Do Facebook and Instagram ads actually work for small business?
I get that question a lot.
You can check out the video version of this article over on our YouTube Channel here: https://youtu.be/fz9mGFxAbw4
Most people think that you have to be a behemoth, a big giant company with a massive advertising budget in order to be successful with Facebook ads.
While it is true, if you have a larger budget it is a little bit easier, because the bigger the budget you have, the more data you can start to collect, and the more data you can collect, it becomes easier to make decisions.
But I've also seen people who start small and make really good decisions and out-pace businesses that come in with a big budget. Small businesses tend to be more agile, they tend to have the ability to get things done and make decisions on the fly, and that can be extremely advantageous.
We have clients that range from very small solopreneur businesses to $200 million huge privately held companies, and I can tell you that even though the privately held company has a significantly bigger budget, it takes so much longer for them to get anything done, because of all the levels of bureaucracy within their company. They are having a ton of success running Facebook ads, but they could do even better if they had more of a small business mentality and they could pivot and make decisions quicker.
If you've ever followed the infamous Gary Vaynerchuk or Gary Vee, he talks about how the timing is NOW for you to really put all your money into places like Facebook and Instagram advertising, because there will be a time where big businesses are going to start putting their budgets into those platforms as well.
I have to say I don't disagree with him.
I think he's right because Facebook ads are still cheaper than any other ads that are out there. If you look at billboards, or newspaper or radio, the cost to reach 1000 people is significantly cheaper with Facebook and Instagram than any other platform that exists today.
It's going to be different for every business but it's something like 25 cents per thousand people on average.
You can't get that anywhere else.
While some other advertising platforms like radio and newspaper still work, you can't make the pivots and changes on the fly that you can with digital. So get in while the getting is good.
No matter the size, no matter the stage, our ‘Three Pillars' strategy works.
Get in there and take advantage of it while you have the opportunity before the big guys come into play.
Who knows when that's going to be?
I've been hearing Gary Vee say that for a couple of years now, and I still haven't seen a big shift to the big brands coming over in mass.
As the saying goes, ‘when is the best time to plant a tree, 50 years ago or today?'
When is the best time to start Facebook ads five years ago or today?
Just start doing it!