How To Make Money on Facebook. Detailed Comparison with YouTube
Yes, Facebook can be your potential money-making platform. Of course, you already know people are earning money from Facebook nowadays. With the help of Facebook Meta Business Suite (also known as Creator Studio formerly), you can make significant money if your FB Page meets specific needs (terms &conditions).
Note: Facebook introduced the “Facebook Content Monetization Beta” (2nd October 2024), which merges Facebook In-stream ads, Ads on Reels, and the Performance bonus into a single program. But here, we are discussing only Facebook monetisation based on video content, not Instagram earnings.
Basic of making money from Facebook videos:
Making from Facebook (Meta Business Suite) is challenging and requires dedication. To do this, you must own a Facebook page with 10,000 likes and at least five videos with 600,000 views within the last 60 days. Also, you must reside in one of the countries listed here.
These criteria are only applicable for Facebook page monetising (videos uploaded on your FB page), not for the reels. Facebook itself send invitations to monetise Facebook reels to users. Still, if you feel your reels deserve monetisation, you can try your luck here.
Some must-know factors in making money on Facebook:
#1. Facebook is a purely social media site. So, its natural instinct is to promote content that its users take personally. Content like humour, memes, personal stories, motivational messages, etc., which users can share with friends and family regardless of their interests, is very suitable for the Facebook algorithm.
And serious content, such as educational, documentary, how-to guides, etc., is less suitable for its algorithm.
#2. Shorter videos in less than 3 minutes perform best on Facebook.
#3. Need an attractive thumbnail to attract viewers.
#4. The first 3 to 10 seconds are very important. Here, your audience will decide to stay or scroll.
There are also many things you should consider when making videos for Facebook. But the above four things are crucial.
Should your videos only rely on Facebook?
Making a good video requires hard work and dedication. It’s your duty to make your videos properly visible to the world. So, your videos should be in all possible and profitable places, not only on Facebook.
Because there is no guarantee that someday Facebook will not change its policy, which affects your account and earnings, it’s ideal to use other platforms like YouTube alongside Facebook.
Still, if your primary target is Facebook, you must compare it with YouTube. Because, as a creator, it’s better to know where your video will get better value.
A comparison between YouTube and Facebook ;
It depends entirely on you. Each platform has its own advantages and disadvantages. If you are serious about creating informative video content for passive income, YouTube might be the best for you. Meanwhile, Facebook is the best for short and casual videos about entertainment, social, and personal issues.
Eligibility
Facebook Creator Studio: A Facebook page with at least 5,000 followers, five active videos, and a 60,000-minute view count in the last 60 days. Here are the three types of ad tools and their requirements-
1. In-stream ads (Facebook content monetizationtion beta).
2. Subscriptions.
3. Stars.
YouTube Partner Program: A YouTube Channel with a minimum of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the last 12 months—or 10 Million Short Video views in the previous 90 days.
Ads Revenue
Facebook Meta Business Suite: Facebook video ads are younger than YouTube ads and still improving. Also, Facebook advertising costs much less than Google Ads. Therefore, you may get low revenue here as advertisers spend less on Facebook ads.
YouTube Partner Program: YouTube Ads come from Google Ads (formally AdWords). Advertisers still like to use Google ads to get more relevant results. Google ads are comparatively more costly than Facebook ads. So, YouTube might pay more for a certain number of views in your videos than Facebook.
For Long Run
Facebook Meta Business Suite: Facebook Meta Business Suite (please consider video ads only) is still in its early stages, so its policy may continue to evolve over the next few years. These changes could impact your earnings and overall stability.
YouTube Partner Program: YouTube’s platform is generally stable, as it has been around longer than Facebook Video Ads. While their policies may change occasionally, users can rely on a consistent experience.
Devices Support
Facebook Meta Business Suite: Facebook is only accessible through smartphones, laptops, tablets and desktops. Its maximum video resolution support is only 1080p(standard HD).
YouTube Partner Program: Meanwhile, YouTube is acceptable for smartphones, laptops, tablets, and any big screen like a TV. Also, its maximum resolution supports 4320p 8k, so it’s for real professionals.
Conclusion:
It’s hard to say which platform will be best for you unless you try both. Again, if your video is about a serious topic like education, tutorials, facts, etc., then YouTube might be the best. On the other hand, emotional, humorous, entertaining, etc. videos might go with Facebook.
You can still upload your videos to both platforms to get maximum revenue. Remember that Facebook videos must be mobile-friendly (squire or vertical), and YouTube is generally optimised for 16:9 aspect ratio videos.
Making Money from Facebook Without Being a Creator
Now, let’s see how you can make money from Facebook without being a creator.
1. By Selling On Facebook: With over 3 billion active users, Facebook is currently the leading platform (according to Statista), allowing you to showcase your products and services to millions of potential customers. Thanks to the dedicated marketplace section, selling items on Facebook has become simple. For more information on how to sell on Facebook, click here.
2. By Creating Popular Groups: A Facebook group is the key to promoting anything over Facebook for free. If you own a group with a large number of members, then you can easily advertise your things for free.
Besides physical products, Facebook works exceptionally well for generating leads. You can create thousands of leads for a single post on Facebook.
Here are a few Tips for using Facebook Groups:
It would be best if you remembered a few things before promoting on Facebook groups-
- If you are the group admin, pin your post/offer to the top so that everyone can see it first after entering your group.
- Keep your group “close” so that spammers can’t post randomly. It will ruin your group’s reputation.
- Delete irrelevant posts from your group so that it can stay fresh and relevant.
- Public groups are not suitable for serious promotion. People are always busy with their interests in public groups. If you want to join a group, always choose close groups with prominent members.
- Don’t post frequently, and don’t post direct links to the other groups. They might kick you out of the group.
- Finally, don’t spam yourself.
3. By Driving potential customers to your business: It’s an indirect way to make money on Facebook. If you own an online/offline business, you can multiply your earnings by generating more customers/clients using Facebook promotional tools (Facebook Ads). Nowadays, Facebook (now Meta) mainly focuses on its Ads. So, you can promote any business offer on Facebook. And promoting business is easier and cheaper on Facebook than on any other online promotional platform like Google Ads.
Some Tips to Use Facebook Advertising:
- Facebook is a social media, so create your offer with a friendly tone instead of a business tone.
- Call-to-action type ads work best on Facebook. So, put a contact number within your ads. Now, Facebook offers a WhatsApp button within your ads to help people interact with you directly.
- Target interest and location mostly.
4. By Branding your Business: There is no other online platform where you can establish your business reputation and give it a social identity.
Advertisements will generate instant sales, but branding will give your business a lifetime reputation and sales.
To gain more reputation for your business, create posts that emotionally connect with your potential customers. As more people follow your business, your reputation will grow.