Meta has announced upcoming changes to data restrictions for its Business Tools, which will affect how advertisers create custom audiences and monitor conversion tracking. These updates come as Meta tightens its data privacy policies; advertisers need to prepare for potential disruptions in their campaigns.
What’s Changing?
Custom audiences that rely on user data may face limitations under the new rules. If the audience size is too small because of data restrictions, ad sets could be automatically paused. Additionally, certain data will no longer be available within Events Manager, reducing visibility into conversion tracking and reporting.
Why This Matters
Historically, Meta’s data privacy changes have significantly impacted audience targeting and reporting granularity. These new restrictions could lead to disruptions in ad performance, reduced audience quality, and a lack of key insights. Advertisers must act now to ensure minimal disruption.
Meta’s Recommendations
To adapt to these changes, Meta has provided several recommendations:
- Create New Custom Audiences: Ensure that new custom audiences comply with updated privacy restrictions. Existing custom audiences may no longer be viable for targeting after the update.
- Audit UTM Parameters: Review tracking parameters to remove any restricted information.
- Test Broader Audience Strategies: Consider moving away from hyper-targeted audiences and testing broader strategies that focus on interests or behaviors.
- Monitor and Adjust: Keep a close eye on ad performance and reporting to avoid long-term pauses or disruptions, and update reporting processes to reflect the changes in data availability.
Broader Audience Strategy: Where to Start
For those looking to test broader audience strategies, we recommend a few approaches:
- Customer Lists: Include as much data as possible in customer lists to improve match rates until Meta provides more specifics on restricted data.
- Website/App Event Audiences: Compare performance between Website/App audiences and customer list audiences.
- Interest/Detailed Targeting: Interest-based audiences have shown strong performance recently and could be an effective alternative to shrinking custom audiences.
Tools to Consider: CAPI and Advanced Creative
In light of these restrictions, Meta’s Conversion API (CAPI) is now more important than ever. By integrating directly with a client’s CRM, CAPI can pull first-party conversion data, bypassing some of the issues caused by restricted data in other areas.
Given Meta’s recommendations to go broad with targeting, it’s to your advantage to use your creative and messaging to appeal directly to your ICP and encourage the right people to engage, which will in turn train Meta’s algorithm on the right users to find. This could mean directly calling out job titles or responsibilities, including user qualifications, etc.
On the creative front, we recommend diversifying your media types (image, video, carousel, etc.) and styles (user testimonials, stats, benefits, product comparisons, etc.) to see which move the needle in the right direction.
Platforms to Explore if Meta’s Restrictions Hamper Performance
For advertisers who find these restrictions too limiting, here are some alternative platforms to explore:
- TikTok: With a robust targeting system and growing user base, TikTok is becoming a strong competitor to Meta, especially for brands targeting younger demographics. While it lacks the same customer list-matching depth, TikTok’s interest-based targeting offers a solid alternative.
- LinkedIn: For B2B advertisers, LinkedIn remains a key platform. While cost-per-acquisition (CPA) can be higher, the lead quality is typically superior, making it a worthwhile option for businesses focusing on high-value customer segments.
Meta’s increasing data restrictions signal yet another shift in how advertisers need to think about audience targeting and performance tracking. By proactively creating compliant custom audiences, testing broader strategies, and leveraging tools like CAPI, advertisers can navigate these changes while maintaining campaign success. It’s also a good time to evaluate alternative platforms like TikTok or LinkedIn, depending on your target audience.
Stay ahead of these changes by adapting your strategies now and ensuring you’re prepared for Meta’s next round of data privacy updates.
