5 reasons to delete your Facebook business page

Deleting your company Facebook page is a big step for any business, but here are five reasons why that is happening more and more.

For nearly a decade, Facebook has been considered the holy grail of social media marketing. After all, there’s no denying it has the advantage of scale with its near 2.5-billion-strong user base. Yet many companies have decided to leave the world’s biggest social platform in recent years, in what some facetiously describe as committing ‘Facebook suicide’. The trend is only growing, and here’s why it might be time for your brand to follow suit as well:

#1. Low engagement rates

One of the most common social media marketing mistakes is equating engagement rates to likes on Facebook and other platforms. Share any content on the platform, and chances are the number of likes it gets is nothing near the number of people you actually have clicking on the link. Even if it’s a sponsored ad, meaningful engagement rates are hard to quantify on a platform which has a vested interest in keeping visitors on its site and not yours.

Organic reach has suffered substantially in the past couple of years as sponsored advertising competes for space on newsfeeds. Recent algorithm changes have pressured businesses into investing in paid advertising, which itself often offers a poor return on investment. At the same time, fewer people are engaging with the brand pages they follow, and even fewer ever get around to visiting your website.

#2. Lack of control over data

Data is the world’s most valuable commodity, and user data, not the platform, is Facebook’s real product. It’s one the biggest advertising platforms on the planet and, as such, its terms of service are completely one-sided. Individuals and businesses have little to no control over the data they share, and anything that’s posted is effectively owned by Facebook. Also, Facebook, not you, determines the reach and visibility of your content.

In an economy where data is your most treasured asset, it’s more important than ever that you have control over it. Brands also need greater control over the content they post and who sees it. This isn’t helped by the fact that Facebook is a constantly evolving platform which is out for itself far more than it cares about its users. When a single algorithm update can cause the effectiveness of your campaigns to plummet, it’s easy to see who’s really in control.

#3. Concerns over privacy

You probably knew this one was coming, but it’s important enough to reiterate. Facebook has flat out declared war on people’s privacy in the knowledge that they have grown accustomed to oversharing on social media. Its privacy and security controls are becoming increasingly meaningless, and although Facebook has taken steps, superficially at least, to return a degree of control to it’s users, it has proven time and again to be too technically incompetent and unwilling to do so.

There’s ample reason for these privacy concerns. Not only does it blatantly lack transparency itself by, for example, making it notoriously difficult to delete your Facebook business page or your user account; it’s also attracted the ire of lawmakers around the world. Only recently did Facebook face the possibility of a multi-billion dollar fine for failing to meet the strict compliance regulations of GDPR. And that’s before we even get started with the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal a few years back.

#4. Poor return on investment

Facebook business pages still play a central role in social media marketing, but no one has full visibility into their returns on investment. While the nature of social media is inherently such that it’s difficult to qualify and quantify in terms of ROI, many businesses continue plugging ahead with their efforts despite seeing little or no tangible evidence of desired results. A  recent study even found that over three-quarters of small businesses weren’t seeing any positive ROI from their Facebook marketing efforts.

By now, most of us have heard plenty of advice on how to maximise Facebook ROI, such as increasing content quality, publishing more often, and spending more time per week using the platform. However, all these things take time and effort which is likely better spent elsewhere than on a time-sink like Facebook. This isn’t helped by the fact that Facebook is encouraging brands to invest large sums in paid advertising to see any kind of meaningful ROI.

#5. Limited monetisation options

One of the leading issues with ROI is the inability of Facebook pages or groups to be easily commercialised. There is no way to directly make money or sell content through a Facebook page. Other than links to stores, events or offers, Facebook pages are not designed for monetisation. This is a particular weakness for those with ebooks, online courses and those with premium content. 

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