Beware Meta’s Performance Bonus Program
My promotion has been on autopilot lately, but I do have something to share with you: a warning of sorts.
It concerns Meta’s Performance Bonus Program, which you probably haven’t heard of unless you received an email like this:
Honestly, I’m surprised I clicked through because it looks super spammy. Rest assured the images did actually load when I received the mail in October.
I figured there was nothing to lose, so I opted in. I mean, it’s a free bonus, right? Why wouldn’t I claim it?
It turns out there was something to lose: organic reach.
My reach was negligible to begin with, so I didn’t notice. But a good friend of mine who is far more active on Facebook and Instagram saw his reach and engagement drastically decline after signing up.
He recently spoke to someone at Meta who confirmed that the drop isn’t just a figment of his imagination. When you opt in for performance bonuses, your engagement is reset. At that point, you compete with others in the performance bonus scheme.
Of course neither of us would’ve opted in had we known that was the case! He traded in an incredible amount of reach for about $15 a month in bonuses.
If we opt out now, our reach is reset yet again. It doesn’t go back to where it was before. In his case, we’re talking years of building up an audience, essentially thrown away.
I’ve received a total of $10.80. Impressed yet?
Now it looks like the minimum payment is $25, which I may never reach.
At this point, you may be wondering if you’re opted in or not. You can find out by going to Meta Business Suite, then click on Monetization, and then Bonuses.
The moral of the story is, when it comes to Meta’s Performance Bonus Program, just say no.
Had you heard about it before this post? Did you get an invite? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments!
Even before I opted into the bonus scheme I noticed a huge drop in engagement around 2015 on Facebook. I’d nearly quit posting except for big updates. I now have 8k followers, but generally around 10 reactions per post. Feels like a numbers game, but I’m not sure what the numbers are.
I have 24K followers, but I’m sure most of those have “aged out” and are no longer paying attention. Some posts get just a handful of reactions, and others up to maybe 50. Either way, not an impressive percentage!
Depends on what your page’s main topic is some are more successful then others and this also factors in how many other pages are covering the same topic.
Almost No one covers weather reports and updates in Tasmania so we have been very successful however i do expect downturns during times where the weather isn’t active enough to generate interest.
I have to imagine that starting from zero would be a liability for any page, though I suppose if people are actively searching for weather reports in Tasmania, you could build back up easily!