You may have noticed that the posts on your Facebook page are receiving fewer and fewer likes, comments and shares as time goes on. Your reach is declining and it’s not necessarily because your content isn’t interesting (is it?). It’s because your posts simply aren’t getting into your fans’ newsfeeds, and here’s why: Facebook is raising the stakes in their game with marketers and requiring you to pay to play – or pay for advertisements in order to get into your fans’ newsfeeds.

When we first learned that Facebook was purposefully causing business pages’ organic reach to decline, we were frustrated to say the least. We’ve been cheerleaders for organic reach for years now, finding great success in patiently growing our clients’ Facebook fanbases through strategic content designed to foster engagement. But it seems The Zuck is changing the rules of the game, so with it we had to adapt. But should you adapt your marketing budget & strategy to make more room for Facebook advertisements? Consider whether or not Facebook advertising is right for you with these questions:

1. Is Facebook a top social media referral source for you each month?

Take a look at your website traffic sources and determine if Facebook is sending you a significant amount of traffic on a monthly basis. If you’re like most of our fresh produce clients, Facebook is almost always the number one social media referral in terms of direct brand engagement from consumers. And if Facebook sends you that much traffic, that’s an opportunity of growth via advertising just waiting to be seized.

2. Do you know exactly who you want to reach with your messages?

If you have worked to develop a target audience profile or buyer persona, then you already have an idea of who your audience is. Facebook ads allow you to better reach specific audiences through features like geo-targeting, interest targeting, demographic profiling, etc. You can get as granular as to target your Facebook ads to an audience who likes another company’s page on Facebook. With Facebook ads, the better you narrow your audience the more likely you are to gain qualified fans that are interested in engaging with you regularly.

3. Have you outlined promotion goals?

Before you advertise, it is important to have a purpose or goals defined for your ads so that you can get the most bang for your buck. Facebook will even guide you through these steps by asking you what your purpose for advertising is: increasing likes? Driving traffic to a landing page? Pushing engagement with a specific post? Once you know what you’d like to accomplish, you will be able to tailor your ad to achieve your monthly goals.

4. Do you have an advertising budget available?

When social media first began making ripples in the marketing world, many were under the false impression that it spelled out free publicity. And sometimes it can, but the truth is that in order to maximize social media for your company well, you will need to put some type of cash behind it. BUT – even a small budget can make a huge difference if you want to pay to play. We recommend you work to pay Facebook $0.50 per click or less to use your advertising budget effectively.

5. Are you producing quality content on an ongoing basis that you want to reach your target audience?

If you’re producing really great content or have a significant story to share on an ongoing basis, just putting it out there and hoping to be seen may not be enough, especially with Facebook slowing down your organic reach. Your company or brand deserves to have the opportunity to reach the audiences interested in hearing your story and consuming your helpful content on a regular basis. Facebook advertising DOES work when you put the right fuel behind it, so if you have something you really think deserves to be shared, consider using Facebook ads to increase your reach.

Unfortunately, nothing in the world is free, even Facebook! But if you found yourself answering yes to any of the five questions above, you may need to consider outlining a regular Facebook advertising plan you can follow every month to keep your company’s page growth on point.

Need to talk through your Facebook strategy dilemmas with a marketing mind? Sign up for a free social media marketing consultation and we can help talk you through next steps to grow your social media presence.