Using Facebook definitely has its benefits for businesses, with many prioritising the platform for their paid advertising campaigns because of their successful results. And since Facebook owns Instagram, it’s easier to establish a presence on both platforms, as they work well together with many of the same features – linking your accounts and messages, comparing insights, creating adverts across both channels, etc.

Also Facebook has an estimated 2.9 billion users which certainly isn’t a figure to glance past when thinking about your marketing strategies! But I always stress to my clients to be mindful of not joining every social media platform just for the sake of it. 

Consider – what type of content would you actually post? Do you have the necessary skills and time to understand and utilise the platform effectively?

To help in your decision making processes, here are some pros and cons of having a company Facebook page:

PROS to having a Facebook business page

• Brand awareness – Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms in the world. 
• Targeted advertising – as mentioned before, lots of businesses are now prioritising Facebook for their social media paid advertising because of their successful results. Particularly beneficial for e-commerce based businesses.
• Highly-tailorable, targeted advertising settings.
• It has a strong user-base for a slightly older demographic (ideal for targeting those 30+, Gen X and Boomers).
• The company page settings are tailored for businesses – you can add your opening times, website link, service options, reviews and much more.
• Customer service live chat communication option.
• Options to monitor and improve your Facebook page’s insights on a daily basis.
• Ability to join groups on Facebook.

CONS to having a Facebook business page

• It’s much more difficult to reach people with only organic content compared to other platforms, due to the high volume of content created on the platform combined with Facebook encouraging businesses to spend money on boosted posts and advertisements.
• Not so well suited for targeting younger generations (specifically those under 30, potentially Instagram and TikTok could be better platforms for this).
• Some research suggests people are more likely to view content on Facebook as fake or misleading (if your brand chooses to be on Facebook, it’s important to work extra hard to ensure your audience know you’re authentic).
• If you want to run paid advertising you’ll need to set aside a budget and do some trial and error in the beginning with testing out different ads.
• Time and resources – if you don’t have the time and resources to create content tailored to this platform, it’s probably better for you to not be on it.

So should you have a Facebook business page?

Take a look at the pros and cons above, and compare them related to your business. Does your business have the time, resources and man-power to INVEST in this platform with the aim of getting a healthy ROI? Don’t forget that with everything, there will be some experimenting in the beginning to find the right strategy for you. But if you have the capacity to take this on, it can still be a strong tool for your business.

Also think about both your big competitors as well as your audience. Where are they hanging out?