I've blogged here before about experimenting with Facebook ads, also known as "boosted" or promoted posts, where you pay a little bit of money to ensure your Facebook posts are seen by more of your followers and their friends.
Recently I've been reading about more and more small businesses who have grown aggravated with Facebook's "pay to be seen" strategy, and I've joined those ranks.
I understand Facebook's desire to make money, but their constant tweaking to the feed algorithm, coupled with the newfound inability to get a post seen by more than a small portion of people who have already chosen to like and follow your business page, has made me grown tired and weary of using Facebook as a way to promote my business.
Another troubling problem is Facebook's system for approving ads. I sell stationery and greeting cards. Many of my cards have a text-based greeting on the front. Yet every now and then when I "boost" a post, the ad immediately gets rejected. Why? Per Facebook's terms, "Ads that show in the Feed are not allowed to include more than 20% text." I end up having to fill out forms and go back and forth with Facebook staff to explain that the text is part of my product, not promotional text, and request that the ad be re-approved. There seems to be no way to get around this issue.
Below is an example of the most recent of my ad that was rejected for this reason.
Ross of Fifty Five Hi's, a buddy of mine in the industry from Tradeshow Bootcamp, shared this video that does a great job explaining the flaw in Facebook's system.
As I plan marketing strategies for Valentine's Day and upcoming promotions, it's hard to figure out how I want to incorporate Facebook into this strategy. Part of me is considering leaning more heavily on Pinterest and Instagram to share what's going on, but it is hard to ignore my Facebook fanbase.
What do you think? Have you struggled with getting your posts seen on Facebook?
