Remain Successful With Facebook Restricted Ad Categories

In response to Facebook’s special ad category targeting change, some verticals may have found themselves trying to change their advertising or rethink how they reach their target audience. Facebook had been taking some heat for their ad targeting guidelines and the ability to target or exclude people based on age, gender and income. Now, Facebook needs advertisers to comply with their newly updated non-discrimination policy on all advertising. So, what does that mean for you, and how can you reach your extremely specific audience?

Special Ad Categories According to Facebook:

Credit Opportunity: Ads that promote or directly link to a credit opportunity, including but not limited to credit card offers, auto loans, personal or business loan services, mortgage loans and long-term financing. This also includes brand ads for credit cards, regardless of a specific offer.

Employment Opportunity: Ads that promote or directly link to an employment opportunity, including but not limited to part- or full-time jobs, internships or professional certification programs. Related ads that fall within this category include promotions for job boards or fairs, aggregation services or ads detailing perks a company may provide, regardless of a specific job offer.

Housing Opportunity or Related Service: Ads that promote or directly link to a housing opportunity or related service, including but not limited to listings for the sale or rental of a home or apartment, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance, mortgage loans, housing repairs and home equity or appraisal services. This does not include ads designed to educate consumers or housing providers about their rights and responsibilities under fair housing laws. You can include the Equal Opportunity Housing logo and slogan to help differentiate your ads as non-discriminatory.

Ads about Social Issues, Elections or Politics: Ads made by, on behalf of, or about a candidate for public office, a political figure, a political party or advocates for the outcome of an election to public office. Or, about any election, referendum, or ballot initiative, including “go out and vote” election campaigns. Ads regulated as political advertising. About social issues in any place where the ad is being placed.

Social issues are sensitive topics that are heavily debated, may influence the outcome of an election or result in/relate to existing or proposed legislation. Ads about social issues seek to influence public opinion through discussion, debate or advocacy for or against important topics, like health and civil and social rights.

At Brawn Media, we not only look at the basic demographics of your audience but also the behaviors of your audience. Where do they get their information? Where do they ingest their media? What is their buying, working and commuting habits? For instance, if you are trying to target the Chevrolet Corvette buyer, this would fall under the special ad categories for credit per Facebook and targeting limitations would be placed on your ads. It’s important to think out of the box. if you’re trying to target people in market for a luxury vehicle, you may not be able to target “high income”, but you can use third party data/analytics to figure out what else that high-end audience might be interested in. By identifying some of these behaviors you can instead target “sports car” which is an audience of people who have expressed an interest in or like pages related to sports cars or “luxury real estate” that targets people who have expressed an interest in or like pages related to luxury real estate. This keeps in line with the higher price tag demographic but not eliminating buyers based on income alone.

In keeping with the auto example, dealerships keep sales records with buyers names and email addresses. This may help you create a Special Ad Audience to reach new people specifically when your campaign falls under the restricted ad categories. A Special Ad Audience is like the traditional lookalike audience because it uses similar online behavior from people on your sales list to create this new audience. This will filter in those that hold the most similarities to you customer list in hopes they take whatever action you are promoting on your ads.

By identifying behaviors of your core target audience, you may also find that additional or different strategies may be the way to go. With other options like display advertising, OTT, and PPC you may find that getting to your targeted audience may be easier through different interest demographics on other platforms. Brawn Media can help you come up with a comprehensive plan that will work best for you and your business. With the changing rules and regulations, it can be hard to keep up. Trust us to recommend the best strategy for your budget that aligns most with your goals. We succeed when you succeed. Period.