Are Ad Costs Increasing on Facebook?
More competition means higher costs.
The Short Answer:
Yes they are. Competition is increasing on what little attention we can spare on our small screens, and this drives ad costs up.
So what can you do about it?
Unfortunately, not much. If your business’ rent goes up, what can you do? You either find another place or you increase your prices. The situation is the same.
Where else can I go?
Let’s explore the first option of going somewhere else. There’s a big number of them: Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, YouTube… but the question then becomes: do they give you the same results and can you reach your potential customers there? Probably not all of them.
We’re seeing an influx of ads moving to Instagram now because the medium is cheaper. It’s cheaper because we’re spending more and more time there (Story binging!?) and not as many businesses are using them yet (So eventually, these too will increase). Consequently, it is definitely one way to go at it; direct your spend to Instagram, benefit from the cheaper prices and reach more people. One small hiccup to keep in mind, Instagram is a visual platform. People aren’t easily sold on things there and we’re still limited with how the ad technology works there.
If you’re looking for website traffic or general visibility, then this channel is great. If you’re looking to increase your follower base and drive engagement, then sadly the ads won’t be of much help there yet.
The Takeaway: Quality over Quantity
It’s the way of life. Prices increase. Deal with it. It’s not a big deal and the costs are not unbearable. Comparing to Europe or the US, we’re doing quite fine. We still talk cents when they talk dollars. What you should really do is, as always, focus on content!
1) Don’t over post for the sake of frequency & number of posts; reduce your posting, increase quality and maintain your ad budgets.
You don’t need to publish daily posts and pay a lot for them to be seen. Work on a couple of AMAZING posts and use your ad spend to make sure they’re seen.
2) Focus on your true audience, don’t throw a big net and waste your money. Try to zero-in on your potential customers and use advanced tracking like Facebook’s Pixel or Lookalike Audience. This might cause a higher cost per result but it’s higher quality results.
Still not sure what to do? We’re here, talk to us.