Facebook/Meta ads were that shiny new thing that delivered. For a while, they seemed almost too good to be true, bringing perks that surpassed other types of paid advertising:

✅ They gave access to the fast-growing Facebook user base
✅ They were budget-friendly
✅ They could be targeted at just the right niche
✅ They were easy to set up and monitor

But lately, Facebook’s shiny veneer has been wearing off, and that leaves a lot of business owners and marketing pros wondering about their current strategy for lead generation.

Here’s what I hear from Funnel Hackers advertising on Facebook...

❌ Why have lead costs become so high on Facebook?
❌ We’ve been advertising the same webinar on Facebook for over two years, and it has completely plateaued.
❌ There’s no consistency with Facebook ads. I feel like I’m starting from scratch with every new campaign.
❌ Why are tracking and attribution so much harder than they used to be?

When it comes to ClickFunnels, everybody thinks of lead generation through paid ads, but there’s a bigger picture. Could you be so laser-focused on Facebook ads that you’re missing an opportunity to optimize your ClickFunnels landing pages and drive up leads?

It’s real…and it’s working. Using strategic search engine optimization, I’ve been able to cut costs-per-lead in half for members of Russell Brunson’s Inner Circle.

Cost keeps rising

Facebook ads have seen an 89% year-over-year increase in CPM, with the average cost-per-click reaching as high as $.97. A lot of this was fueled by the pandemic that drove advertisers to the eCommerce arena in droves.


This will likely continue for Facebook and other social media platforms. According to Digital Information World, “Increased demand will obviously lead to price increases…some brands might automatically start to pay more in order to get their foot in the door. All of this seems to indicate that ad prices are going to continue to rise on various platforms. This can provide disproportionate bargaining power to social media enterprises…”

The ClickFunnels SEO solution: SEO is different. There’s no cost at all if you manage your own search engine optimization. And even if you enlist the help of an agency, there’s a consistent, established fee. No crazy price spikes or ever-climbing rates that upend your marketing budget.

And you won’t be lining the pockets of big tech for gains that go poof the moment you stop paying for ads. You’ll be investing in optimized web pages that are yours to keep and compounding online clout and visibility. Over time, they’ll bring you a steady stream of free clicks. (No more paying for every last visitor.)

Users are falling

While ad prices are rising, the number of people seeing your ads on Facebook has been falling. Consider this CNBC headline: “Facebook scrambles to escape stock’s death spiral as users flee.” This article tracked how Meta/Facebook had lost 1 million users in the US and Canada over the past two years. Privacy concerns played into the exodus as did competition from TikTok and other rivals.

The ClickFunnels SEO solution: Organic search, on the other hand, is not losing ground. On the contrary, research shows that it continues to grow, capturing the majority of search traffic.

Inconsistent policies and results

Paid advertising has never been a plug-and-play option. It requires constant analytics babysitting and ad tweaking to improve ROI. But the whiplash on Facebook has reached record intensity over the past several years.

The Facebook data scandal back in 2018 kicked it off. Users found out just how much Facebook knew about them, and everybody was creeped out. That led to changes that brought more privacy for users but less of the laser-like direct targeting options that Facebook advertisers once knew and loved.

Facebook removed a bunch of these options to show the world that they cared about their privacy and security. And while they were at it, they wanted to show the world that they respected all people equally so they cracked down on even more targeting to get rid of discriminatory ads.

Then, Facebook advertisers took another hit with Apple’s iOS 14 update, which allowed users to opt out of data collection in Facebook and other apps. Now advertisers had less data, and what they did have was far more broad–nothing like the granular details they could once drill down to for pinpoint targeting.

In yet another blow, Google announced that they would be getting rid of third-party cookies in Chrome, giving Facebook even less data to draw on for ad targeting.

The ClickFunnels SEO solution: Search engine optimization is not without its algorithm changes, but most don’t significantly affect SEO. In fact, most SEO experts know the big updates from recent years by name and can count them on one hand.

​If you’ve set up your website correctly with smart SEO practices, you’re far less likely to be affected–even when a whopper of a change drops. We’ve seen a couple of algorithm changes cripple some websites while our clients have sailed through with no noticeable damage because we adhered to SEO best practices from the get-go.

Rejected ads
If you’ve been advertising for long on Facebook, you know the frustration of a rejected ad. It may be an immediate rejection from their automated review process, or it may have to go to a manual review. This can bog things down for days, which is not cool if you’re trying to promote something like a training course that is starting soon.

The Facebook approval process can be a mysterious, ever-changing one that leaves you wondering why in the world your ad was rejected (sometimes it’s clear, sometimes it’s not) and how to dispute it in a timely manner.

Facebook’s review process is fallible so you may find your ad rejected for a bogus reason. For example, they may say that your ad contains illicit material when it doesn’t–the automatons just got confused.

There are the blatant rejection-worthy topics (drugs, gambling, sex), and then there’s all sorts of hazy ground, including housing, credit, and politics. Facebook may drop your ad into one of these borderline buckets, even though your text seems totally benign–forcing you to change your ad and resubmit.

There’s also a tricky dance you have to do to avoid imposing any kind of personal attribute onto your viewer. That’s why an ad that says “Treat your depression…” is not OK, but an ad that says “Treat depression with…” is OK.

Those are just a few reasons that Facebook could deny your ad, but there are literally hundreds of ways to run afoul of their policies and end up in “pending approval” purgatory. And even if your ad isn’t fully rejected, Facebook might only approve it for limited reach depending on your content.

The ClickFunnels SEO solution: Your website is your business, and with search engine optimization, you get a far wider berth for creating content. You’d have to post very extreme content or stoop to black hat SEO practices to get banned by Google or other search engines. But as long as you stick with the straightforward rules, there’s no one breathing down your neck telling you what content you can and can’t create.

Poor performance
Those staggering returns that once made Facebook the darling of social media advertising are falling off. With privacy concerns cutting off access to valuable data, not only can you not target buyers as accurately, it’s hard to retarget those who have been to your website and even exclude those who have made purchases from you already. That leads to a lot of wasted spending.

Couple this with the pandemic creating a far more crowded advertising space, and it’s getting harder and harder to capture users’ attention. As a result, people aren’t seeing the same returns. According to Databox, more than 40% of small businesses and 50% of agencies say their Facebook ads plateaued or performed worse last year. And, sadly, there’s no compelling reason to believe that this will get better, especially given the limitations from the iOS update.

The ClickFunnels SEO solution: The majority of website traffic still comes from organic search. As for Facebook ads? They average less than a .90 click-through rate. Organic search consistently generates more conversions than Facebook and other social media ads without the surprises, time required to “reinvent the wheel,” and fast-rising costs.

Attribution and Tracking are Harder than Ever

You can thank the iOS 14 update for making it very difficult to track your campaign’s performance and attribute conversions. This forces you to set up UTM parameters for different aspects of each ad, which can be clunky and time consuming and doesn’t always result in a full picture of the buyer’s journey (data can get lost along the way).

The ClickFunnels SEO solution: With SEO for funnels, you can skip the complex analytics setup. All the tracking and attribution data points are there for the taking in Google Analytics, allowing you to see everything you need to analyze your SEO campaign.

Facebook ads are neither the most cost-effective nor sustainable solution, but you can diversify your lead generation into ClickFunnels SEO. Unlike with your Facebook ads, your gains won’t stop the minute you stop funding your campaign. With SEO, you’re building an asset you can keep, and each month of progress will capitalize on the gains you made the month prior. You’ll be establishing yourself as a trusted authority online, building brand awareness, and climbing up to page 1 rankings that will endure.

Click the button today to learn about no-fuss SEO for ClickFunnels that can keep you from pouring even more of your budget into pricey and ineffective ad campaigns.