In early 2025, Meta experienced widespread outages, whistleblower revelations, and escalating ad account strikes. While it remains a dominant platform, relying solely on Facebook is no longer a smart strategy.
Here are the top five reasons:
1. Most Businesses Don’t Need Facebook
Many businesses thrive without a Facebook presence—think coffee shops, law firms, accountants, and niche startups. What these businesses need is excellence in their core offering:
- Great coffee, not a polished Facebook page
- Client value, not daily posts
- Reliable service, not ad spend
Focus on your business fundamentals first. A strong core product naturally fuels word-of-mouth, referrals, and marketing success. Conversely, putting all your eggs in Facebook’s unreliable basket—one prone to outages, algorithm changes, and account restrictions—is risky.
2. Your Customers May Not Be on Facebook
Assuming every target customer is active on Facebook is outdated. Audiences today may be more engaged on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, podcasts, blogs, or even niche forums. Before investing time and budget, identify:
- Where your customers spend time
- What platforms influence their buying behavior
Pro tip: Knowing your buyer persona helps you meet them where they actually are, not where social media vendors tell you they should be.
3. Higher ROI Lies Elsewhere
If your marketing analytics show better results from channels like email, SEO, events, or word-of-mouth, that’s where your focus should be. Social media should amplify, not sustain, your marketing strategy.
At Pullman, our strongest ROI comes from referrals and email campaigns, with social platforms serving supplemental roles—not budget hogs.
4. Facebook Efforts Fail Without Strategy
Posting without a plan is a path to wasted energy. Two essentials for success:
- Consistency – Post regularly
- Strategic intent – Know what each post aims to achieve
Without both, your content will underperform, your team will feel unfocused, and your audience will disconnect.
5. Internal Facebook Features Matter More
Time spent on Facebook is increasingly in Groups and Messenger, not News Feeds. These spaces function like micro-communities or chat rooms—ideal for deeper engagement. But brands often ignore them.
If you’re not setting up group communities or chat-based support, you’re overlooking where real conversations—and real conversions—happen.
So, What Should You Do Instead?
Meta’s outages are a wake-up call. You need a diversified, resilient marketing plan:
- Use Facebook only if it fits your strategy
- Prioritize channels with proven ROI and audience fit
- Build owned platforms like email, SMS, and your website
- Invest in true community via groups, chat, and events
Bottom line: Facebook is a tool—not a business. Treat it as one of many, and focus on the foundations that fuel real, sustainable growth.
