When we introduced our Facebook Opportunity Calculator, we were certain about two things:
- Facebook advertising is experiencing rapid growth, with the platform having more than doubled its advertiser base in the previous year and a half.
- The organic reach of Facebook posts is steadily declining. However, we were uncertain about the precise impact of running Facebook ads on business pages. To uncover the true correlation between organic Facebook marketing and paid Facebook advertising, we delved into the data generated by our calculator. The findings, to our astonishment, were remarkable. Our analysis revealed that Facebook business pages actively engaged in advertising, even with just a few campaigns, exhibited significantly enhanced engagement metrics compared to those neglecting paid social strategies.
Our research indicates that, on average, Facebook advertisers outperform non-advertising businesses by substantial margins:
- 77% increase in page fans
- 96% increase in page clicks
- 126% increase in page impressions
- 225% increase in post impressions
- 90% increase in fans reached
- 111% increase in friends of page fans reached Let’s explore these findings in greater detail.
Chart #1: Running Ads Boosts Facebook Page Fans By 77%
Facebook advertisers generally witness a substantial surge in page fans. Users implementing active ad campaigns observed an average 77% growth in their Facebook fan base, rising from 107 to 190.
While the term “fans” can refer to devices with rotating blades or devoted enthusiasts of sports teams, musicians, or other entities, our focus today lies on Facebook page fans.
Understanding Facebook Page Fans
Essentially, fans represent individuals who have liked and chosen to follow your Facebook page. By default, liking your page automatically equates to following it, making users eligible to see your posts based on various factors such as timing and their past engagement with your content. However, a highly valuable subset of your audience exists within this group, known as “See First Followers.”
See First Followers are those who have explicitly prioritized your content. These avid consumers of your content actively engage with your posts, both organic and boosted. They constitute the core of your audience, serving as present and future advocates for your brand. Recognizing the significance of the “See First” designation, Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes it over Edgerank, their feed management system. This prioritization ensures that your content takes precedence over posts from other businesses, including competitors, organizations, and even your followers’ friends. The desire for a large number of page fans is self-evident, and this is where advertising plays a crucial role.
Why should you be concerned?
Running even a limited number of ads can nearly double your organic reach! The surge in Facebook Page Fans gained through running paid ads can be likened to receiving a gift card after spending a significant amount at a restaurant during the holidays. The key difference is that this metaphorical gift card is interactive, has the potential to generate revenue, and can connect with other gift cards to expand your network. Furthermore, running Facebook ads and experiencing growth in your total page fans enhances the size and quality of your lookalike audiences. This means your ads reach a more qualified audience without increasing your ad spend. Convinced yet?
Chart #2: Running Ads Increases Facebook Page Clicks by 96%
Indeed, users employing active Facebook ad campaigns witnessed an average 96% surge in page clicks!
The connection between paid and organic efforts is clear: with more people landing on your page due to advertising (as highlighted in benefit number one), an increase in clicks naturally follows. While Page Clicks might not hold the same weight as conversions, they serve as a valuable indicator of engagement. While having a large following is beneficial, their value diminishes if they aren’t actively engaging with your content (organic or paid) beyond the initial follow. This engagement is crucial for maximizing your business outcomes. So, how do we gauge engagement? One approach is through the Page Clicks metric (refer to our post on Facebook Insights for guidance on identifying metrics).
What are Facebook Page Clicks?
Facebook Page Clicks encompass all clicks on your page’s content, excluding specific metrics like link clicks and video plays. Any “other action” a user takes on your page after interacting with your content, such as clicking on a person’s name, the like counter, or timestamps, counts as a page click.
Clicks offer businesses a general measure of engagement. Even if a post only prompts a page visitor to click elsewhere on your page without fulfilling its primary objective, it still signifies some level of interaction. Page Clicks provide a simple means of assessing post performance without delving into complex insights that might not be relevant to the average advertiser.
Why should this matter to you?
Because witnessing any form of activity triggered by your organic Facebook posts indicates an engaged audience. It’s easy to feel disheartened by low engagement metrics in obvious areas like video plays, leading to assumptions about underperforming or unnoticed content. Page Clicks offer an aggregate view of “other” actions taken by your fans, providing valuable insights into the types of content resonating most effectively with your audience. If, for instance, your image-based posts generate more Page Clicks compared to videos, it’s a clear signal to prioritize image-based content. Simple as that. You can further extrapolate and utilize Page Click data from organic Facebook posts to refine your ad creatives.
Chart #3: Running Ads Increases Facebook Page Impressions by 126%
Facebook users with active ad campaigns experience an average increase of 126% in page impressions.
While this figure alone is impressive, understanding how this 126% increase in impressions functions makes it even more remarkable. However, this is where things get a little tricky in terms of terminology.
Understanding Facebook Page Impressions
Although termed “page impressions,” it’s more accurate to consider them “content impressions.” This is because Page Impressions represent the cumulative impressions of all content linked to your page. To clarify, Per Facebook states, “Impressions refer to the number of times a post from your Page is displayed, with the possibility of people seeing multiple impressions of the same post. For instance, if someone sees a Page update in their News Feed and then encounters the same update when shared by a friend, it would count as two impressions.”
Page Impressions can be misleading as they don’t reflect the number of fans on your page but rather the frequency with which those individuals have encountered your content. So, why are they considered valuable? Because a higher number of page impressions signifies a) people are seeing your posts and b) they’re seeing them frequently. This repeated exposure fosters brand familiarity and perception of value.
Why should you care?
Higher-than-average page impressions could be attributed to several factors:
- Your content enjoys high shareability among your fans
- You have a large number of “See First Followers”
- You’re boosting your posts Having a relatively small fan base with a high volume of impressions suggests you fall into the second category: an active audience. This is a positive sign for both your organic and paid efforts, as active engagement with free content implies a higher likelihood of engaging with paid content. Conversely, a large audience with low page impressions could indicate that your content fails to resonate with your followers. In such cases, reevaluating and revamping your Facebook content strategy (both paid and organic) becomes crucial.
Chart #4: Running Ads Increases Facebook Post Impressions by 225%
Yes, you read that right. A staggering TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE PERCENT INCREASE.
Analyzing the averages from the graph above, it becomes evident that while the average user not running Facebook ads achieves around 922 post impressions, those with even a minimal paid presence on Facebook experience a surge in post impressions, exceeding 3,000. Tracking how many people see your Facebook content is paramount. This is particularly crucial for measuring paid campaign results, as understanding the reach of your investment is fundamental for optimization. The same principle applies to your organic Facebook posts: reach measurement is key. Without knowing how many people are seeing your organic posts, how they interact with them, and whether they derive value from them, posting becomes futile.
Demystifying Facebook Post Impressions
In simple terms, it represents the number of people who have viewed any of your Facebook page posts. Post Impressions serve as a valuable reach metric, providing insights into the number of individuals, fans or otherwise, exposed to your posts. For instance, if a user encounters your post as a news feed update and later sees it shared by a friend, it still counts as a single post impression (unlike page impressions, which would count it as two). It’s essential to note the use of “people” instead of “fans,” highlighting an important distinction (more on that shortly). While fan-centric data holds value, understanding how all users, including those unfamiliar with your business, engage with your content can offer valuable insights for optimizing future organic and paid content on Facebook.
Why should this matter to you?
Let’s be honest, a 225% increase in any metric (except cost) is universally appealing. As previously mentioned, Post Impressions are a reach metric, offering insights into the number of individuals, fans or not, engaging with your organic posts. While this data is beneficial for existing fans, the real value lies in those additional viewers. When non-fan users engage with your posts, your organic Facebook content effectively functions like the Google Display Network. You’re building brand awareness and providing value to potential prospects without incurring any cost. Essentially, gaining free recognition with your future customers is never a bad thing.
Chart #5: Running Ads Increases Unique Facebook Fans Reached by 90%
Having discussed overall reach and how advertising enhances the visibility of your organic Facebook posts, we’ll now focus on the specific subset of your audience reached organically—your existing page fans.
Simply advertising on Facebook can boost the reach of your organic posts among unique fans by 90%, even without boosting them after posting. What’s better than an engaged fan? A multitude of engaged fans acquired organically.
Understanding Unique Facebook Fans
Unique Facebook Fans are, quite simply, individual fans of your page who encounter a specific piece of your content. These are your loyal followers, the ones actively engaging with everything you post, from lighthearted cat memes to detailed product demonstrations. Take a look at the “Actual Free Audience” and “Maximum Free Audience” components in the image below:
As you can see, a significant gap exists between the two. According to Facebook, boosting posts is the sole solution to bridge this gap. But is it really?
Why should you care?
Our data clearly demonstrates that advertising on Facebook can bridge the gap between your actual and maximum free audience without requiring any expenditure on post boosting. *** Similar to how advertising across multiple platforms enhances performance, Facebook advertisers experience an uplift in organic performance compared to businesses that solely rely on organic strategies. If you actively maintain your business’s Facebook page but neglect advertising, you’re missing out on potential gains. Implementing even a single campaign can significantly improve key organic metrics by over 100%. Conversely, if you’re currently advertising on Facebook but neglecting organic posting beyond your paid efforts, you’re overlooking substantial brand-building opportunities. More importantly, you’re missing out on reaching new, qualified Facebook users to target with your ads.
Since Facebook prioritizes businesses that invest in their platform, even with minimal budgets, neglecting advertising could put you at a disadvantage.
A note on the data
Our findings stem from analyzing 6,439 unique Facebook pages, comprising a mix of advertisers and those with active pages but no discernible paid presence. The most crucial aspect of our methodology lies in how we defined an “advertiser.” We categorized any user with at least one active campaign within the past 90 days as an advertiser. Notably, a majority of the Facebook accounts classified as “advertisers” in our analysis had fewer than 5 active ad campaigns. This highlights the interconnected nature of organic and paid performance on Facebook. Even minimal advertising efforts can yield significant positive outcomes. You don’t need to be a highly successful advertiser to reap these benefits—simply running Facebook ads can substantially enhance your organic reach metrics. While the potential reach of paid advertising on Facebook vastly surpasses that of organic efforts, organic content still holds significant value. Ready to get started? Check out our new infographic: How to Advertise on Facebook in 10 Steps.