Now what does this mean for small businesses that, for over two decades, have grown used to (even relied on) features in Facebook and Instagram that were standard AND FREE?

It is completely valid to feel frustrated about this change - I was/am. During a launch meeting with a client, when posting the "New Website" announcement, my attempt to tag this client and add the link to their new website, I was met with the greeting "you have exceeded your 2 links for the month...subscribe to Meta One..." notification.

Suddenly being restricted to two links per month feels like a massive bait-and-switch for small businesses who rely on social media for website traffic on a platform they've never had to pay for in the past.

In this blog, I'll cover:

• What Meta One Is
• A Breakdown of the 4 Subscription Options
• Free Workarounds to Avoid Paying
• (and my own thoughts and feelings...naturally)

This restriction is part of Meta's strategy to monetize the platform and unfortunately, force businesses into its new paid ecosystem. While I don't like it, admittedly, I understand it. Think of it like this...I'm always explaining to my clients that one small part of optimizing your website's SEO involves keeping users on your website - not losing them to a high bounce rate (meaning they aren't finding what they're looking for there, so they leave) or losing them because they're not engaged, encouraged to learn more or not learning the information they need. The same goes for Meta. They want to keep users on their platform. Every time it's users add an external link, we are driving users away from Facebook, which doesn't serve their primary business model which relies on keeping eyes on their apps to serve ads.

The global rollout of Meta One, the new paid ecosystem, happened 4 days ago. Now, small businesses and creators will have to subscribe to one of four tiered subscription levels in order to continue using Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Meta AI in the same ways they always have (for free).

After some internet research, multiple blogs and several YouTube videos, I found Ben Heath's YouTube video to be the most informative, quick breakdown of the subscription breakdowns to share with you. I'll provide a written breakdown of that video as well as the link at the end of this blog, if you care to watch it yourself.

There are 4 subscription plans for you to choose from:

• Essential
• Advanced
• Expert
• Max

Each one has a monthly cost and is PER PLATFORM - meaning the prices shown you will pay not only for Facebook, but if you want to take advantage of them on Instagram as well...or WhatsApp. Here is what you get with each subscription plan and the cost:

(An * indicates that I personally feel they would be useful in my own business and/or already have grown accustomed to using those features while it was free to us. This may or may not be the same for your business needs.)

Essential - $14.99/mo PER PLATFORM

- verified badge*

- impersonation protection*

- enhanced linksheet*

- 1 verified channel (WA Business)

- custom web URL (WA Business App)

- access to an agent 24/7 (businesses only)

- bundle of individual app plus features (IG Plus, FB Plus, WA Plus) not a massive deal

- more Meta AI usage (creators only) create media with Meta AI

Advanced - $49.99/mo PER PLATFORM

-everything in essential

- 2 verified channels (WA App)

- featured in feed* (only FB) get your profile featured in feed to introduce your brand to new people (this is a dedicated carousel of Meta One profiles that appears in people's feed who may be interested in your business)

- optimized search* (appear higher in search results)

- Bold Follow Button* (only FB) a bolded follow button on your reals

- follow invites8 (only FB) - automatically send follow invites to people who engage with your content

- enhanced profile* - add up to 3 locations and connect up to 3 other profiles 

- 6 linked devices (WA Business App)

- 500 business broadcast credits (WA Business App) send promotions and messages to multiple customers at once, schedule delivery and track your message performance

- drive traffic* - links in posts (IG is 4/mo and FB is 8/month including comments - add clickable links directly in your IG and FB posts. Also Links in reels (IG is 4/mo and FB is 8/mo) to add clickable links right in your reels

- additional insights* - custom audience insights (FB) and competitive insights (IG)

- optimized scheduling (FB) and original content credit (IG and FB - 2 requests/mo)

- collaboration and support - shared access (IG is 4 seats) and access to human support (1 support case/mo from real person)

Expert - $149.99/mo PER PLATFORM

- everything in essential and advanced

- 5 verified channels (WA App)

- customized chat themes

- enhanced profile (up to 5 locations and 5 profiles)

- 8 linked devices (WA Business App)

- 1.250 business broadcast credits (WA Business App)

- expanded access to Meta Business Agent

- Links in posts (IG is 8/mo, FB is 20/mo including comments) and Links in reels (Ig is 8/mo and FB is 20/mo)

- original content credit - you get 4 requests

- 10 protected business accounts (WA Business App)

- shared access (IG is 8 seats

- 5 support cases to human support per month

Max - $499.99/m0 PER PLATFORM

- everything in the other 3 tiers

- 10 verified channels

- a call once every 6 months with a Meta adviser to get advice on how to optimize your organic posts and grow your audience (not that great)

- enhanced profiles - up to 8 locations

10 linked devices and 5,000 business broadcast credits (WA Business App)

- maximum access to business agent

- links in post (IG is 12/mo and FB is unlimited) Links in reels (IG is 12/mo and FB is unlimited)

- original content credit - 6 requests/mo

- 50 protected accounts

- shared access (IG is 30 seats)

- unlimited access to human support

Where I agree with Ben Heath in his video on "Breaking Meta Ad News! Meta One is here...", is that there will be an "enormous amount of backlash amongst the community, particularly people that are already really frustrated that 'I have to pay for human support when I've already paid you so much in advertising spend'..." but I also do agree (whether I like it or not) that, as a small business that does deem social media as a platform that is extremely valuable in acquiring new clients as well as connecting with my target audience, that continuing to have access to the features I'm used to in order to operate and grow my business, maintain a positive and consistent online presence and be competitive, is to choose a subscription.

It's not what we want to hear when we are still reeling from the effects and costs of this change, but like Ben says, separating "am I willing to pay for this because it will give me a competitive advantage" verses "whether or not it should exist in the first place" are two different things. In truth, this change has probably been a long time coming - there aren't many other platforms where businesses have the ability to create a free account, access to SO many free tools, features to opt-in to pay for additional posts boosts or advertising efforts, share to group pages, tag and link as much as we want...all while reaching an enormous audience. With that being said, I don't like it. I wish this wasn't happening. Like many small business owners, I don't want to add one more cost to my expense sheet - especially in the current economy where gas prices, oil prices, grocery prices and electric prices are all rising to extremely uncomfortable levels.

For those of you not ready to "bite the bullet," I offer you some free workarounds to avoid paying the subscription fees just yet:

Link in Comments

The 2-link limit only applies to the main caption of your post - so you can post your content and then write "Link the comments," dropping the URL there.

Facebook Stories Doesn't Apply

The link limit apparently doesn't apply to Stories. You can use link stickers for free on Facebook and Instagram Stories.

Comment for DM

A lot of creators and influencers use this strategy - "Comment 'strawberry' and I will send you the link to my new Strawberry Shortcake Recipe" and then you get a DM with the link. (Depending on your engagement, this might not be practical without a third-party paid subscription that does this automatically for you, though.)

If you are interested in watching Ben Heath's full video on "Breaking Meta Ad News! Meta One is here...", CLICK HERE to watch it on YouTube.

I hope this blog is helpful to my fellow small business owners - whether you were aware this change was coming or are just now hearing about it, I hope it has shed some light on understanding what Meta One is, why Meta is moving in this direction and your options.

I personally chose to start the one week free trial to test and ensure that the features I'm used to using are all available in my chosen plan and will go from there - I don't intend to lose a valuable resource in advertising my business and being able to reach the small businesses in my community and surrounding areas so they know they have a trusted, local web designer they can turn to!