As Facebook seeks to meet the demands of audiences seeking fairer advertising, it has brought in new policies to monitor and regulate how advertisers target individuals on the platform. If you are worried about whether Facebook’s new advertising policy, or Meta as it is now referred to, will affect your business, our guide to the new Facebook ad policy is here to help.
What is the New Facebook Ads Policy?
The new advertising rules on Facebook mean that social media ads relating to housing, employment and credit opportunities now face tougher regulations and advertisers falling under these categories will need to declare their advertising effects as one of these special ad categories. Targeting options will then be filtered for these ads to ensure fair practice.
Who Does the New Facebook Ads Policy Affect?
The new Facebook advertising policy aims to regulate the advertising activity of industries related to credit cards, bank loans, long-term financing, employment opportunities, job fairs, housing sales or rentals and home insurance. These new categories are classed by Facebook as ‘Special’ categories and include credit, employment, housing and social issues, elections or politics and aim to protect users from exploitation or discrimination through the platform. You can view the full list of categories over on the Facebook help website here.
How Might the New Rules Affect My Business?
If your business is advertising in one of Facebook’s new ‘special’ categories, you may be affected by the new ad rules. The new restrictions on special Facebook categories will affect how you target potential customers on the platform. Targeting options such as age, gender or postcode can no longer be used for ‘special’ HEC audiences. Lookalike audiences and exclusion targeting are also restricted under the new rules. If your business relied on these targeting options, as many businesses do, it may be time to rethink your targeting options or ad copy to fit the new social media advertising restrictions.
What is a Special Ad Audience?
In order to reach the people you would like to target under the new rules, you will be able to create a ‘special’ ad audience. As with previous lookalike audiences, this type of Facebook ad audience will allow you to create an audience based on those with similar activity and online behaviour without using elements such as age, gender or postcode alongside any other restricted targeting elements.
How Do I Create a Special Ad Category Campaign?
In order to create a special ad category campaign, simply go to Ads Manager and either create a new or open an existing campaign. Then, select Special Ad Categories, under Categories choose which category applies to your campaign and under Countries choose the country or countries where you would like to run your Facebook ads campaign. These campaigns will then be marked as ‘Special’ and follow the appropriate advertising policy.
What if My Ads Get Rejected?
If your business falls under one of the previously mentioned categories and you do not adapt your targeting or ad copy to fit the new guidelines, your ads may get rejected by Facebook’s automated systems. If this happens, you have a few options. If your ad is rejected by Facebook, you should receive a notification of the rejection with a link to the account quality guidelines which will explain the reasons your ad was rejected. You should then be able to edit your ad to comply with the changes and republish it on your account. If you believe that your ad has been unfairly rejected, you can also request that it undergo another review. It is important to take the review process seriously as repeated violations of Facebook’s ad policy could lead to them disabling your account.
Where Can I Find Additional Help With Facebook Advertising?
When it comes to social media advertising, we are experts. We have worked within a number of different industries and across a number of Facebook updates to ensure our clients are ahead of the crowd when it comes to Facebook advertising. If you are looking for help making your social media marketing a success, our team is here to help.
Contact SEM Consultants online or by calling 0121 552 6500 now to find out more.