Facebook has been around now for 15 years. Throughout those years, it has managed to retain its ranking as one of the most popular social media platforms and continues to boast the most daily visitors of any other social media platform. Studies have shown that Facebook is accessed on average 8 times a day. This is more than Instagram (6), Twitter (5), and Facebook Messenger (3). On top of that, most Facebook users are incredibly loyal — averaging 35 minutes per day on the platform.

One of the biggest reasons why Facebook has been so popular among brands is due to its enormous audience (over two billion active users!). If your business is wanting to advertise to a certain audience, it’s safe to say that audience is present on Facebook.

However, recent data breaches and scandals have caused Facebook to receive some side-eye lately. To put it mildly, the social media king has had a lot of ups and downs lately. How does this affect your marketing goals? Are people still using Facebook? Should you invest your money there?

Here’s what you need to know for dominating Facebook in today's world.

1. An advertising budget is necessary for success on Facebook. Over the past few years, Facebook has become an almost exclusively pay-to-play arena. Today, only 6% of organic posts will reach a target audience. This percentage is sometimes as low as 1 or 2%. Fortunately, advertising on Facebook doesn't have to break the bank; a small amount of money can go a long way. Most importantly, it can drastically improve your ROI on the platform. 

2. Match your business goals to your Facebook strategy. The days of posting randomly on Facebook are over. Not only is a Facebook strategy recommended, but it should be matched to your business goals for the best results. Luckily, Facebook offers several options for meeting your business goals. For example, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, a Facebook page likes campaign can grow your followers and boosted posts can promote more engagement with your brand. If your goal is to increase ecommerce sales, a Facebook conversion campaign can send traffic directly to your online store. Due to the amount of customization and targeting available on Facebook, it is a very helpful tool for advertising no matter what your goals.

3. Don't ignore insights. Learn how to read this data to your advantage. It will help you understand your target audience, learn the best times to post, and discover which ads perform the best.

4. Invest in video content. Videos generate 59% more engagement than any other content on Facebook. Data reported in January of 2018 suggests that there is a 600 percent increase in Facebook interactions when a video is posted. Here are some video topic ideas for your business. As popular as video is on Facebook, a particularly interesting stat is that 85% of social media videos are actually watched with the sound off! This means your videos should be created in a way to convey a message without sound, whether through the use of subtitles (a feature that Facebook provides) or graphics and editing.

5. Hire a social media marketing agency.  A social media company can help manage your Facebook presence and advertising. If the growth of social media has taught us anything over the past years, it is that this is no past-time. Keeping up with social media’s ever-changing policies and new features is a full-time job. More importantly, accurately representing your business and effectively running advertising campaigns on Facebook is a full-time commitment. If you can’t seem to find the time to dedicate to your Facebook goals, consider hiring a social media marketing agency to help. In addition to improving the quality of your Facebook advertising, an agency can also save you time and money by replying to comments and messages, curating social media posts, setting up Facebook ad campaigns, and posting content at optimal times.

Still wondering if your business should continue to invest in Facebook? Ask yourself these questions:

• Is your target audience on Facebook?
• Do you have the time and resources to manage Facebook?
• Are you able to allocate a marketing budget to Facebook advertising?

Depending on your answers to these questions, it may be time to hire a social media company to assist you with your Facebook efforts or consider investing in other platforms.