Facebook Monetization: The What, Why, Where, and How

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Facebook is quite possibly the most enduring social media channel in existence. No other online media giant has caught so much flack for data collection.

As of early 2019, it boasts more than 2.7 billion active monthly users, with 500,000 new users added daily.

Although Facebook has recently become the target of an even more intense media campaign and a hotly debated topic surrounding privacy protections, with these figures, it remains safe to say Facebook will remain a major social media platform for the foreseeable future.

What is Facebook monetization?

As the name implies, Facebook monetization describes the act of making money by leveraging Facebook as a monetization platform.

But that doesn’t mean our definition goes out the window.

Remember?

You’re here to earn money from something of value you provide to your audience.

This will remain true wherever you are, because you’re building a brand that’s made to last.

Among all the social media channels, Facebook also remains arguably the most lucrative platform in 2018.

In fact, because Facebook’s audience is also maturing (with younger audiences not as eager to hop onboard), Facebook and its user base may also be switching over to a more business-oriented mindset and using the platform more and more as a marketing channel.

In this chapter, we’ll discuss how to create an income stream with Facebook. Specifically, I’ll go over a few key considerations on how to earn money from Facebook, including what to do and what not to do on the social platform. We’ll also cover the most important aspects of Facebook monetization, such as

• What you should know about Facebook’s new guidelines
• How to earn money from Facebook pages
• How to build your Facebook group
• How to make money with Facebook ads

Let’s get started.

3.1 How Facebook monetization works

Before we can dive straight into how to earn from Facebook, it’s critical that we go over a few important changes that have affected everyone on the platform, users and brands alike.

Facebook has recently come under intense scrutiny for its multiple privacy violations, all of which have made it the subject of much marketing debate.

So the question on everyone’s mind is, Is Facebook marketing a waste of time and money in 2018?

It’s an interesting question, but for the foreseeable future, it’s merely an alarmist perspective that detracts from actually making you money.

After all, while people are hesitating to invest in Facebook as a marketing channel, others are pushing ahead full force because they’ve got the results they want, and until the very last day of Facebook’s existence, they’ll be pressing on until they can no longer profit.

Why would you do otherwise?

Important GDPR and privacy policy updates

That said, we’ve got a lot to cover here, so let’s get the pesky rules out of the way first.

Complying with GDPR has become a central concern for businesses operating on Facebook. It is in fact the most recent major update to Facebook monetization requirements.

Here’s a quote from Facebook about how seriously you should take this issue:

Creators and publishers with multiple violations could lose access to all monetization features.

What is GDPR? It’s a set of policies that affects you primarily if you’re planning to target users residing in the European Union.

The specific Facebook features that are affected are Facebook Pixel and Custom Audiences.

What is Facebook Pixel?

Think of Facebook Pixel as a tracker.

The Pixel is a line of code you place on your website, so that Facebook can help you keep track of Facebook users coming to your site. This is an extremely powerful feature, which has been somewhat inconvenienced by the GDPR release.

Let’s look at how it’s been affected. 

(You can access Facebook Pixels and other business features through your Business Manager account). 

Facebook provides a few examples of what types of businesses might be affected by these changes:

• Retail websites gathering product information viewed by visitors for ad retargeting based on their site activity
• Blogs that use an analytics tool like Google Analytics to collect demographic data from its readers
• Media and news sites using third-party ad servers that collect data from visitors who have been exposed to their display ads
• Facebook advertisers who install Facebook pixel on their site to measure conversions and retarget visitors on Facebook

If this sounds like you, and you’re wondering whether the GDPR applies to your business idea, you can read the details here.

Having said that, getting GDPR consent from your visitors is a straightforward process:

Use a bar or popup to inform your visitors that you’re collecting data, and specify what type of data you’ll be collecting. Once you get them to agree to it, you’re all set.  

But if you want to upload the data you’ve collected back onto Facebook to create a custom audience, then in the near future, you’ll be forced to provide proof of consent to Facebook.

Facebook monetization standards

Facebook most likely has the most extensive monetization guidelines out of any platform operating online. Here’s a summary list of “rules” you can cross-reference when aiming to monetize:

• Share authentic content.
• Develop an established presence. (This means your account must be at least 90 days old).
• Comply with Facebook’s community standards.
• Comply with Facebook’s payment terms.
• Comply with Facebook’s page terms.
• Adhere to content guidelines (covered in the callout in the next section).

Make sure to dig deeper into each of these areas and familiarize yourself with Facebook’s monetization standards. Although most of these standards should be self-explanatory (as if you need to be told not to post violent content), reviewing them in detail will give you the boost in confidence you might need to invest your hard-earned money into Facebook advertising.

You can read the detailed list of monetization standards here.

Most people forget that Facebook isn’t just a social channel.

It’s a data collector. It aggregates and sells its users’ data, meaning it’s ideally designed as a marketing platform and channel.

This allows Facebook to provide the businesses that operate on its platform a number of extremely powerful tools at their disposal.

Now let’s go over the many ways you can earn from Facebook effectively. We’ll also cover examples where business owners have achieved success by applying the very strategies and principles we’re about to discuss.

3.2 Facebook monetization strategies

It can be easy to make money on Facebook.

In fact, many people only use Facebook to generate an income stream.

We’ve already discussed why this is such a risky idea, but it goes to show that Facebook still reigns supreme as a social media channel that also doubles as a data aggregator + marketing platform helping businesses connect with their target audience.

Since the focus of this book is on creating a brand that’s made to last, we’ll be going over the main features you can use to build your brand and a loyal fan base.

Ways to make money on Facebook

Of the multiple ways to make money on Facebook, we’ll be sticking to the few that help you generate an income stream while still building a solid brand.

Since Facebook is a social channel, we can’t just post things and forget about them.

Instead, we need to engage meaningfully and respond to comments, and like and share things we also find to be of value.

How to earn money from Facebook pages

The monetization of Facebook pages has always been the classic approach to establishing a business presence on the platform.

If you want to earn money from facebook pages (yes, you can have more than one), then ideally you’re going to have a little investment capital.

But if not, here’s a few popular ways you can monetize Facebook pages:

1. Drive traffic to your blog by posting helpful and relevant links from your site, where you have relevant offers in place, like your own courses or Google Adsense banners.
2. Sell your own products. (You can do this easily by setting up a Shopify store directly on your Facebook page).
3. Sell affiliate products.

How to grow your Facebook page

There is no quick and easy way to grow a Facebook page unless you’re ready to pull out your wallet. And unless you’re confident you can make that money back right away, it’s not worth investing in just yet. (Once you have a few sales under your belt, then you can crank up the results with paid advertising).

Growing a Facebook page takes hard work because you want your page to be viewed as a resource.

Here’s the catch:

Because Facebook users know that it’s primarily businesses that are operating Facebook pages out of self-interest, they’ll find it hard-pressed to view your page as a resource. Instead, if they follow your page, they’re more likely to be fans of your brand.

Here’s an example of an awesome Facebook page that successfully frames itself as a resource:

Source

Just look at their number of followers: 41,003.

If you go through their posts, you’ll notice pretty much every post getting over 100 likes, loves, and even shares.

This is what a highly engaged audience looks like.

Once you visit their blog, you’ll notice relevant banner ads, but none of them are so intrusive as to disrupt the reading experience.

And the best part?

Their About section tells us that they’re just a couple figure-skating fans who want to share their passion and knowledge with the world.

Brilliant.

How to use Facebook to drive traffic to your blog

Facebook most likely has the most extensive monetization guidelines out of any platform operating online. Here’s a summary list of “rules” you can cross-reference when aiming to monetize:

1. Create a Facebook page.
   (Pick Business or Brand).
2. Invite friends to like your page. Only invite those you believe will find value in your brand. (Ask them individually through Facebook messenger to increase the chances that they’ll actually like your page).
3. Ask them if they know anyone who might be interested in your page as well.
4. Ask them to share your page. (The worst thing they can say is “no”. Most likely will, but even for one or two shares, this step is worth doing).
5. Start sharing great content from around the Internet related to your niche. 
   Remember: The best content is content your audience will find helpful and interesting.
   
6. Start sharing your blog content once in a while too and go from there. (Facebook likes frequent and consistent posts that get a ton of engagement, so do try to create and follow an editorial calendar).
7. Engage with every user who leaves a comment. (There’s a good chance they could turn into your next fan!)

Engagement: The secret ingredient to boosting your page content

I’m going to risk sounding repetitive here, but we come back to a critical principle:

Not every fan is created equal.

That means not every like is equal as well. If you add random people to your groups and Facebook pages, you’re only going to confuse Facebook’s analytics tools, and it’ll become real difficult for you to earn money from Facebook (page, group, or otherwise).

That means when you try to use tools to analyze your audience, you won’t be able to determine their interests accurately, or their needs, or even who they really are.

And what does that mean when you post your content?

Total engagement from your entire fan base will be low, because people who aren’t interested in your content aren’t going to engage, especially on any meaningful level.

Low engagement will tell Facebook that your content sucks, even when it’s awesome.

On the other hand, if you have a small but engaged fan base, whenever you post content, you’ll be telling Facebook your content is relevant (one of the main metrics Facebook uses to determine the quality of your ads).

So what awesome added benefit can you gain from this slower approach that’s been proven time and again to work?

It keeps ad costs low.

That’s right.

Because Facebook understands that your group or page is highly concentrated with an active and engaged audience, your ads will cost you less money over time. This also means a higher conversion rate, because the offers you promote will be highly relevant to your target audience.

Affiliate marketing: A quick and easy way to monetize Facebook pages

Affiliate marketing is a quick way to monetize Facebook pages.

1. Pick a niche you’re interested in.
2. Become an affiliate by signing up for an Amazon Associates or Clickbank account.
3. Push products in your niche and start collecting commission. (Some products pay up to 70% the retail price).

See this example above? These shoes are basically selling themselves.

How to earn from Facebook groups

Compared to trying to monetize Facebook pages, Facebook group monetization is much easier.

That’s because Facebook provides a lot more flexibility in terms of how you can frame the context of your group.

For example, you can label it a Support Group, thus helping your group members perceive it as a resource.  

This makes it much easier to persuade other Facebook users to join as well. (Think about how much faster you can build your Facebook group, where people come to view you as a resource and a source of support, an authority they can communicate with directly on a social platform).

So how do you start to monetize your Facebook fans and followers?

In a similar way you would with a Facebook page–but remember the context:

This is a Facebook support group. Do not think about just pushing content. Here you’re building your brand and your authority.

You’re creating loyal fans.

Your Facebook page, on the other hand, is a business page. (Your page members will be a little more forgiving when you present your offers here).