Meta wants more of your money.
I know, I think it's a d*ck move personally, but hey, they obviously want to make more money from their business customers.
Yes, I'm talking about the new Meta One subscription. But before you panic, or pay for a Meta One subscription, let's talk about what this actually means for your business, and more importantly, whether it's something you even need to worry about.
Meta is introducing limits on the number of links you can share for free on Facebook. Once you hit those limits, you'll need to subscribe to Meta One if you want to share more links.
But before you hand over more of your hard-earned cash to the Meta Gods, there's a little something I want you to do first.
Look at your data.
First things first: Where is your website traffic actually coming from?
Head into your Google Analytics or website analytics and take a look at your Traffic Acquisition report. Which is marketing talk for 'where are your customers coming from?"
This shows you where people are coming from before they land on your website. What we want to know is, how much of that traffic is coming from organic social media posts.
Are people actually clicking through from your social media posts and visiting your website?
BUT, it's not just about people clicking through to your website, we want to know what else they are doing. Are they buying? Are they booking a call? Are they jumping on your email list? Are they converting in some way?
Because there's a pretty big difference between 100 people clicking through to your website and nobody taking action, and 100 people clicking through and 5 of them making a booking or a purchase.
One might not be worth stressing about.
The other? That's worth paying attention to.
So, what is Meta One and is it worth paying for?
Meta One is the subscription Meta is offering for businesses and creators who want access to additional features, including more links on Facebook.
Meta One will cost you NZ$86.99 per month and gives you 8 links per month to use on posts or comments on Facebook.
Without the subscription, you're limited to 2 posts or comments with links per month.
A few things to be aware of:
Unused links don't roll over.
The changes are being rolled out gradually, so they might not apply to your account just yet.
You can still share links in certain places without needing to pay.
What can you still do for free?
Before you assume you need to subscribe, there are still ways to share links without paying for Meta One.
Here's what you can still do for free:
Your first 2 Facebook links per month (within a post or as a comment).
Adding extra links in the comments of a post that already contains a link.
Links in Instagram and Facebook stories.
Links in your Instagram bio.
Links to other Meta products, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp.
Links in paid ads (because hello, you're already paying!).
So, no, you don't necessarily need to throw money at Meta just yet.
A few workarounds worth considering
If you're currently sharing links every other day, it's time to be a little more strategic about what you're linking to.
1. Save your links for the important stuff.
Think special offers, lead magnets, booking links and sales campaigns. The things that actually need people to click through. Don't waste precious links on your blog posts.
2. Use your stories.
You can still add clickable links to your Instagram and Facebook stories, so use them! They're a great way to direct people to your website, products, services or latest offers.
3. Use automation to send people the link.
You can use an automation tool like ManyChat to send someone a link via DM when they comment a particular word on your post.
For example, ask people to comment "METASUCKS" (because, well, sometimes it does) and have an automated message send them the link.
AND, it's a great way to get people engaging with your content.
4. Consider paid ads.
If the link is important and you want to drive traffic to a particular offer, a paid campaign might give you more bang for your buck. It's worth testing!
Only pay for a Meta One subscription if you can confidently tick ALL these boxes...
I'd only consider paying for Meta One if:
Organic Facebook and Instagram are in your top 3 sources of website traffic or sales. Again, check your data not your gut.
You regularly need to share more than 2 links per month.
The leads, bookings or sales you're generating are worth more than the $86.99 monthly subscription.
If you're getting quality leads and sales from organic social media, then paying for additional links might make complete business sense.
But if most of your customers are coming from Google, referrals, email marketing or somewhere else, why would you pay for something you aren't really using?
And if your social media isn't generating traffic or enquiries in the first place, more links aren't necessarily going to fix that.
The fact is, Meta is pay to play now - especially if you want growth from social media.
But the real hack isn't throwing more money at every new feature or subscription that pops up. It's knowing where your money works best.
If you don't know where your website traffic is coming from, where your enquiries are generated, or which marketing efforts are actually bringing in customers, that's where I'd start.
Because you can't make good marketing decisions without knowing what's working. In data we trust!
Want help looking at your data and deciphering it?
Book a free call and let's take a look.
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