Is it time to break up with Facebook?

Facebook has for a long time been considered one of the pillars of any business' social strategy. It's only natural; Facebook is the world's largest online network with over 1.35 billion users all sharing content 4.75 billion times a day.

Despite the facts, businesses seem to be staging a mini revolt against Facebook recently and in this blog we investigate why and whether or not the time has come to seriously consider removing Facebook from your social strategy.

What is driving this trend of businesses deleting their Facebook? Well, as expected, the list of reasons is long, some of them valuable and, others, not so much. We have picked 5 of the most valuable reasons why Facebook may not be the right choice for you and your business.

Facebook takes traffic away from your business website

Some may argue that driving traffic to your Facebook page is a good thing because users will hopefully like your page and be targeted with your content on Facebook.But with recent newsfeed changes, only 6% of your community sees your posts organically on Facebook, and this may no longer be the best path for your users to take. Maybe keeping users on your website so they convert with an inbound strategy such as a newsletter sign up or purchase would be better.

Facebook is expensive

If you are a business on Facebook nowadays, you have to be prepared to spend some money to get yourself noticed by your community. Like we mentioned above, your organic reach only captures 6% of your followership so promoted posts and advertising are a must. Whether you choose to boost twice weekly or run an advertising campaign, you need a budget for Facebook.

Facebook has too much control over your content

Facebook owns the content you share on Facebook and also has control over the type of content you can and cannot post. There are many rules for marketers on Facebook that you must follow or risk losing your page all together. For example, you cannot ask your community to like, share or do anything else with another Facebook feature, and you cannot have more than 20% text in your advertising images.  Use this handy tool to calculate whether your ad creative has over 20% text.

Facebook connects your business with people who aren't in your target market

Facebook does have some effective targeting tools but how do you know you are actually reaching your target market? When your boosted post is served to 27,000 users and yet it only converts into 150 likes, it suggests that perhaps the targeting isn't as specific as you would like.

Facebook Insights does not offer enough actionable data to assess the ROI

Facebook insights really only offer the surface line of information considering the actual amount of information it has on each user. It also doesn't offer metrics such as click through rate and cost per conversion. With the amount of information Facebook could share, Insights is disappointing.

There are many more reasons why marketers are leaving Facebook but as with any argument there are pros and cons.

So...should you delete your Facebook?

If you are seeing conversions from your Facebook business page and users are liking, commenting and interacting with you, then keep on going. This is a great sign and will be improving the image of your brand. If nobody has commented or liked for a long while, maybe you would consider cutting the cord.

Ultimately, despite the controversial conversations happening out there, it is probably a good idea to stay on Facebook for now, especially since they've launched instant publishing.  But it is important to evaluate your use of Facebook, your current investment in time on your Facebook and whether you are seeing a positive ROI. You may decide to shift the time you put into Facebook based on your findings.

Note these reasons are speculative and we don't endorse them necessarily. Book a consultation with a digital marketing team in order to make the best decision for your business.