How Will the Facebook Boycott Impact SMBs?

If you’re reading here, you already know the basics, at least. From Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg’s stance over Donald Trump’s to how huge brands recently stopped their ad spend with the company – the #StopHateForProfit campaign has been all over the news in recent days. And rightfully so.

The campaign was launched by advocacy groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Common Sense Media – and it urges brands to boycott Facebook.

More related B2CRM News items from PostFunnel:
Boycotting FB? Tik Tok’s Waiting for Your Brand

The North Face was the first brand to show solidarity. Now more than 100 A-list advertisers have joined the movement.

This updating list on CNN is keeping track with some of the bigger names on it, also providing some needed context. It currently includes:

• Adidas*
• Arc’teryx
• Ben & Jerry’s (of course)
• Beam Suntory
• Birchbox
• Blue Bottle Coffee
• Clorox*
• Coca-Cola
• Dashlane
• Denny’s
• Diageo
• Eddie Bauer
• Eileen Fisher
• Ford
• Hershey’s
• Honda
• HP*
• JanSport
• Levi Strauss
• Magnolia Pictures
• Microsoft
• Patagonia
• Patreon
• Pfizer
• Puma
• The North Face
• REI
• Starbucks*
• Upwork
• Unilever
• Vans
• Verizon
• Vertex

Company’s marked with an (*) asterisk above are mentioned in the CNN piece as brands that “did not indicate [they were] joining the #StopHateForProfit campaign.” (though still stopping FB ad spend in some way)

This list from The New York Times is a little different than CNN’s – and the added context here focuses on the ad spend amount these companies are pulling back.

You can find the full list on StopHateforProfit’s official site.

And when it comes to seeing who’s next, NYT is reporting that “Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest advertiser, said it wouldn’t rule out a pause on Facebook ads. (Its big rival, Unilever, is stopping ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter through the end of the year.) ”

Can SMB Join?

Obviously, reactions have been loud, coming and going all over the place. Most are, obviously, looking at things from FB’s perspective.

Today’s most quoted figure shows how only 6% of FB’s total revenue comes from its top 100 advertisers. And so, as much as this boycott may hurt FB’s bottom line, most of its potential to bring a change is rooted in the sentiment and discourse surrounding it. Currently, no one seriously thinks it poses a real financial threat to FB in the foreseeable future.

But for us, as we care about brands, we wanted to ask a question from that angle. And so, the question is, how will this affect other brands? Are they still going to use the platform organically? Would they be “punished” by FB’s algorithm?

“To affect real, significant change with Facebook’s content moderating rules and all related issues, probably thousands of major brands would have to pull their ad budget for a month or more. Most likely, major brands are just not going to do that when it impacts their own bottom line,” said Mari Smith, co-author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day, in an email to CBC News.

“And if small and medium businesses cut their ads altogether, even for one month, this could cause a massive loss of revenue for those business owners,” Smith said.

Similarly, Nina Goetzen, an analyst at Insider Intelligence, said on an eMarketer podcast that she doubts that any of this will impact Facebook’s revenue. “During the pandemic, small local brands are relying on Facebook, especially since they have been forced to turn to digital marketing.”

“Many brands won’t be able to leave the platform for good and restructure their entire advertising system,” she added.

In that aspect, the pandemic might limit the boycott as small brands increasingly rely on eCommerce and social media for advertising and sales.

FB’s Response

In response to the boycott, Andy Stone, Facebook’s Policy Communications Director, posted this on Twitter:

And in a statement to CNN on Friday, Carolyn Everson, Facebook’s vice president of global marketing solutions, responded by saying, “We deeply respect any brand’s decision and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information. Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good.”

And how about you and your brand? Are you going to join the boycott? Tell us in the poll below.