At Guru, we really try to walk the road of integrity – doing business in line with our ethical compass. This is hard to do when today’s advertising habits are so thoroughly entwined with the worlds of Facebook and Instagram.
Why do we say this about the Web that Zuckerberg has weaved? Call us – we’re happy to pontificate on the inflammatory, fake news, attention manipulation, resulting hate and mental health issues, not to mention robbing people of privacy, and building billions from stolen data.
Companies that claim all good intentions are all still posting on Insta, and buying paid social ads. Collectively, we seem to think that’s the only way to reach our audiences. Or, at least the most “cost effective” way.
But it’s not. Not when we take into consideration the externalities. Conscious businesses love to talk about externalities when it comes to pollution or CO2 emissions. Well, there are deep dark costs of the “social dilemma” that can no longer be overlooked as we all walk the road of integrity.
The truth is, paid social media advertising isn’t as cost effective as it used to be – even without calculating the externalities:
The cost to acquire a customer on Meta channels is up to $23 from $6
CPMs are rivaling Connected TV and exceed other digital mediums like native and video
Meta does not want you to know, but Apple’s blockade of cross-app tracking has MAJOR implications for Meta’s ability to produce audience targeting insights. So much so that they are scrambling to find a way into OTHER publisher’s 1st party data.
And there are, and always have been, alternatives. Here are just a few examples of the effective efforts we have conducted for our clients, outside of Meta:
What are you paying to reach your prospects and customers on Meta? I bet you will be surprised at what is possible in more ethical channels. Hit us up to work through what is possible for you and your brand.
The more of us make this move, the better off we will all be.
