Why Facebook Fails Small Businesses, Part 1: The Hidden Pitfalls of the World’s Largest Social Network

Let’s talk about the big F word: Facebook. It’s usually the first platform that comes to mind when small businesses think about their online presence. And with its billions of users and those alluring, seemingly low-cost advertising solutions, it’s no wonder so many local businesses dive headfirst into Facebook.

But here’s the thing: Facebook isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. A lot of its reputation is resting on its laurels—it used to be cheap to run ads, way less political, way less crowded, and a lot more effective in the time before gurus and influencers swarmed it. Facebook is like the gold rush, and all that’s left now is nothing but fool’s gold.

In part 1 of this post, I’m going to walk you through why Facebook might not be the best fit for your small business, clear up some common misconceptions, and leave you with a free tool to help manage your social presence while you wait for part 2.

The Allure of Facebook for Small Businesses

Facebook is still the biggest social platform worldwide, and if MySpace pioneered social networking, Facebook industrialized it. With 3 billion users, it’s easy to see why so many small businesses are drawn to The Social Network: the sheer size of it feels like your target customers are only a click away. And sure, in many ways, they are.

Plus, Facebook makes advertising seem straightforward. They’ve got tools that make ad creation look simple, even if you’re not a marketing whiz. The cost is a bit cheaper compared to traditional advertising options, and those likes, shares, and comments can give you a tingling, excited feeling that your business is really reaching your target audience. It seems like new customers are about to start pouring into your front door.

But then…they don’t. Or worse, you keep posting to your Facebook everyday and only get 1 like per post. Usually from your mom.

Inevitably, we all come to the same sobering, morning-after realization: likes are not dollars in your pocket. Worse, likes will cost you dollars.

Common Pitfalls and Misconceptions About Facebook

For all its appeal, Facebook has some initially unseen issues that small businesses often stumble into. Let’s get into it:

Lack of Organic Reach

Facebook’s algorithm is one bratty gatekeeper: it only shows your posts to a tiny slice of your followers. Read that again. I didn’t say a tiny slice of all users. I said a tiny slice of your own page followers. That is, of course, unless you’re willing to pay to boost your posts.

It didn’t use to be this way, until Facebook decided they were done giving the milk away for free. So even if you spend hours crafting the perfect post, you could end up watching it float into the void with barely any engagement.

Misleading Ad Targeting

Facebook wants you to believe it’s going to find you exactly the right audience for your ads. But guess what? It won’t. We’ve run a lot of ads for all different industries, and the only conclusion we’ve come to is that the only thing Facebook is good at is wasting your money. I’ll end up repeating myself a few times here, but I want to reiterate that there was a time when Facebook ads were better—when they were doing a ton of questionable stuff with your privacy and selling your data.

So yes, while more privacy is great, it also means your ads got more expensive and less effective. In fact, Facebook’s algorithm is likely to push your ads to people who are “high engagers,” meaning they’re the type of people who, for whatever reason, hit like on just about anything that comes up on their feed. They are not the people who are more likely to buy your product or service, no matter what Facebook makes you believe.

The Hidden Costs of “Free” Marketing

Running a Facebook page might seem like a no-cost endeavor, but when you factor in the time and effort required to do it well, the costs start to add up. Crafting engaging content, responding to messages, and managing your page can quickly turn into a full-time job. And that’s just one social network. That doesn’t count your Twitter, Instagram, Nextdoor, Google Business Profile, Yelp, and so on.

In fact, it’s so much work that it’s created an entirely new industry. Ten years ago, the job title “social media manager” did not exist. Now, it’s just another employee you have to hire to keep your business running. (Or you could hire a marketing agency—which costs you far less than an employee! Wink wink; shameless plug).

Misleading Engagement Metrics

We all love seeing those likes and shares roll in—if they roll in—but they often don’t translate into direct sales or business growth. It’s easy to get caught up in vanity metrics, focusing on social engagement rather than what actually matters: your bottom line. Remember, social media metrics are just one piece of a much bigger marketing puzzle.

Now, there is something to be said about optics. It looks good to have an active social profile to your customers, business listing sites, and even investors. But that also means you may need to shift your perspective on what purpose your social media serves.

Optics are important in business (no one wants to eat in a dirty restaurant, right?), but you may not need to spend as much time and emotional energy on something that only serves to make you look good rather than make you money.

Young People Are Barely Using Facebook

At its peak in 2014, 71% of teens aged 13-17 used Facebook. Now, a decade later, only 32% of U.S. teens are on Facebook. And that number keeps going down.

Why should you care? It doesn’t matter to you whether 20-year-olds are using Facebook, right?

But…you’re planning on being in business for a long time. So, what happens in 10 years when you’re still in business, and your Facebook-only marketing strategy isn’t reaching those users who are now 30 years old and your exact target demographic?

The social media tides are always changing. What’s in now won’t be tomorrow. (R.I.P. Myspace, Vine, Friendster, Google+…) So keep swimming, and don’t get stuck in the undertow of just one major platform.

Users May See You as a Friend and Not a Professional

Facebook is a social network. When you join it, you add friends. You follow friends. You message your friends. Am I laying it on thick enough? Am I overstating the obvious?

Then why are you surprised when people treat you like a friend and not a business owner? And we’re not talking about good friends. We’re talking about friends who borrow money from you with no intent to pay you back. Friends who are supposed to water your plants when you’re out of town but let them die. Friends who want to use your truck when they move but are never available when you need to get a couch upstairs.

We’ve heard many personal complaints from fellow small business owners who experience this problem. And I believe part of it is because the same reason we love local businesses is the same reason people feel they can take advantage of them: people see you as their neighbor.

They don’t see you as some impressive, all-powerful CEO. And while there are plenty of great, kind, sweet customers who are more like your good friends, you can also attract the kind of people who are really bad friends: they book your services and cancel last minute, give you a bad review for something totally out of your control, or complete strangers who expect you to pay them in exchange for a word-of-mouth referral. (What is this, an MLM?)

Of course, corporations deal with this too. But it’s less personal. As small business owners, we feel like we have less power to deal with difficult people—and we have so much more to lose.

The thing is, Facebook and its cousin, Instagram, are far more poised to attract people who think they can treat you like a bad friend than people who are searching for your business online and perusing your offerings through your website. That is, of course, as long as your website looks professional.

(Tired of attracting non-serious customers? That’s where great branding comes in. But we’ll cover that in a future article. In the meantime, take a look at our post explaining what makes your website so important: Does a Small Business Still Need a Website in 2024?)

Just Because You Post, Doesn’t Mean It Works

Here’s a tough pill to swallow: simply posting on Facebook (or any platform, really) isn’t going to grow your business. Yes, it’s frustrating. Especially because that Kevin Costner movie told us if you build it they will come! And boy are you building it: you’re putting in the time, you’re getting your posts out there, but the results just aren’t coming.

There’s a reason for that: creating truly, legitimately engaging content is hard. Really hard. It isn’t enough just to show up. Maybe, going back to my gold rush metaphor, showing up was enough in the early aughts of social media. But now, it’s a whole crowded mess and you’re bumping elbows with every other gold digger looking to scoop up their share of the American Dream.

Even worse, big corporations have moved in with industrial equipment made to move mountains of gold. They have entire departments dedicated to content creation, and they’re throwing millions at it. And guess what? Even they don’t always get it right. So, if you’re a small business owner, trying to go at it all on your lonesome, it’s going to be really tough to show off your sparkling golden offerings when there’s so much competition.

To be fair, some businesses do manage to hit their stride, finding that sweet spot where their content just clicks with their local audience and the algorithmic gods smile upon them. For most of us, though, it’s a real struggle. And that’s because marketing is more of an art than a science—I don’t care what the number nerds tell you!

Just kidding, but not totally; marketing is not about ticking boxes or following a formula. If it were, then business would be easy. We would all be super successful and taking Scrooge McDuck high dives in our millions.

No, marketing is all about understanding your audience on a deep, psychological, almost Freudian level: you’ve got to speak your customers’ language and create content for them that not only grabs their attention but also holds onto it like the jaws of life. Or like McDuck holding onto his money.

After all, it’s easy to forget when you’re in business-mode that “users” are real people. When you’re a local business, they’re your neighbors. And it’s hard to figure out how real people will respond positively to a business post that’s stuck in between cute pictures of their kids’ baseball games and enraging political commentary. (Emotion is a high driver of engagement, folks. For better and for worse.)

The truth is, crafting content that drives real engagement takes a combination of creativity, strategy, and a bit of luck (maybe a lot of luck in 2024). That’s why it’s worth considering whether the time and effort you’re pouring into posting on Facebook could be better spent elsewhere. Maybe on platforms where you can connect more meaningfully with your audience, or maybe by focusing on other aspects of your marketing strategy that play to your strengths. Hey, ads still work—but we’ll cover that money-hungry monster in another post. (Feed me, Seymour!)

Part 1 Conclusion

This post is getting a lot longer than I expected, so I’m going to have to split it here and return next week with part 2. And I know, I’m dumping a lot on you about why Facebook, frankly, stinks for small businesses. So I’ll turn the conversation over to you.

What are your experiences with Facebook as a business owner? Has it worked for you? Wasted your time? Did you set it up and forget about it, never to log in again? Or is your business booming from Facebook referrals? Let me know in the comments, and we’ll continue this conversation in my next post.

A Handy Social Media Management Tool

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with something useful. There aren’t a ton of free social media management apps out there anymore (Hootsuite no longer has a free plan at all), but there is one: Zoho Social still offers a free account, with management of up to 7 social channels, which is plenty for a small local business. (I don’t earn commission for this, just passing on a free tool for fellow business owners).

Check it out here: Zoho Social Media Management Software

I’ll warn you now, the free version is extremely basic. But you can post to all your mainstream social media channels from it and see some basic engagement numbers. That alone is a pretty good time saver, especially if you’re just wanting somewhere to post from one place. Their paid plan also isn’t too bad compared to a lot of other companies, with the lowest tier starting at $10/month for more advanced features and functionality.