Why Small Businesses are Using Facebook Ads More Than Ever

Despite civil rights groups urging marketers and advertisers to boycott Facebook’s lack-luster response (or lack thereof) to policies concerning hate speech, business at Facebook is booming. Specifically, an increased number of small-and-medium-sized businesses have continued using the platform to run ads promoting their wares and services. 

But first, let’s back things up a bit. If you’re not already aware, here’s a quick breakdown of why civil rights groups are calling for Facebook to overhaul their hate-speech policies. 

• At the height of the resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests in late June and early July, Facebook’s algorithm allowed content that was outrightly divisive and pro-violence against protesters on the platform. 

• Civil rights groups cited the prevalence of white supremacist groups on the platform in spite of their clear violations of the platform’s policies, as well as Facebook’s refusal to remove harmful and inaccurate info shared by the President.

• Soon enough, advertisers began to pull out of their advertising agreements with Facebook, beginning with North Face and joined shortly thereafter by R.E.I. 

All of this, however, hasn’t dampened the popularity of Facebook Ads. According to Mobile Marketer, a large number of small business owners are actually using the platform for monetizing more than ever before, perhaps in response to looming fears that another economic downturn is on its way. 

Social media undoubtedly plays an integral role in the success of a blog, business, and/or personal brand. In fact, one study found that many smaller businesses thought of social media as a “necessary evil” in terms of business promotion, and that the discontinued use of Facebook, specifically its ad platform, would mean a hit to their businesses. 

Few would argue that social media is essentially free marketing, and that running paid ads on social channels is a cheap and effective way to drive even more business and traffic. While it’s wonderful that larger businesses are able to pull their advertising in order to uphold their morals as an institution, the fact is that times are tough for small businesses who aren’t able to make similar moves without sacrificing everything they’ve worked toward.

Are you a small business owner during COVID-19? If you’re continuing to use Facebook Ads to promote your business, comment below or join our BlogHer Creators Facebook group to start a dialogue.

Lauren Conrad & Hannah Skvarla of The Little Market on Passion, Purpose, and Profit

About sophia pelosi

Sophia Pelosi is the Associate Marketing Manager at BlogHer, as well as a contributing author to BlogHer.com. She lives in New York City, and is passionate about pasta from scratch, daily meditation, 70s disco fashion and her beagle Lucy. She graduated from Colby College in 2019. Follow her on Instagram.