Here’s what you’re missing if you’re not on Facebook
+practicing self-care and the cultural moments | news that caught our attention this week
quick summary ⚡️
You might be missing your audience if you’re not on Facebook
LinkedIn is the next platform the White House has set their sites on, Cristiano Ronaldo is dominating YouTube and more in the cultural moments and news that caught our attention this week
Inspo heading into a long weekend
the case for including Facebook in your digital strategy
is a writer, producer and contributor to the M.T. Deco Blog
We know what you’re thinking: Facebook isn’t the cool place to be.
When Facebook started 20 years ago, it was a must-have for college students. But a couple years in, Facebook stopped requiring a college email address to sign up, and over time, people of all ages started joining.
Simultaneously, politics seemed to get more divisive. Facebook fell out of favor when, suddenly, your older relatives, who resided on the opposite end of your political spectrum, had a bigger platform than the family dinner table.
[Apologies if this is hitting too close to home, Millennials.]
What happened to Facebook makes it easy to understand why brands and individuals might want to steer clear of the platform. There are very real and valid concerns about what your content might be shown alongside, not to mention that the comments section can be tricky. While these concerns apply to all platforms, Facebook is one of the largest, so there’s a higher likelihood of things going wrong.
That said, there’s something to the audience there. When Facebook reached its 20th birthday earlier this year, the Pew Research Center shared 5 facts about how Americans are using the platform. There are a lot of good nuggets in there, but this one stands out: “Around seven-in-ten U.S. adults (68%) say they use Facebook, a share that has remained relatively flat since 2016, according to a survey conducted between May and September 2023.”
Yes, that share is flat, but that’s still a huge number of people. The only platform used more is YouTube - and it requires a lot more production than Facebook.
Meta is working hard to bring a bigger share of younger generations to Facebook, especially in the last few months. Here’s how they put it themselves recently:
“Facebook is still for everyone, but in order to build for the next generation of social media consumers, we’ve made significant changes with young adults in mind,” Tom Alison, head of the platform, shared in a post titled “The Future of Facebook.” “And with five quarters of healthy growth in young adult app usage in the US and Canada, over 40 million US/CA young adults are daily active users, and this number is the highest in three years.”
Their plan is to cater to where these people are in life, and building or improving services they will most need. For example, for young adults leaving college and renting their first apartment, Facebook Marketplace could be an essential tool.
Like just about everyone else who works in marketing, Facebook is also focusing on creators. Here’s some of Marketing Brew’s reporting on that strategy:
“One way Facebook is looking to get over that hurdle is by enticing creators and tastemakers to the platform in the hopes that their audiences will follow. That enticement has largely come in the form of cold, hard cash, offering them the ability to monetize all kinds of posts, including long-form videos, Reels, photos, and text.”
Key words: “cold, hard cash.” If people can make money on Facebook, why wouldn’t they be there? This Business Insider story from last year called the platform “an overlooked cash cow” for creators.
This is great news for most brands, too. [Unless you operate in the news space…we don’t need to tell you that referral traffic from Facebook has dropped dramatically.] If, for example, your target audience is American women between 30-49, you can engage creators and create content tailored to them directly.
If you’re on board [or getting there], we’ve got a few thought starters to help you brainstorm how you might want to show up on Facebook:
Cross-post content from other platforms: We always recommend creating content specifically for each platform, but we understand that not everyone has the time, staff, or budget for that. If you’re already creating content for other platforms, consider sharing it on Facebook and see how the audience responds.
Create a private community: Privacy is becoming more popular - just look at Discord! Creators have been using private groups for years, and brands are following suit, especially on Facebook. It’s a great way to hear directly from followers and consumers, often turning them into bigger fans. A lot of people are there, too: a Meta spokesperson told Modern Retail that the majority of Facebook users join 15 or more groups.
Use it as a customer service tool: Actively engaging with the people who follow you or use your product is essential these days. According to Sprout, 70% of consumers expect personalized responses to their customer service needs. If you’re not quite ready to dive into content creation, consider making your Facebook page a dedicated customer service tool - just make that clear to your followers.
💎cultural gems💎
The cultural moments and news that caught our attention this week:
DIGITAL NEWS CONSUMPTION HAS GOTTEN HARDER TO MEASURE, axios
“The internet was supposed to unleash a new level of transparency around news consumption. But it's more muddled than ever.”
LINKEDIN IS THE LATEST PLATFORM THE WHITE HOUSE IS USING, marketing brew
The White House tells Morning Brew it wants to tap into the “highly engaged and passionate audience” on LinkedIn to talk about things like entrepreneurship, small business success, and the evolving digital landscape.
CRISTIANO RONALDO IS A YOUTUBE STAR AFTER JUST ONE DAY OF POSTING VIDEOS, nbc news
In just a week, Cristiano has grown his YouTube audience to over 50 MILLION subscribers. Those aren’t Mr. Beast numbers but…he might get there soon!
THE SURPRISINGLY SUBDUED RESURRECTION OF AMBERCROMBIE & FITCH, vox
When did everyone start shopping at Ambercrombie again? Vox takes us for a walk down memory lane to see how the brand pulled off multiple comebacks, including its most recent. We’ll give you one guess how they did it. [Yes, content creators.]
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