GOODBYE MARK ZUCKERBERG?
WHY ARE WE PAUSING META ADS?
Every single day we spend thousands of kroner on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) – straight into the pockets of Mark Zuckerberg & co. That feels very wrong. A company that thrives on making kids addicted to their phones, selling people’s private lives, spreading misinformation and amplifying hate should not be getting our money. And yet, we’ve been part of it, because the advertising world is built in a way that makes it feel almost impossible to step out.
Meta ads work. They’ve been crucial for new people to discover us. They’re also most likely cheaper than almost anything else. But we want more than to keep fueling a system we don’t believe in. Imagine if that money instead went to people creating a better world? Like Fjell & Vidde, The Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature, or other groups that lift up nature and community?
We’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and finally we’re testing it: for two weeks we’ve turned off all Meta ads.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE PULL OUT?
Five days into the test we’re seeing this:
- Website traffic down by about 60%
- Online sales down by about 40%
We knew it would hurt. And we are afraid of the consequences. But we also know we’ll never find new ways unless we try.
WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE
The goal is to become completely independent of Meta. And eventually Google too (for now, we’re keeping our budget on Google search). We dream of a future where we can reach people without feeding the biggest tech giants our ad money – but we need to crack the code for how to do it.
THIS IS WHERE WE NEED YOUR INPUT
We don’t think we can do this alone. We need to do it together with those of you who actually care about us, the clothes we make, and the world we want to help shape.
- How can we reach new people without using Meta or Google?
- Which platforms, communities or media should we test instead?
- How can we spend the money smarter – for example with partners or organizations that make a difference?
- What can we do together with you so that more people discover us, without us buying our way into people’s feeds?
- Can we build a community that spreads the word on its own – in ways that actually make sense?
Got ideas, suggestions or thoughts? Fire away in the comments below!
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P.S. 2. Even though Meta ads are effective, we also spend a lot of money on them. A key goal of this test is to reduce overall costs so that we can achieve profitability as a company. It might sound irresponsible to “voluntarily” lose up to half of our online sales, but the test is being run during a period when sales are usually lower. And if we combine this with the goal of profitability, it doesn’t feel quite as dramatic. We spend around NOK 5,000 per day on Meta ads. To cover that cost, we need to sell for about NOK 15,000, roughly speaking. Taking that into account, the drop in sales isn’t quite as brutal.
