From January to May of this year, average monthly spending on Facebook ads dropped a staggering 85 percent. Finally, in August, months after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, spending appeared to stabilize, according to a new C3 Metrics report. Though, it was still at a 15 percent drop compared to January.

But all that was before Facebook’s latest data breach when hackers were able to access the personal data of at least 50 million users in late September.

"Because of the advertising data scandal surrounding Cambridge Analytica and Facebook's own TV campaign highlighting its error, consumers are far more suspicious of brands advertising on Facebook than ever," Jeff Greenfield, COO at C3 Metrics, said in a statement.

That mistrust has caused many to delete Facebook or cut back on their time spent. As businesses amped advertising back up to near where it was at the start of the year, people didn’t return.

Because of the fierce competition for a limited number of eyeballs, ROI on Facebook ads has deteriorated. It’s down 75 percent (from an index value of 2 in April to below 0.5 from May to August).

Despite that, nearly half of small and medium-sized companies (42 percent) are planning to spend the majority of their digital advertising budget for the holiday season on Facebook ads, according to a 2018 Reveal Mobile study.

In past seasons, Facebook has historically been the best place to reach your audience on social. But this year, it looks like your dollars may have a bigger impact if you spend them on other mobile ads or Instagram ads.

Still, Facebook is rolling out all the stops to entice you this season! If you plan to spend any portion of your remaining ad budget on Facebook in 2018, read on to learn about Facebook’s latest advertising offers.

New Facebook Ad Options

Instant Experience Ads: Ever used Canvas ads? Well, Facebook recently rebranded this immersive ad option, which is now called Instant Experience. With one click, your ad expands and fills the entire screen.

Over the last year, these campaigns have doubled. It helps that they load faster than ever (15 times faster than a website). Plus, with new template and engagement options, they’re easier to create than ever before.

In-Video Ads: These ads, which play during longer Facebook videos, work. Seventy percent are viewed to completion and often with the sound on. Now, thanks to ThruPlay, you won’t pay unless viewers finish your ad.

Plus, you can now select the categories and placements of your ads. That way, you can ensure you’re reaching your target demographic.

Facebook Story Ads: Already running ads on Instagram Stories? Well, now, you can run them on Facebook Stories, too. These have been slower to catch on.

But 68 percent of people say they use Stories at least three times a day. That means more than 300 million people use Facebook Stories every day. This type of content wows on Instagram, so give it a whirl on Facebook, too.

Holiday-Centric Campaign Creation: Facebook debuted a bunch of new overlays for dynamic ads. These decorative borders have been found to increase ROI by 40 percent.

Or if you want to stick to videos, there are also a few video creation kits with holiday templates to make it easier for you, too.