For many marketers, Facebook may appear to be where your target market is hanging out, both in their professional and personal lives. With 3.35 billion daily users across the Meta platform, it certainly seems like it would make sense to turn to Facebook advertising as the next step in your marketing strategy. For some, it does pay off, specifically, if the ads are executed effectively — through engaging copy, specific audience targeting, and a clear CTA — in which case they can be lucrative.
That said, marketers should beware the often inevitable plateau in return on investment (ROI) — and eventual diminishing returns — on this strategy. If you do give it a go, be prepared to bolster your marketing efforts with alternative strategies when you’ve exhausted Facebook ads.
Even better, proactively prepare to do so from the beginning.
4 Reasons Why You Would Drive Performance With FB Ads
With a variety of advertising options available, it can be hard to know what to look for when deciding if Facebook ads are a good fit for your business. Here are some key things to consider when planning your advertising.
1. Customer Engagement
If you have a well-established relationship with your customer base, Facebook ads can be a beneficial way to maintain brand awareness and audience engagement. This works well if you have high brand recognition, or timely campaigns that are likely (based on previous data analysis) to capture and engage with your audience now. For example, some businesses are using their Facebook pages in similar ways to their website, while B2B advertisers can reach potential customers where they are — hanging out on Facebook, watching their business’ growth.
2. Utilizing Targeted Sales Promotions
Facebook continues to be a great way to utilize targeted sales promotions or limited time offers, according to Rima Mattok, Demand Generation Director at Taboola. “Facebook still has extensive targeting solutions, so you can use Facebook ads to create an engaged audience and get people interested,” she adds.
3. Driving Traffic Through Google
Facebook ads can be beneficial if your goal is to drive traffic to your website via Google, as they can help increase your brand visibility or even influence search queries. For some businesses, using Facebook ads to encourage the audience to search for product or service reviews on Google can provide a stepping stone to establishing a relationship with potential customers, and indirectly boost organic or paid search traffic.
4. Knowing Your Audience — And Reaching Them
Facebook can be helpful if you already have a warm audience and are looking to continue that connection with them, advises Mattok. Remarketing to this audience via Facebook ads can be useful, especially if they’ve previously interacted with your brand. Remember, a wide variety of users continue to head to Facebook almost as they would Google, looking for things like restaurant recommendations, the best florists etc. Millions of opinions live there, even if some younger generations don’t see it as their first stop.
When Facebook Ads Won’t Help You
It might be easy to assume that if you’ve successfully used Facebook ads in the past, you can continue to use them with the same level of success. Mattok warns that this might not always be the case, though, so it’s important to recognize the signs that it might be time to try something new. “When you know, you know,” she says. She recommends you watch for these key factors:
Inappropriate Budgets
You might be tempted to assume that the ability to advertise for $5 a day with Facebook ads means you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck, but Mattok warns against that. “If you’re a new business with a limited budget and you need to grow fast, Facebook should not be your first go-to,” she says. “Also, because of privacy changes, it’s harder to target the right people. This means businesses need to have some budget span for the algorithm to stabilize and get you the right audience — if you need quick sales, other platforms might be better.”
Recent updates, including the iOS 14.5, have also impacted marketers’ ability to see the long-term impact of their ads on conversion. Prior to the iOS 14.5 update, user behavior could be tracked for up to 28 days — since the update, that has been shortened to seven days, which means marketers are often left with a more difficult task of determining if sales can truly be attributed to specific targeted ads.
Ad Frequency and Audience Fatigue
If the same people are seeing your ads all the time, you might want to consider changing your advertising plan, advises Mattok. The reasons should be obvious — even anecdotally, no one appreciates being fed the same ad over and over, and in some cases it may actively give a potential customer a negative impression of your brand. To combat this, look for tools that help you to target high-intent audiences with impactful and diverse creative, using high visibility placements on other sites.
Rising CPA, Decreased ROAS
While Facebook might offer targeting opportunities, if you see a rise in the cost per acquisition (CPA) and a decrease in your return on ad spend (ROAS), it’s a clear sign that Facebook ads aren’t an efficient use of your advertising dollars. The rise in the CPA could indicate that you’re just reaching the same people repeatedly, whereas the decrease in ROAS suggests additional competition or poor targeting of your specific audience.
Scalability and Creative Fatigue
If you find yourself facing diminishing returns, it might be time to reevaluate your Facebook ad spending. Top reasons for this might include ad saturation, increased competition, or poor engagement due to fatigue — both from the audience, who is sick of seeing the same ads, and of the marketers themselves, who are exhausted from having to churn out so much new creative. The lack of growth may also be due to inefficient targeting, failing to capture the desired audience.
Your Target Audience Being Too Young
You won’t catch most Gen Zers on Facebook. In fact, only 13% visit weekly, versus 34% of them using Snapchat weekly and 33% watching TikTok. Determine if your target audience has a significant number of potential customers who were born in 1997 or after. If so, Facebook might not be the best use of your budget. However, if your target demographic includes millennials and generations older than that, close to a third of baby boomers and millennials use Facebook weekly, and around a quarter of Gen Xers.
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Key Takeaways
As you evaluate the use of Facebook ads and their efficiency in your business, Mattok reminds businesses that digital marketing is constantly changing, and as marketers, it’s important to think bigger than traditional marketing strategies.
“Meta’s AI solutions, while promising, are still developing, and their effectiveness is inconsistent,” she says. “The trend towards in-platform e-commerce is significant, but it amplifies competition with established players. Marketers must embrace a holistic, performance-driven approach that goes beyond traditional search and social strategies. This means exploring new channels, constant testing, and evaluating. The need for a diversified media mix is crucial for sustainable growth.”
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is $5 a day enough for Facebook ads?
Some marketers point to Facebook’s very low start-up costs, such as $5 per day. But Mattok says that, unfortunately, $5 a day probably isn’t going to get you much return if you’re a new business. “In 2025, Facebook’s low costs are no more than an urban legend,” she says. “Back in 2020, you could benefit from low costs and reach a huge audience. Nowadays, with the privacy change and the rising CPMs, Facebook has become expensive for everyone — especially for the smaller businesses. For mature businesses, Facebook is still a good channel for building an audience, but if you’re a small business looking for fast growth and results, $5 a day on Facebook will get you nowhere.”
Is $100 enough for Facebook ads?
$100 might be enough for Facebook ads, but your current relationship with the audience and the saturation of the market will determine the overall success. If you are a small business, giving a targeted campaign a test run, or having another specific and niche situation, it might be worthwhile within this budget.
What are the alternatives to Facebook ads?
If a Facebook ad ROI plateau is leaving you discouraged, it could be time to look to alternatives. Luckily, there are plenty. Mattok says there are a number of alternatives to Facebook ads that might be more beneficial for businesses, depending on the maturity of the business and budget. She says these can include:
- TikTok: “Good for businesses looking for a younger audience, or businesses highly relying on influencer activity, which TikTok blends more naturally with, and even for top-of-funnel stage for the more mature businesses.”
- Amazon ads and Shopify: For both small and large-scale sales-oriented businesses.
- LinkedIn: For thought leadership and B2B advertising.
- Realize: “Gets you results from places that aren’t search or social. This will complete the trifecta of your media mix.”
