What is Facebook and should your business use it?
Facebook is the largest social network in the world, with billions of active users across every age group and region. For a small business it is often the first platform people think of, and the one their customers are most likely to use, but the way Facebook works for brands has changed a lot since it launched. Here is what the platform is now and how to judge whether it earns a place in your marketing.
What Facebook is now
Facebook is a social network where users connect with friends and family, share updates and photos, and join groups built around shared interests. Its newsfeed algorithm decides what each person sees, mixing posts from friends, pages they follow, groups they are in and paid adverts.
For businesses, Facebook offers two main ways to be seen. The first is organic through a Facebook Page, which is a free public profile where you post updates, photos and offers. The second is paid through Meta Ads Manager, which lets you target people by age, location, interests and behaviour. The paid side tends to work better than the organic side these days because Facebook has steadily reduced how many of your followers see your unpaid posts.
Who actually uses it
Unlike TikTok or Snapchat, Facebook does not skew young. Its user base is broad and skews older: the 25 to 54 age bracket is its core, and it remains the most used social platform among people over 55. That makes it a strong channel for businesses selling to homeowners, parents, local shoppers or older professionals.
The groups feature is especially valuable for local and niche businesses. There are active groups for nearly every location and interest, from village community groups to professional trade associations, and joining them puts your business in front of people who already care about the topic.
What businesses use it for
The most reliable function is paid advertising. Facebook Ads, now branded as Meta Ads, lets you run campaigns to a very specific audience and track results in detail. The platform handles targeting better than most, and the cost per click tends to be lower than Google Ads for many local and retail campaigns. Victory Digital ran a campaign for Home Instead that delivered a 3,446% return on ad spend by using Meta's targeting to reach local families looking for care.
For organic use, the main value is customer service and community. A well-run Facebook Page with prompt replies to messages and visible reviews builds trust, and being active in local groups can drive word-of-mouth traffic without spending on ads. Posting consistently without a budget will rarely drive direct sales, but it keeps your business present in people's minds.
Facebook Marketplace also plays a role for product-based businesses, letting them list items for sale to local buyers, and Facebook Shops let customers browse and buy without leaving the app.
How to judge whether it fits your business
Ask three questions. Are your customers on Facebook? For many local businesses, trades, retailers and hospitality venues the answer is yes. Can you commit to responding to messages and comments most days? Facebook expects businesses to be responsive and penalises those that ignore their inbox. And do you have a budget for ads? Running paid campaigns on Facebook is the most dependable way to get results from the platform because organic reach on its own has become very limited.
Facebook is usually worth the effort for businesses whose customers are over 25, local or community-focused, or who sell products that people browse visually. It is less useful for B2B companies whose buyers are on LinkedIn, or for very niche audiences that are better reached on a specialist platform.
If you already have an Instagram account, managing both through Meta Business Suite makes the admin easier, and you can run ads across both from the same place.
See how social media marketing fits into your wider strategy at https://victory.digital/social-media/. You can also run a free SEO report at https://victory.digital/run-a-seo-report/ and talk to us about a full marketing plan at [email protected].
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