A survey by Emplifi shows that the social network had a 17% drop in engagement, and experts talk about competition and the changing age group of the audience
It is not today that Facebook has been suffering setbacks on its platform. In February of this year, for example, the social network saw the number of active users drop for the first time in history. The report released at the time by Meta, referring to the last quarter of 2021, reported the departure of about 500,000 accounts worldwide.
In February of this year, a survey carried out by Emplifi showed that Facebook had been surpassed by Instagram in terms of engagement. More recently, another study by the same Emplifi revealed that the social network showed a 17% drop in the average number of likes, comments and shares. In January 2021, the platform had an average of 6.54 interactions per 1,000 impressions; a year later, that number dropped to 5.44.
Alexandra Avelar, country manager at Emplifi in Brazil, attributes the drop in Facebook engagement to several factors, including competition with other social networks. “I’m mostly talking about Instagram and TikTok. Young people had already been won over and now we see an increasing number of other age groups”, says the executive.
In practice, the results of campaigns carried out on the platform have not been good, especially when compared to other platforms. Performance director at WMcCann, Vitor Miguel confirms that it is possible to identify a drop in engagement on Facebook. One of the reasons, for him, concerns the profile of users.
“The target has migrated, the 18-25 age group is leaving Facebook and currently invests more time in other social networks. This is also a factor that can cause a drop in the number of interactions, as this audience is usually more engaged and active in the networks”, he points out.
However, despite the loss of engagement, the social network is still far from being left out of the agencies’ media planning. For Marcelo Rullo, head of planning and content at Oliver Latin America, Facebook helps build communication for a more detailed segmentation with specific interests.
“Today, in media strategies, it is a strong ally for us to get closer to the target, achieving as many macro results as those with a more specific conversion reach. When we look at the formats present on the platform, we have more options that generate conversion compared to other social networks, and with more information in the reports”, he guarantees.
Less digital audience
Instagram, TikTok and Twitter are some of the platforms where there is an active prevalence of generations Z and Millenials, unlike Facebook, whose audience is mostly made up of Baby Boomers and Generation X.
“This makes Facebook become a gateway to communication with older and relatively less digital people”, highlights Rullo.
In addition, he also explains that, with the evolution of Instagram, Facebook ended up becoming a platform that does not encourage the creation of visual content, but rather the exchange of experiences, tips and information.
“And generations X and Baby Boomers are not great ‘producers’ of visual content, but they are generations that like to consume and share”, he adds.
SoWhat’s strategy director, Eduardo Rebola agrees that Facebook has become a relevant platform for a more mature profile, “guided by their own interests – different from the behavior of a younger audience, who spends time on Instagram and TikTok consuming cultural trends”.
High reach at the end of the funnel
For the performance director of WMcCann, the platform delivers solutions to clients of different segments and sizes, in addition to enabling many types of interactions with the public, which opens up a range of possibilities.
“According to needs, it is possible to work with campaigns from high reach and frequency to end-of-funnel strategies to maximize the number of conversions, thus being an important partner for all stages”.
Claudio Knupp, from Peppery, says that Facebook remains a relevant platform for the Brazilian market. “But every day, new players and new solutions emerge as an alternative for brands to connect with their consumers. Currently, Facebook’s challenge seems precisely to remain attractive to the younger audience and reinvent itself for the new generations”, he says. .
