Is Facebook Misleading Advertisers?
Last week we asked a simple question about Facebook: Is the social network a viable marketing tool? The post cited recent evidence that users are removing the Facebook app from their phones as well as taking Facebook breaks for a few weeks or more. Nevertheless, we noted, the site is still viewed as a potentially valuable marketing tool--if you have money.
Facebook's organic reach is essentially non-existent. As we noted last week: "less than 0.5 percent of your fans, on average, will actually see your updates" (Source). To market on the network, businesses must pay for ads.
This was Facebook's plan--since at least 2016, when the social media giant announced sweeping algorithm changes, which diminished the appearance of organic content posted by brands and promoted organic content posted by friends and family.
Today, Facebook makes an astonishing amount of money from ads: over $13 billion just in the last quarter, as NPR recently noted in a story about the social network.
Facebook promotes its ads as highly targeted:
"With our powerful audience selection tools," Facebook says, "you can target the people who are right for your business. Using what you know about your customers—like demographics, interests and behaviors—you can connect with people similar to them."
This "targeting," according to some, is not as accurate as Facebook leads advertisers to believe. NPR quoted Seth Lesser, a lawyer, who says that Facebook promotes 89% accuracy. Yet, Lesser believes this number is highly inaccurate. He is representing a website, InvestorVillage.com, which claims that "Facebook misleads advertisers about how effective it is."
As NPR notes: "InvestorVillage...recently spent around $1,600 on two Facebook ad campaigns. The ads were targeted at people with an interest in the stock market, incomes of at least $250,000 and a college education. The ads got a lot of likes, but the company says when it looked closer, at least 40 percent of those likes were from users outside the target audience."
Read: Advertising on Facebook: Is it Worth It?
This view of Facebook's inaccuracy is not new, Last year, a survey from Weebly revealed that 62% of small businesses owners believed Facebook advertising was ineffective. The problem is not necessarily the reach of the ads but the quality of the attention:
"It’s not that those small businesses...are seeing no returns on their ads. It’s the quality of the returns that is often in question. It’s all clicks and likes but sales conversions are few and far between" (Source).
Organic Reach vs. Paid Advertising
The details of the InvestorVillage lawsuit as well as the Weebly survey speak to a consistent theme here on The Organic SEO Blog: The value of organic reach vs. paid advertising.
For many websites a combination of different online marketing techniques, including organic SEO, online reputation management, and paid search may prove to be profitable. But cost is a factor--especially for smaller businesses.
A small business just cannot afford to spend money on an ad campaign that does not lead to conversions. So ad cost is incidental to effectiveness: a $50 investment, if performed correctly, can be more profitable than a $500 investment.
Read: Do You Need Paid Advertising in 2018?
In this sense, as the NPR article notes, not much has changed since the days of Don Draper. NPR quotes Marcus Collins, an executive at Doner, an advertising agency, who says:
"Facebook isn't the magic potion ... [to] reach everybody and everyone starts buying your products. We put an undue pressure on these technology platforms that we don't put on traditional media. And it's not fair."
We disagree, partly, with Collins' implication: We should have different expectations for online marketing. For example, online marketing can be more precise with special attention placed on specific products.
Read: Two Crucial Differences Between Traditional and Online Marketing
Yet, in the end, we do agree with Collins' fundamental point: "Convincing people to buy is always going to be more than just a numbers game."
Quality will always trump quantity--no matter the marketing venue.
So should you pay for advertising--on Facebook or elsewhere?
The answer is complicated, and dependent on many factors. We do not dismiss paid ads outright, but we do believe organic reach--specifically organic SEO--is the best way to attract a sustained attention that inspires conversions. Evidence supports this assertion. A 2016 Similar Web Search Report, for example, revealed that organic search accounts for 95% of all clicks.
Unfortunately, organic search is dead on Facebook. The takeaway for Facebook, then, is to be careful about your expenses: monitor your ad dollars to make sure they're working. If not, do not pay to play!
Organic SEO with Stepman's SEO
If you're looking for an SEO company that understands how to effectively promote websites with carefully plotted marketing campaigns, we suggest contacting our sponsor, Stepman's SEO: 215-900-9398.
Stepman's SEO combines traditional marketing methods and organic SEO--with an emphasis on natural website optimization--to design thoughtful, inspiring, and effective content marketing campaigns.
Facebook's organic reach is essentially non-existent. As we noted last week: "less than 0.5 percent of your fans, on average, will actually see your updates" (Source). To market on the network, businesses must pay for ads.
This was Facebook's plan--since at least 2016, when the social media giant announced sweeping algorithm changes, which diminished the appearance of organic content posted by brands and promoted organic content posted by friends and family.
Today, Facebook makes an astonishing amount of money from ads: over $13 billion just in the last quarter, as NPR recently noted in a story about the social network.
Facebook promotes its ads as highly targeted:
"With our powerful audience selection tools," Facebook says, "you can target the people who are right for your business. Using what you know about your customers—like demographics, interests and behaviors—you can connect with people similar to them."
This "targeting," according to some, is not as accurate as Facebook leads advertisers to believe. NPR quoted Seth Lesser, a lawyer, who says that Facebook promotes 89% accuracy. Yet, Lesser believes this number is highly inaccurate. He is representing a website, InvestorVillage.com, which claims that "Facebook misleads advertisers about how effective it is."
As NPR notes: "InvestorVillage...recently spent around $1,600 on two Facebook ad campaigns. The ads were targeted at people with an interest in the stock market, incomes of at least $250,000 and a college education. The ads got a lot of likes, but the company says when it looked closer, at least 40 percent of those likes were from users outside the target audience."
Read: Advertising on Facebook: Is it Worth It?
This view of Facebook's inaccuracy is not new, Last year, a survey from Weebly revealed that 62% of small businesses owners believed Facebook advertising was ineffective. The problem is not necessarily the reach of the ads but the quality of the attention:
"It’s not that those small businesses...are seeing no returns on their ads. It’s the quality of the returns that is often in question. It’s all clicks and likes but sales conversions are few and far between" (Source).
 |
| Are Facebook ads really effective? A new lawsuit alleges that "Facebook misleads advertisers about how effective it is" (Photo Source) |
Organic Reach vs. Paid Advertising
The details of the InvestorVillage lawsuit as well as the Weebly survey speak to a consistent theme here on The Organic SEO Blog: The value of organic reach vs. paid advertising.
For many websites a combination of different online marketing techniques, including organic SEO, online reputation management, and paid search may prove to be profitable. But cost is a factor--especially for smaller businesses.
A small business just cannot afford to spend money on an ad campaign that does not lead to conversions. So ad cost is incidental to effectiveness: a $50 investment, if performed correctly, can be more profitable than a $500 investment.
Read: Do You Need Paid Advertising in 2018?
In this sense, as the NPR article notes, not much has changed since the days of Don Draper. NPR quotes Marcus Collins, an executive at Doner, an advertising agency, who says:
"Facebook isn't the magic potion ... [to] reach everybody and everyone starts buying your products. We put an undue pressure on these technology platforms that we don't put on traditional media. And it's not fair."
We disagree, partly, with Collins' implication: We should have different expectations for online marketing. For example, online marketing can be more precise with special attention placed on specific products.
Read: Two Crucial Differences Between Traditional and Online Marketing
Yet, in the end, we do agree with Collins' fundamental point: "Convincing people to buy is always going to be more than just a numbers game."
Quality will always trump quantity--no matter the marketing venue.
So should you pay for advertising--on Facebook or elsewhere?
The answer is complicated, and dependent on many factors. We do not dismiss paid ads outright, but we do believe organic reach--specifically organic SEO--is the best way to attract a sustained attention that inspires conversions. Evidence supports this assertion. A 2016 Similar Web Search Report, for example, revealed that organic search accounts for 95% of all clicks.
Unfortunately, organic search is dead on Facebook. The takeaway for Facebook, then, is to be careful about your expenses: monitor your ad dollars to make sure they're working. If not, do not pay to play!
Organic SEO with Stepman's SEO
If you're looking for an SEO company that understands how to effectively promote websites with carefully plotted marketing campaigns, we suggest contacting our sponsor, Stepman's SEO: 215-900-9398.
Stepman's SEO combines traditional marketing methods and organic SEO--with an emphasis on natural website optimization--to design thoughtful, inspiring, and effective content marketing campaigns.
Is Facebook Misleading Advertisers?
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