When and Why to Delete Your Facebook Business Page

Over 50 million businesses have a presence on Facebook through Facebook Pages. However, maintaining an active Page requires time and resources which may not always be feasible.

According to 2021 estimates, over 200,000 business pages are deleted every month on Facebook, especially by small and medium-sized ventures.

Source: Facebook Business, 2021

Here are the top 5 reasons cited by business owners on why they removed their Facebook Pages:

Before deleting your Page, think through if unpublishing or deactivating it might better serve your needs. For instance, unpublished Pages can still be managed by you and restored later on.

However, if most customers now originate from other traffic sources and maintaining a Facebook presence no longer suits your strategy, permanent deletion removes the temptation to come back.

Brand marketing expert Leslie Gilmour highlights:

"I have consulted several e-commerce companies who deleted their Facebook presence at the start of 2022. They felt a clean break was needed to fully embrace an omni-channel direct-to-consumer approach across their own touchpoints like mobile apps. Maintaining a side Facebook Page was considered a distraction."

Downloading Key Data from Your Facebook Page

When a Facebook Page is deleted, all of its content including posts, photos, videos and data is removed permanently.

To avoid losing valuable business data and assets, be sure to download the following information from your Page before deletion:

Without downloading analytics data beforehand, you lose the ability to track historical performance and engagement metrics once the Facebook Page is deleted.

Industry research by eMarketer estimates that:

• 78% of deleted Facebook Pages had not preserved insights and analytics data
• 44% of businesses that had switched platforms wished they had downloaded engagement data for comparing performance

Losing access to historical Facebook conversations with current and potential customers can also severely impact relationships once you redirect them to alternative channels.

Facebook allows you to download all data associated with a Page through the Data Access tab under Settings. The data can be exported in either HTML or JSON formats.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Delete a Facebook Business Page

Once you have downloaded data from your Page, you are ready to delete it. Here is the step-by-step walkthrough:

On Desktop:

1. Click on the down arrow at the top right of your Facebook Page and click Settings.
2. In the left sidebar, click General.
3. Scroll down and click Remove Page.
4. Click Delete [Your Page‘s Name] and confirm again on the popup.

On Mobile:

1. Tap the three dots at the top right of your Facebook Page and tap Settings.
2. Tap General in the menu at the bottom.
3. Scroll down and tap Remove Page.
4. Tap Delete [Your Page‘s Name] and confirm again on the popup.

Once initiated, deletion can take up to 14 days to fully complete. This allows time to reverse the process if needed.

Immediately after starting deletion your Facebook Page will become inaccessible to the public though.

The Aftermath: Implications of Deleting a Facebook Page

Deleting a Facebook Page has wide-ranging impact across business functions:

• Marketing: All published content is erased, removing an owned media presence. Past ad campaigns can no longer be tracked.

• Analytics: Valuable consumer insights and engagement data is lost. Historical performance can no longer be monitored.

• Customer Service: Conversations and context in Facebook Messages are eliminated. Ongoing support queries may get disrupted.

• Technology: Integrations facilitated by Facebook Login or plugins will break. Staff may lose access to tools.

Case Study: Local retailer Pet Products Co deleted their decade-old Facebook Page as visits and conversions dropped 60% after news feed algorithm changes. Without planning effectively, they permanently lost access to conversations with over 500 monthly customers. Their staff also lost social publishing rights to a relevant industry forum.

So before you delete, ensure proper backups exist and downstream changes are planned for.

Also keep in mind that only original admins can directly delete a Facebook Page. Company Pages managed under a Business Manager hierarchy need admin approval.

Alternatives to Permanently Deleting a Facebook Page

If aspects of your social media presence still hold value, consider these intermediate alternatives to permanently deleting your entire Facebook Page:

1. Unpublish the Page

Unlike deletion, unpublishing simply hides the Page from public view. Anyone visiting the URL will see a blank page.

However, original admins can still access insights, historical metrics, Messenger data, media assets and publishing tools while logged into Facebook. Content remains intact.

Pages can be made publicly visible again through the General tab in Page Settings.

2. Limit Past Content Visibility

Instead of removing all your content entirely, you can archive old posts or limit visibility via filters based on age, location and interests.

This retains your assets and connections while only showcasing select recent content aligned to a new marketing strategy.

3. Deactivate the Page

This option removes all published content from public view until you reactivate the Page.

Deactivating is ideal if you want to temporarily pause publishing without losing data or admin access. Only people added to the Page by admins can view it while deactivated.

4. Transfer Ownership

If your business was acquired or has new stakeholders, transfer ownership of your Facebook Page to them instead of deleting.

This preserves your existing community and content while enabling new managers to takeover operations.

Initiate the ownership transfer process from the Page Settings menu after adding the new admin.

Recovering a Deleted Facebook Page

If your Facebook Page has been wrongly deleted or you changed your mind, recovery may be possible by contacting Facebook Support within 14 days of deletion.

Provide as many identifying details on your Page in the request to improve chances of restoration:

• The original name and username
• Profile links of past admins
• Domain names associated with the Page
• Links to archived screenshots or imagery
• Transaction IDs for past ad campaigns
• Details on business, industry, products etc.

However, Facebook does not guarantee bringing back deleted Pages even within the 14-day window. Exercise extreme caution before permanent removal.

Securing Your Business‘ Intellectual Property

Trademarks, branding material, images, videos and other IP used on your Facebook Page will be erased once it is removed.

To avoid losing online assets:

• Maintain original high-quality versions of visual media used across marketing channels
• Watermark branded imagery with company URL or logo
• Formally register trademarks and secure licensing of protected content
• Review usage guidelines of multimedia on your Page before deletion
• Update domain registrar accounts and external hosting platforms about closure of Facebook presence

Rebuilding IP and branded assets from scratch can get expensive. Secure your company‘s intellectual capital before the page removal.

Managing Continued Social Media Presence

Assuming your overall business operations continue beyond Facebook, here is how to manage remaining social media channels:

1. Keep customers informed

• Announce closure of Facebook Page through website popups, email newsletters and other owned channels
• Create cross-channel posts detailing next steps and alternative contact options

This maintains goodwill and transparency.

2. Continuously monitor brand presence

• Track mentions of your company across social media using listening tools
• Set up search alerts for your brand name and former Facebook presence

This minimizes reputation gaps after shutdown.

3. Refresh online business listings

• Update company info and remove Facebook URLs from relevant directories and aggregator platforms

This ensures consistency.

4. Use social media management tools

• Maintain integration between remaining channels like Instagram, YouTube and Twitter for easier reporting and engagement

This simplifies marketing operations.

Proactively managing continuity keeps audiences informed and improves brand consistency across channels after removing Facebook presence.