Facebook ads have become an incredibly popular way for businesses to reach potential customers. With over 2 billion monthly active users on Facebook, it provides a huge audience for ads. This has led to strong demand for Facebook ads specialists to help businesses create and manage successful ad campaigns.
But is pursuing a career in Facebook ads a good choice? There are pros and cons to consider.
The pros of a Facebook ads career
Here are some of the potential benefits of pursuing a career in Facebook ads:
- High demand – There is strong demand for Facebook ads specialists right now, making it easier to find job opportunities and negotiate pay and benefits.
- Impact – Facebook ads allow you to have a real impact on businesses by helping drive leads and sales through well-targeted campaigns.
- Creativity – Coming up with effective ad creative and messages requires creativity and strategic thinking.
- Upward mobility – There is room for promotion to management roles overseeing entire ad campaigns and teams.
- High pay potential – Experienced Facebook ads specialists can make six-figure salaries at agencies and brands.
- Remote work potential – Many Facebook ads jobs allow remote work options since campaigns can be managed digitally.
- Transferable skills – The analytical, communication, and project management skills gained are transferable to other marketing roles.
For those interested in a fast-paced career using both creative and analytical skills to drive business results, Facebook ads offers an appealing option.
The cons of a Facebook ads career
However, there are also some potential downsides for those considering a Facebook ads career path:
- Stressful – Facebook ad campaigns usually have lots of moving parts that need daily monitoring and optimization, which can be stressful.
- Metrics-driven – You’ll need to be very metrics and data-focused to prove the ROI of campaigns, which some may find dull.
- Fast-paced change – Staying on top of Facebook’s algorithm and policy changes takes continual learning and adaptation.
- Low barriers to entry – The relatively low barriers to entry in the industry can make pay and job security challenging.
- Burnout – The constant need to manage active campaigns can result in burnout without proper work-life balance.
- Client demands – Some client demands around campaign performance and reporting can be unrealistic or intense.
In summary, those who thrive in fast-paced, data-driven roles will appreciate a Facebook ads career. But it isn’t ideal for those seeking slow-paced or highly creative marketing roles.
What skills are required?
Pursuing a successful career managing Facebook ads requires a specific set of skills. Here are some of the most important ones to develop:
- Analytical skills – You’ll need strong skills in collecting campaign data, identifying trends, and making optimization decisions based on performance.
- Communication – Clearly communicating campaign insights and recommendations to clients, stakeholders and team members is key.
- Creativity – Great visual, copywriting and content creation skills help craft compelling, effective ads.
- Interpersonal skills – Managing collaboration with clients, creative teams and managers requires diplomatic interpersonal abilities.
- Project management – Juggling multiple ad campaigns and clients at once necessitates stellar organization.
- Digital marketing knowledge – Familiarity with marketing concepts like SEO, email marketing and conversion optimization is important context.
Ongoing education in digital marketing, data analysis, project management and communications best practices can all help strengthen these core skills as well.
What’s the pay like?
Facebook ads specialist salaries vary based on factors like location, experience level and company size. However, national averages in the United States are:
- Entry-level Facebook ad specialists: $45,000 – $65,000
- Mid-level Facebook ad specialists: $62,000 – $90,000
- Experienced Facebook ad managers: $85,000 – $120,000
Agencies, large brands, and tech hub locations like Silicon Valley and New York City tend to pay higher salaries. Independent consultants can also potentially earn $100+ per hour.
Overall, experienced Facebook advertising professionals can make over $100,000 annually. While entry-level positions start lower, there is opportunity for quick advancement and pay raises in this high demand field.
What are the education requirements?
There are no strict education requirements to become a Facebook ads specialist. However, most positions will require:
- Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications or a related field
- Completion of Facebook Blueprint certification courses
- 1-3 years experience managing Facebook ad campaigns
For higher level management roles, additional qualifications like an MBA or other master’s degrees and 5+ years of Facebook ads experience are more common.
While you don’t have to major in marketing or go to elite schools, having the analytical, creative, and communication skills developed in these programs does help. Ongoing professional Facebook ad certifications and training are critically important as well.
What’s the job outlook?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), demand for advertising and promotions managers, including Facebook ad professionals, is projected to grow by 10% from 2020-2030. That’s much faster than average job growth across all occupations.
With over $84 billion spent on Facebook advertising last year alone, there continues to be tremendous demand from brands hoping to reach and influence consumers on the platform. Ad spend is expected to keep growing, requiring even more specialists to take on strategy and management roles in the coming years.
While more marketers are receiving digital advertising training, the need still exceeds the talent supply. This imbalance suggests the Facebook ads job market will remain very strong.
What are typical Facebook ad specialist job duties?
The specific day-to-day job duties of a Facebook ad specialist can vary by company and role. But typical responsibilities often include:
- Consulting with clients to develop campaign strategies and objectives
- Creating ad copies, images, videos and other creative campaign assets
- Setting up, launching and optimizing Facebook ad campaigns
- A/B testing different audiences, placements, creatives and messaging
- Monitoring campaign analytics and generating performance reports
- Making ongoing optimization choices and troubleshooting issues
- Managing campaign budgets and billing for clients
- Communicating campaign insights and results to stakeholders
Higher level roles may also involve mentoring entry level specialists, making hiring decisions, setting team strategies and liaising directly with clients.
What are the pros and cons of working in-house vs. at an agency?
Facebook advertising pros can choose to work either directly on a brand’s in-house marketing team or at a digital marketing agency servicing multiple clients. Here’s an overview of the potential upsides and downsides of each career path:
In-house Facebook Ads Pros
- Ability to focus in-depth on a single brand
- Often more regular hours and less frequent weekend work
- No client management – get to just focus on the ads
- May have more input into broader marketing decisions
- Potential for senior leadership positions in company later on
In-house Facebook Ads Cons
- Less variety working on only one brand
- Less ability to compare strategies across different companies
- Corporate politics can be frustrating
- Job security more influenced by single company’s finances
- Less ability to choose ideal clients/brands to work with
Agency Facebook Ads Pros
- Exposure to diverse clients and industries
- Ability to compare results across many campaigns
- More flexibility to choose favorite clients and accounts
- Often more opportunities for quick promotion
- Looks strong on resume to have worked at top agencies
Agency Facebook Ads Cons
- Higher stress juggling multiple clients and campaigns
- More frequent weekend and late night work to sync with clients
- Less ability to develop deep expertise in one industry
- Constant pressure to deliver results for clients
- No job security if you lose key client accounts
There are excellent pros and cons to each work environment. Think carefully about which matches your work style, interests and career goals the closest.
Conclusion
A career in Facebook advertising offers great opportunities for those able to handle the fast-paced, constantly changing nature of the work. While it does take commitment to continually develop in-demand skills, the ability to directly impact businesses through marketing makes for an engaging career.
For analytical, metric-driven professionals interested in a role with lots of creative potential and upward mobility, Facebook ad management delivers that. And with over 210,000 active advertisers and still growing ad spend, the job prospects look bright going forward.