Why Spending Money on Facebook is Hurting Your Marketing

Money makes the world go ‘round.

We have all heard the saying, and we’ve all probably nodded our head in agreement whenever someone said it. I mean, it’s a relatively simple phrase to understand. You spend money to get things done. That is just how the world works.

This seems especially true on Facebook, specifically with its business advertising platform. You craft a quick ad, throw up a picture, and pay a measly $5 a day to start advertising to thousands of people instantly. It is one of the easiest marketing methods available today, and spending money on it is the clear way to increase your business awareness.

But, have you ever considered the opposite?

I am betting that you haven’t, mainly because it just sounds ridiculous. It’s almost in the same vein as me telling you that water isn’t wet. How can it be that money makes the world stop going ‘round? Well, when it comes to your Facebook marketing, it could actually be doing more harm than good, especially when looking at your industry and target customers.

Small businesses have always been told that marketing doesn’t have to be expensive and can be done relatively cheap, and that is 100% true. However, even armed with that information, many owners still resort to spending more and more money on methods that they think are effective, but in actuality are just causing damage and draining their bank accounts.

Let’s take a look at one of the most popular marketing methods that you might be using and how it can be better suited to reach your campaign goals.

1. Facebook Advertising

One of the ways small business owners are spending their advertising and marketing budgets is through targeted Facebook advertising. This involves things like boosting a post for more interaction and views, and actually creating a campaign with a visual ad and a call to action.

While a good Facebook ad can certainly lead to high engagement and conversion rates, they are rarely budgeted wisely. I have talked with countless owners that can’t tell me off the top of their head how much they have spent on Facebook ads in the last 3 months, usually just estimating to a nice round number.

The reason these numbers aren’t known exactly is because it’s incredibly easy to rack up a huge advertising tab through Facebook. You may have intended to just spend $5 a day on a campaign, $5 boosting this post, and $5 reaching more people in your neighborhood. Before you know it you’re up to a $300 bill from Facebook for the month and you probably haven’t seen any return on your investment.

I am not arguing against using Facebook as a way to drive traffic, but you should never blindly throw money at any method without a firm grasp on what you are doing. In this case, just spending the money doesn’t yield the results you expect or need. The money is actually doing damage because you are siphoning that money away from more effective methods at collecting potential customers.

In order to use that money wisely, there are three (3) things that have to be included for a Facebook ad to succeed.

1. A specific custom audience you are targeting
2. Strong and captivating copy
3. Exciting or emotional imagery or video

If you have these three things, and they are done correctly, you will be successfully using your budget and getting the type of return that helps your business instead of hurting it.

For more information on creating a better, higher converting campaign through Facebook advertising, please check out this awesome post the guys and gals over at Kissmetrics put together. They have all the detailed info you could ever need when it comes to succeeding at Facebook advertising.