If it seems like paid Instagram and Facebook ads are constantly changing—you are right! Algorithms, platforms, and regulations are always shifting, making it important to stay on top of the latest updates to optimize your paid advertisement. For small business owners, we know it can seem overwhelming to keep up, especially with all your other responsibilities. We’ve rounded up the most important changes to keep your paid advertising on social media in check. Here’s what we know:
Facebook Business Suite
Facebook Business Suite lets you manage your business’ Facebook and Instagram accounts in one place. You may have started being redirected from Business Manager to Business Suite, which is the end goal. Business Suite is a more comprehensive application that allows you to create new ads, boost posts, promote your page, and see metrics. More familiar with Ads Manager? Don’t worry—you can still access that for more details on your campaigns.
Campaign Budget Optimization
Within Facebook’s Ad Manager, you may see a new feature called “Campaign Budget Optimization.” In the past, this feature was optional. However, moving forward, this change will become mandatory for select users as Facebook tests it out further. Essentially, this feature allows you to determine a budget for a campaign, and Facebook’s AI will determine how it will be spent.
Overall, this is similar to how Facebook runs split tests in Ad Sets with a new step. Instead of setting your budget at the Ad Set level, budgets will now be set at the Campaign level and Facebook’s AI will decide how it will be split among your ad sets based on performance.
Alternatively, for some small business owners, it may prove more beneficial to run separate campaigns altogether rather than give Facebook the reigns. This is also true for boosted or promoted posts. When utilizing a Facebook boost, you are also given the option to boost to Instagram and Facebook Messenger. However, budget dollars could be better spent on two separate campaigns—one specifically for Facebook and one for Instagram.
Optimize Text Per Person
Something else to consider if you are setting up automated ads within Facebook is a new option: “Optimize Text Per Person.” This option lets Facebook choose whether to highlight primary text, the headline, or description of your ad based on what the viewer will respond to best. Quite like the multiple text variations for ads back in 2019, this new system doesn’t put as much stress on the advertiser to create entirely new text versions. Using the new system is worth a try to possibly uncover new behaviors and approaches that haven’t been thought of prior. Even though it is not available to all users just yet, it has become more widely found.
Special Ad Categories and Discrimination
When creating an Ad or Boost, businesses/organizations within categories such as housing or politics are required to utilize the “Special Ad Audiences” rather than audience selections. Within Special Ad Audiences, you are unable to use targeting information such as age, gender, certain demographics, behaviors, or interests. The goal of Special Ad Audiences, according to Facebook, “is to enable healthy discourse and increase transparency and accountability.”
If Facebook deems that you are part of a special category, your ads could be rejected for those reasons. Don’t worry just yet. Even if an ad has been rejected, you are always allowed to submit it for review.
Less Restrictions on Text Content in Facebook Ad Images
In the past, Facebook penalized ad campaigns if more than 10% of the main image was text. The previously long-held text restrictions were a struggle for many advertisers; however, with these limitations removed, marketers have more creative freedom to utilize text in their imagery.
Social Media for Brand Awareness
Don’t let these changes discourage you. At the end of the day, social media’s core power is to increase your brand’s awareness in the community and to help establish an online persona that consumers can recognize and interact with. Even though paid advertisements are highly suggested, the foundational purpose of social media is to create quality content and maintain a positive relationship with your community.
Things are constantly changing within the social media world and especially within advertising like paid Facebook and Instagram ads. Stay updated by subscribing to the That’s My Idea Marketing newsletter where we go over a variety of marketing topics like SEO, website development, content marketing, and more!