Is Facebook dead? Here are our thoughts!
You’ve probably heard mutterings from a few different people that there’s a mass exodus of millennials from Facebook, and that it’s no longer the social platform to be on.
And sure, there are other platforms like Instagram and TikTok that are outperforming the OG social network in quite a few different metrics like post engagement rates and app downloads.
But does this all mean that Facebook is dead and buried, and we should all take a moment of silence to properly put it to rest (and shift ad spend elsewhere in the process)?
The short answer is…no.
The longer answer is that there are plenty of key statistics that exist which show that the king of socials still sits on its throne as a hugely popular platform, providing brands plenty of marketing opportunities as well.
In this article we’ll get into some of these very real indicators that there’s still life in the powerhouse yet. And if you’re umm-ing and ahh-ing as to whether you should jump on board and implement your own Facebook campaign, we’ve listed some legit reasons why you should take action as soon as possible.
9 metrics showing Facebook is most definitely not dead
For all you young whippersnappers out there who weren’t around for it, before Facebook was born there existed a social platform called MySpace. It pretty much took the entire world by storm until everyone’s friend Tom (aka Thomas Anderson) sold it to News Corp in 2005 for the tidy sum of $580 million.
After that, it quickly became a dumpster fire due to mismanagement and went down in flames. And seemingly from its soldering ashes rose the phoenix that is Facebook.
Facebook has been around for nearly two decades now, over which time its popularity has continued on an upward trajectory. And if you’ve been thinking it’s about to ‘pull a MySpace’, here are nine statistics that show it’s looking like it’ll be doing anything but.
- It’s the third-most visited site globally
Behind just Google and YouTube, Facebook is the number three website in the world when it comes to total monthly visits. It is still averaging an incredible 11.74 billion visits every month as of November 2021 per Statista.
- 37% the world’s population use it
Of all 7.9 billion people who exist on our planet, 2.9 billion of them are active monthly Facebook users in 2022. And that’s actually a rather substantial increase of just over 6% on last year’s monthly active user figure of 2.74 billion.
Some basic maths (2.9 billion / 7.9 billion) shows us that this means a whopping 37% of the entire population on planet earth use Facebook each month!
- It was the third-most downloaded app last year
While TikTok took the tippy top spot in terms of total app downloads for 2021 and Instagram came in second, Facebook took out third place with a total of 416 million downloads throughout the year. And that doesn’t even include Facebook Lite or Messenger downloads, either.
- It reaches 59% of social media users
Out of all social media platforms, Facebook is the only one that can boast that it’s used by more than half of the population that use social networks. Not even YouTube or Instagram can say that about their usage statistics.
- It has 1.96 billion daily active users
The amount of people who use Facebook every day has been steadily increasing for many years now. Statista has its number of daily active users from Q1 2022 at 1.96 billion, up from 1.929 billion in Q4 2021.
- Users spend 33 minutes a day using it
Facebook remains the leader in time spent on site against all of its competitors, with an average of 33 minutes’ use each day. It beat out TikTok (32 minutes), Snapchat (31 minutes, Twitter (31 minutes), Instagram (29 minutes), WhatsApp (28 minutes) and YouTube (19 minutes).
- It’s the seventh-most valuable brand in the world
It’s one of the most valuable brands across the globe, coming in seventh below such brands as Apple, Amazon and Google. As at April 2022, Statista has published it as being worth a total of $101.2 billion which is far and away above the next social platform, WeChat, which is valued at $62.3 billion.
- 50% of users wanted to be introduced to new products through Stories
People who use Facebook are interested in what a brand has to say to them, specifically through the Stories ad format. According to Facebook, 50% of people are interested in finding out about new products and 46% want tips and advice from brands through the Stories format.
- 81.8% of users access it strictly via mobile devices
The advancement and popularity of mobile usage throughout the developing world has most likely led to the substantial number of people (81.8%) accessing Facebook solely via mobile. What this means is that you’re able to communicate your message to your desired audience wherever they may be, providing opportunities for geotargeting and segmenting you’d otherwise not get.
So there you have it, nine very clear indicators that the social network giant is showing no signs of bowing out of the fight any time soon. And there’s also a massive stack of other metrics that prove it’s still a force to be reckoned with when it comes to marketing and advertising.
Long story short: don’t always believe what you hear.
Benefits of using Facebook marketing for your business
If you’re still with us, you might want to know why Facebook marketing can be advantageous for your business. And we’ve got a bunch of solid reasons why you’ll quickly discover some seriously substantial success if you make sure you have a killer campaign on the OG social platform.
Lots of different ad formats
Unlike some other social networks, you’ve got a huge choice when it comes to the format you’re using when you want to advertise to your audience.
What that means is no matter the audience you’re looking to target, chances are there’s a format that will see fantastic results for your brand. From Facebook Stories, image, video, carousel and collection ad types, you’re spoiled for choice with your communication potential.
Massive reach potential
Facebook undeniably offers the biggest user base across all social media platforms. Which means no matter what demographic you’re looking to target, you’ll be able to reach them through there.
Sure, there may be a slight decline in the younger market, the numbers show that it is still THE platform to engage with audiences of all ages. So whatever product or service you’re selling, you’ll be able to reach the precise segment that will be interested in it.
Target audiences in every stage of the buying journey
Because of the many different types of ad formats and targeting options that are available to you, you can successfully target every single stage of the buyer journey.
That is, you can:
– Communicate your message to those who are in the awareness stage by piquing their interest while not being too direct through imagery and other engaging content
– Generate interest in your products or services from users who already know your brand through communicating specific benefits that they provide, and how they differ from what your competitors offer
– Use sponsored posts and influencer outreach to generate desire within the market that drives sales and enquiries
– Push users to take action through campaigns that focus on promotions and special offers
Unbelievable targeting capabilities
If you’ve never utilised Facebook marketing as part of your online strategy, you have no idea just how targeted you can be when creating a paid campaign on the platform.
Audience targeting on Facebook can be drilled down – significantly. In fact, you’re able to take advantage of:
– Core audiences, where you can use parameters such as age, location, interests and much more.
– Custom audiences, which enables you to remarket to users who have triggered an interest in your business, products or services both online and offline.
– Lookalike audiences, enabling you to reach out to users whose interests most align with past customers
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many different parameters that can be set up when you’re creating your Facebook ad campaign that we’d be here forever telling you about them!
Offers a variety of possible actions
When you use Google ads, there’s really only one option when it comes to the call to action (CTA) – clicking through to whatever destination you want them to click through to.
But with Facebook, your options are almost endless. Just a few CTAs with Facebook marketing ads include:
– Learn more
– Subscribe
– Shop now
– Sign up
– Get quote
– Download
– Call now
– Apply now
There are so many different possibilities when it comes to CTAs that whatever type of campaign you’re looking to run – from brand awareness to reach and site traffic – you’ll be able to achieve fantastic results.
Fully measurable
Ever spent a few grand on a digital marketing campaign and weren’t sure exactly where it went? Or actually how effective it was?
Because Facebook marketing is completely trackable, you’ll never be in the dark again. Whether you create a campaign yourself or you choose to go with legitimate experts in social media marketing, you’ll know exactly where your cash went and, just as importantly, how effective it was in reaching your desired audience.
All of the metrics that you’ve been seeking will be uncovered both during the campaign and once it’s finished, which provides you with priceless information that will help shape all of your future strategies.
And if you choose First Page Australia as your social media marketing agency, you can rest assured we’ll not only provide you with constant updates on where your campaign is at – we’ll be monitoring it to make sure it’s optimised to deliver the most incredible ROI you’ve ever seen.
Remarketing opportunities
Have you ever been on the internet and felt like there’s been a particular brand or product that’s following you around? That’s what’s known as remarketing.
What that means is you’ve visited a website or added something to your online shopping basket that relates to the brand that’s using remarketing to communicate their message to you through cookies.
Facebook ads are able to be set up in a way that remarkets to consumers that have visited your page before or viewed one of your products or services somewhere online. This is an incredibly effective method of pushing consumers ‘over the edge’ to purchase, as they’re often qualified buyers who may have just been distracted from the purchase for whatever reason.
Highly cost-effective
Traditional advertising such as TV and radio can be incredibly expensive – and there are also a lot of online marketing channels that can cost quite a bit to get your brand/product/service front and centre to your target audience.
Paid Facebook ads, however, continue to be an incredibly cheap way to communicate to your audience. And because of its exceptional targeting capabilities, you can advertise to highly segmented markets without breaking the bank.
This means you’re not wasting your time or advertising budget showing your messaging to people in the wrong demographic.
Leave Facebook marketing to the pros at First Page Australia
Want to take advantage of the opportunities Facebook (Meta) marketing continues to offer brands? It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this instead.
When you engage with First Page Australia to assist with digital marketing, you can feel confident knowing we have decades upon decades of combined experience. Our team knows Facebook and other social platform marketing, SEO, PPC and every other digital channel better than Link knows Zelda.
That means we’ve got the in-depth expertise to deliver nothing but the best results, time and again. So give us a call today on 1300 479 226 and find out how we ( best SEO company ) can help your business thrive.
Or if you’d prefer, send us an online enquiry and we’ll be in touch soon.
