There’s buzz that Facebook (Meta) is broken, that digital franchise development marketing strategies and campaign attempts on the platform are quickly becoming a waste of time, money, and resources.
Reports this year from financial giants like Bloomberg, Inverstors.com, WSJ, Forbes and more all headlined how the $300 billion loss of revenue across Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook Ads, meant the beginning of the end of Facebook (Meta) advertising.
Hmmm. We aren’t so sure about that.
In years past we have read that Facebook leads were plentiful but low-quality, affordable but ineffective.
Now, with Facebook (Meta) user activity ebbing and flowing for a myriad of reasons, some franchise development marketers’ campaigns are falling flat on their faces.
This is news to us. We just don’t see it, and neither do our clients.
At TopFire Media, our franchise development clients’ faces are smiling because they are getting high-quality leads that convert, from Facebook / Meta Platforms.
So, what’s the TopFire Media secret?
TRIFECTA OF TROUBLE
Let’s look at why some believe that Facebook (Meta) has become the proverbial graveyard for franchise development lead generation.
And then we’ll reveal how TopFire Media won’t be ghosting the international platform anytime soon.
First and foremost, tech giant Apple has begun letting their users opt out of tracking across their apps. At first option, 82% of Apple iOS users took them up on their offer. Google has announced that they will begin blocking advertiser access to data in 2023, and block third-party cookies on Chrome.
Next, Facebook (Meta) has suffered major repercussions from last October’s global outage, a system-wide engineering snafu felt round the world. Not only did the outage cost businesses millions of dollars, but it also sent governments in search of local tech opportunities. In South Africa, the Minister of Communications used the outage as a reminder to support young up-and-coming social media developers and not be so dependent on social media of the west.
Finally, anyone with their ear to the ground in recent years knows that Facebook (Meta)’s PR team has been busy.
With mounting pressure for Meta to police posters, decide who needs protecting, and defend its alleged weaknesses, it’s easy to understand why the general perception is that this is a social media giant in trouble.
But is it? Current trends show users continue to show up, to the tune of nearly 3 billion at last count, and growing quarterly.
With all of Facebook (Meta)’s recent troubles, you might think the Meta Platform naysayers are on to something.
CHANGING FACES
At TopFire Media, we don’t think so. What may be changing is who uses the platform. Initially a concept created by college pals in their dorm room, to communicate and influence other college kids, Meta has now morphed into a gathering place for more “adulting” types, specifically those age 35 and up.
At first this may sound alarming. Don’t most advertisers target 25 – 35-year-old consumers? Those big spending millennials? Millennials are the largest, most influential demographic in the U.S. There are 1.8 billion of them on the planet and they aren’t buying what Facebook (Meta) is selling. The good news here is that most franchise development marketers aren’t targeting millennials.
We know the average age of franchise investors is between 35 and 59. It makes sense then that Facebook (Meta) is an ideal place to find high-quality franchise leads for franchisors.
Why is it then, that some franchise development marketing agencies continue to cry foul, with the notion that Facebook (Meta) “just isn’t what it used to be.”
GOING BEYOND FOR FRANCHISE DEVELOPMENT MARKETING
There are 180 million Americans, age 35 and up on Facebook (Meta). Surely, the franchise buyer is in there somewhere? Of course, they are, and the TopFire Media franchise development marketing team knows just how to attract them. While other franchise development consultantd were relying solely on the aforementioned (and disappearing) data tracking, TopFire Media has been continuously thinking outside the box.
Our teams do not, and have not, relied on the tracking data to identify likely franchise candidates. WE use a different, more sophisticated method.
Rather than relying on tracking data and Facebook (Meta)’s Interest data to narrow our target audience, TopFire Media marketers use our proprietary audience. This audience comprises nearly 45,000 single- and multi-unit franchisees. We “feed” this audience to Facebook (Meta) to create a Look-a-Like audience of about 10,000,000 people. These are the Facebook (Meta) users who have a greater propensity to be interested in entrepreneurship or franchising, and the financial resources to invest.
This TopFire Media proprietary audience has proven over and again, by plenty of clients, to yield franchise leads that have the resources and the interest in the franchise brands we are advertising for. TopFire Media clients are awarding franchises from these leads, and the cost per lead is holding steady across brands.
ADAPTABLE, EXPERIENCED, CREATIVE, MARKETING
Will Facebook fall? Not likely.
No industry changes more quickly than technology, and no platform adapts to that technology more readily than social media.
That’s why it is so important for franchise development marketing teams to seek creative solutions for their clientele.
TopFire Media prides itself on the experience, ingenuity, and data-driven approach of our marketing teams, and relishes in the successes of our clients to grow their franchise systems through our proven franchise development marketing strategies we provide.
