4 Steps for Monetizing Your Business Facebook Page in 2021

Your Facebook page: you’ve worked hard to build it from the ground up, transforming an ill-trafficked skeleton into an empire. Today, you’ve got ample likes, lots of traffic, and great content generating all of the above. Your question now becomes how to make all those metrics work for you. The answer is monetization: adjusting your Facebook profile, so it drives income from things like clicks, likes, and conversions. Easier said than done? Think again. In this post, we’ll share our top tips for monetizing your Facebook page this year. Let’s get started.

Facebook Monetization, by the Numbers

Facebook has had a few tough years. After widespread concerns about privacy and management of user data, the platform is finally making a bit of a comeback. According to MarTech Today:

“Facebook’s 2018 fourth-quarter earnings report for 2018 showed ad profits did not suffer. ...Facebook reported advertising revenue at $16.6 billion for the final quarter of last year, up 30 percent year-over-year. The total revenue earned during the quarter was $16.9 billion, with daily active users (DAU) at 1.52 billion, up 9 percent year over year.”

While Facebook’s average price-per-ad decreased by about 2% during this same quarter, the number of ad impressions the platform served up lept by a whopping 34%. The driving force of this growth, as it turns out, is Instagram. According to David Wehner, the CFO of Facebook, ads placed in the Instagram platform, both in feeds and Stories, have become one of the most productive ways for Facebook users to monetize their presence. Although there are a bunch of theories underlying why Instagram (owned by Facebook) has suddenly become more productive for monetization than Facebook itself, many credit Facebook’s declining organic reach. Thanks to algorithm changes and other shifts that have hit the platform in recent years, it’s tough to get eyes on even the most stellar Facebook content. Instagram, meanwhile, still offers more visibility for public content.

Are There Monetization Restrictions on Facebook?

Yes. Facebook isn’t the Wild West when it comes to monetization. Over the years, the platform has established a few restrictions, all of which are designed to protect consumers and users alike. Here are a few things you can’t do as you seek to monetize your Facebook presence:

Violate intellectual property laws or conduct fraudulent advertising
Monetize a Facebook page without an authentic presence
Monetize before your Facebook page is at least 30 days old
Share clickbait titles, sensationalist titles, or misinformation intended to create unrest
Use inappropriate content or images for monetization purposes (this includes material that depicts sexual conduct or positions, or promotes the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, or drugs)
Promote content that advocates for the use of illegal services or products
Post “sensitive content,” as defined by Facebook's guidelines

These standards apply to all monetization efforts on Facebook.

4 Ways to Monetize Your Facebook Presence

Now that we’ve discussed what you can’t do, let’s take a moment to consider what you can do on the Facebook platform. Here are a few of our favorite tips:

1. Become an Affiliate Partner

Marketing affiliate products has long since been a favorite approach of Facebook users. Keep in mind, though, that there are a few catches built-in with this approach. First of all, you need a healthy following before you start marketing affiliate products. In reality, only a small portion of your audience will click your affiliate links, so your audience numbers become essential quickly. Secondly, you should never use your Facebook platform solely to share affiliate links. This flys in the face of Facebook’s “authentic presence,” rule, and ensures your audience will flee in droves. If you want to be successful with affiliate marketing, find a product you genuinely believe in, and which will be relevant to and valuable for your users. This keeps marketing authentic and promotes high adoption rates.

2. Sell Products on Facebook’s App Store

Once you’ve established a Facebook business page, you can get busy selling products on Facebook. Do this by creating a store tab on your page. Once you’ve listed your products for sale, people can purchase them by simply visiting the store page and clicking the “purchase” button. It’s that simple! Keep in mind that this approach also works best if you have a broad, pre-existing audience. When you already have a community of people who follow your updates and products, it’s easier to ensure conversion when you release new items.

3. Host Giveaways or Contests

Contests and giveaways are a great way to grow your audience, boost your long-term marketing strategy, and create a new revenue stream. Additionally, this is an excellent opportunity to strengthen your relationship with other brands by partnering with them for a giveaway. Wondering how this translates to a monetization technique? Simple - brands will pay you to get on your page if you have a large following. As far as they’re concerned, offering their product for free on a highly-trafficked page is a sure-fire way to promote more sales and traffic down the road. With this in mind, speak to a few relevant brands to find out what sort of deal they’d be willing to make. Once you’ve got an agreement in place, run a few giveaways each month, changing the format each time to keep customers interested.

4. Sell Digital Content

This is, by far, one of the most popular monetization options Facebook has to offer. Take a spin through your timeline, and you’ll see precisely how many people are using it. Ads like this abound on Facebook today: Each of these little blurbs indicates a course someone has created for sale on the platform. You can find these courses on virtually all topics, across all industries. This is excellent news for anyone who wants to sell digital content on the platform. While creating a course, guide, ebook, or lesson plan will take some work, it’s an excellent way to use your existing Facebook following to generate income and promote ongoing monetization.

Turn Your Facebook Profile into a Money-Making Machine

Your Facebook page can (and should) do more than sit there idle. This year, turn it into a money-generation powerhouse with these five tips. If you want to get serious about monetizing your Facebook platform, give our team a call, as well. We provide the professional skills and expertise you need to excel at monetization, both now and in the future.