Many small businesses and creators turn to Facebook to reach a broader audience and promote existing products or services. However, you can also earn money, including passive income, with your Facebook content, using methods like in-stream videos ads, fan subscriptions and affiliate marketing.
Facebook provides guidance on various monetization tactics and offers a free online eligibility checker. You can see a return on your marketing activities and use Facebook to achieve larger business goals with just a few steps. Here’s how to get started.
Review and meet Facebook’s eligibility requirements
The first step to earning money on Facebook is to look over its eligibility requirements in different programs and see which ones you qualify for. After that, it’s a matter of exploring your options and deciding on a Facebook monetization strategy that suits your business objectives.
Fortunately, Facebook makes it easy to verify eligibility. Head to the Creator Studio and click on the Monetization tab. Choose your existing Facebook page and click Apply. This brings you to the Monetization Eligibility Checker, where you can check your status. It’s color-coordinated, so green means you’re good to go, yellow means there are a few issues and red means you’re not eligible.
At the most basic level, you must meet Facebook’s Partner Monetization Policies, formerly called Monetization Eligibility Standards, including:
- Have a Facebook page or profile in professional (business) mode that’s at least 30 days old.
- Increase your follower account to 10,000 or more to qualify for in-stream ads and paid live events.
- Follow community standards, the content monetization policy and various other terms of service (ToS) for pages.
- Comply with Facebook’s terms for earning and receiving money, including, when applicable, Apple and Google policies for in-app purchases.
[Read more: Understanding Facebook Stats and How to Measure Success]
Highlight your small business products with a Facebook Shop.
Diversify your Facebook income streams
Although going with one method is simple, it may not produce the desired results. Instead, choose a few different but complementary income streams, such as charging for online events and selling digital content, or adding affiliate links and sponsored posts.
Here are a few ways to monetize your Facebook page:
- Share branded content: Connect with brands to provide promo codes, product reviews and sponsored posts inside your Facebook group or business page. Use the Brand Collabs Manager to find opportunities.
- Get paid for online events: Charge an admission fee for live or pre-recorded events and promote them using exclusive posts for paid online events.
- Earn stars while livestreaming: Encourage fans to show appreciation during live events by sending stars. Facebook pays $0.01 per star.
- Fan subscriptions: Earn $0.99 to $99.99 per subscriber per month with fan subscriptions. Memberships could include exclusive content, discounts and live video.
- Promote and sell digital content: Showcase your expertise and generate revenue by using Facebook to increase sales of e-books, templates or other digital content.
- Open a Facebook Shop: Highlight your small business products with a Facebook Shop. You can also use Instagram to bring your business online and access consumers across both apps.
- Use affiliate marketing links: Join an affiliate network or individual brand programs to earn a commission when Facebook users click on your link or make a purchase from an affiliate.
[Read more: A Quick Guide to Marketing Your Business on Facebook]
Earn revenue from in-stream ads
Monetizing your video content via in-stream ads is a method that works on multiple channels, including YouTube. You’ll need 10,000 followers on your Facebook page to take advantage of this tactic. Businesses make money from ads that play before or during a Facebook live broadcast or video content that’s at least one minute long.
Facebook pays out based on impressions and the cost per thousand (CPM) of ads shown. This figure varies based on the demographics, season and interested advertisers. You also earn money “for every 1,000 one-minute or longer views of your videos with in-stream ads,” called revenue per thousand impressions (RPM).
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