Relax internet, Facebook is not a fraud

The last few days a video with the title “Facebook is a fraud” has gone viral. The famous YouTube’er that goes by the name Veritasium takes us through why using ads on Facebook gives the same result that buying likes from click-bots. We disagree and think that Veritasium simply don’t know how Facebook ads and Facebook marketing works.

His main point is that he ends up with a bunch of likes from countries outside the US even though he targets Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and some other countries well-known for having like farms. The main problem in the video, is that he clearly doesn’t understand how Facebooks ads algorithms work. Facebook is built to give you the most results for your buck. Naturally it’s less competition for bidding on ads in Bangladesh than in the US – and, since you tell FB that you are interested in both countries, Facebook will prioritize where you get the best effect for as little money as possible.

That’s why you should never run a campaign in multiple countries, but have separate campaigns for each country. We should know, we rely most of our sales via Facebook Marketing – and we have sales offices in 8 countries, but have customers in 40.

So what are the 3 most important things to think about when you run ads on Facebook?

  1. Create multiple campaigns for different segments and countries. Always test multiple sets of ads (picture, text etc) – turn off the ones that don’t work.
  2. Remember that the “Boost now”-button is a quick fix to get you started. When things really gets going, make sure to utilize Facebooks free ads manager or Power editor – where you have absolute control.
  3. Different types of campaigns should be measured differently. Don’t just measure likes or conversions. There is a big difference between posts trying to get page likes, engagement and convert to sales

The targeting opportunities in Facebook ads is the future of advertising. One of the pioneers within marketing John Wanamaker once said “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” This is no longer true. With advertising on Facebook and Google – you know exactly what works and what doesn’t.

That brings us back to Veritasium. Facebook is not a fraud, you just need to know what you are talking about.

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