How Facebook Can Make A Comeback
By the time you’re reading this, I’ll be hanging out on a beach in Punta Cana on a long overdue vacation. I’ll probably have a drink or three while I’m there- hopefully the resort has our friends and client Regatta Craft Mixers on hand.
In the meantime, Facebook saw a slight decline in user growth for the first time this past week and the stock reacted like a Jake Paul boxing opponent and took a dive. (Sorry, I can’t help myself)
So Mark Zuckerberg faces his first real challenge in some time with Meta. And no, I’m not counting the PR hurdles from a few brands boycotting or the occasional unflattering documentary. iOS 14 has significantly impacted Facebook’s business, and team Zuck hasn’t figured it out yet. Meanwhile, we’re still years away from mass adoption of the Metaverse, so don’t bank on Meta making up for lost revenue via its Oculus headsets.
There are a few steps I’d take immediately if I’m Mark Zuckerberg. For starters, I’d start giving a crap about the small businesses and their agencies advertising on the Facebook platform. Just as small businesses employ the majority of Americans, they also drive the majority of Meta’s ad revenue- so, why don’t they have a more significant seat at the table? Facebook Ads Manager is a UX debacle. If you can find a media buyer that actually likes Meta’s Ads Manager platform, they’re either lying about liking it or lying about being a media buyer. Meanwhile, here’s a re-enactment of media buyers everywhere when their phones ring and they see that it’s a Facebook rep calling.
Self-service ad management platforms are the future- you don’t have to look far to see superior interfaces from TikTok and Hulu among others. And with its most significant moat, its targeting capabilities, hampered by Apple it’s more important than ever for Meta to close the UX gap on the backend and to stop making people work so hard to spend money efficiently on the platform.
The other key issue that needs to be fixed: rebranding the platform for its original intent: connecting friends and family. A renewed focus on the user experience at large, instead of just recycling Reels from Instagram that are just recycled from TikTok, would help tremendously.
Finally, if I’m Zuck I’m opening up my checkbook and waging an all out war to poach creators from the TikTok platform. I’m tweaking the algorithm to favor creators and over-compensating them for their content to create an offer they can’t refuse. If the best content migrates from TikTok back to Instagram and Facebook, their audiences will, too.
How would you fix a $600 Billion behemoth that’s lost its mojo?
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