to your existing customers or custom audiences. Facebook uses its algorithms to analyse the characteristics and behaviours of your chosen audience and finds similar users to target.

Retargeting

Facebook supplies a piece of code which, when placed on your website, allows you to retarget previous visitors who have browsed your products or abandoned a cart.

Ad testing

Run multiple versions of your advert to small groups simultaneously to compare performance and decide which designs work best for which audiences before launching your full ad campaign.

Limitations of marketing on Facebook

Lack of organic reach

One huge limitation of Facebook is how little organic traffic your page will receive - ultimately, if you’re not paying for advertising on Facebook, very few people will see your content.

Competitive advertising slots

There’s a limit to how many ads can be shown to users on their Facebook feeds, and as the largest social media platform on the planet, there’s a huge number of advertisers wanting to get these premium spots. The more you pay, the more your content will be seen.

Ad fatigue

Facebook users are exposed to a large volume of ads on a daily basis, there is a risk of ad fatigue. Users may become less responsive or even develop ad blindness, where they subconsciously ignore ads due to their frequency or repetitive nature. Advertisers need to constantly innovate and create engaging content to combat ad fatigue.

Users must be logged in

There’s nearly 3 billion monthly active users on Facebook, which is a tremendous amount. However, there’s more than 5 billion internet users worldwide each month, which means there are 2 billion people who can’t see your Facebook adverts.

Including Facebook in your marketing strategy provides a great way to connect with your target audience and achieve your marketing goals. The platform's powerful targeting options, diverse user demographics, and analytics tools enable businesses to create engaging campaigns and measure success. However, it's important to be aware of limitations such as declining organic reach and ad fatigue.

By understanding these aspects, marketers can craft effective strategies for Facebook advertising. With a splash of creativity, Facebook can be a valuable tool to increase brand visibility, engage customers, and drive business growth in the digital age.

UNBXD is a Creative Digital Agency which specialises in social media marketing using platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn and Instagram to create exciting, innovative solutions for breakthrough brands. We are experts in supporting brands to outline clear objectives, develop strong communication strategies and create unique content which truly engages their audience. Come and see what we can do for you!