Aug. 1, 2014—The era of free Facebook marketing is slowly coming to an end, according to research by automotive industry marketing agency Summit eMarketing Sherpas.
First launched in 2007, Facebook pages for businesses has seen a decline in the number of followers who see the posts their favorite companies share, or the post’s organic reach.
Today, organic reach for Facebook posts is less than 10 percent, according to a Summit press release, meaning that 90 percent of a company’s followers are not always seeing each post.
While organic reach continues to decline, Summit argues that Facebook can still be a valuable marketing tool and investment for automotive industry companies. Facebook has offered companies an option to purchase sponsored advertisements or create boosted posts. The advertisements and boosted posts allow the social media site to make money while its company users reach more of its audience.
Though organic reach on Facebook was once free, when compared to other advertising options, like television or radio, the social media site is still more affordable, targeted and typically delivers a better return on investment, Summit said in the release. In all, companies should be able to get a return on investment from paid posts on social media for about $30 a month, the marketing company estimated.
Summit not only encourages shops to use paid posts on Facebook, but also to use other social media sites like Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest.