As of this year’s third quarter, Facebook has reached 2.41 Billion active monthly users, making it the most used social media platform worldwide. Facebook has been the leader in social networks, as they were the first social platform to have monthly users surpass the billions by the second quarter of 2012. With the constant growth, popularity, and innovative features, such as Messenger and Facebook Groups, it’s easy to see how the conglomerate has become the choice social media platform.
It’s no secret that there have been privacy issues with the site in the past. In early 2018, it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica harvested the personal data of millions of peoples’ Facebook profiles without their consent and used it for political advertising purposes. After the loss of trust amongst its users, and millions of dollars in fines later, Facebook’s Founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is “committed to getting it right,” he said as he opened at the F8 Developers Conference earlier this year. With four simple words projected on the screen behind him: “The future is private,” Zuckerberg explained Facebook’s decision to undergo a ground-up redesign. This redesign aims to place private community groups at the center of its experience and revamp its apps to work with one another. Why? To help people securely reach their core communities. This has been touted as the biggest change the social platform has seen in over five years.
This all begs the question: What is Facebook’s “Private” feature?
For starters, the “Private” feature that Facebook is introducing essentially allows the user to control and see data that websites and applications share between the platforms. It’s being introduced as “Off-Facebook Activity” and gives users the ability to keep track of the information that third-party applications access and what they are using it for. Along with the “Off-Facebook Activity,” they’re also updating their ad library and giving users an option to control what they see from their groups, pages, and friends with a “Why am I seeing this ad” option.
What Does This Mean for the Social Media Advertising World?
Facebook warns that its new privacy tool may impact targeting on paid ads. Whether this is the truth or not, advertisers are preparing for the change. Here at ON Advertising, we believe it will definitely be limited as more and more users will choose not to see content like paid ads. Will some of those users be ones we try to target with our client’s paid ads? Of course. That’s where adjusting the perimeters and revisiting our goals will ensure the users we want and need to see the content, will see the content. As Facebook continues to change, it’s important to get creative with marketing plans to safeguard the effectiveness of the campaigns being launched. It’s also recommended that everyone in the advertising and marketing industry should have plans in place for when the time comes to change their tactics and work to set specific goals that they set in place. After all, we like to stay ahead of the game when it comes to playing it.
How Can ON Advertising Help?
With big changes coming to Facebook and the possibility of more advancements in the future, it’s vital that a plan is implemented to produce campaigns.. Having a hard time wrapping your head around it all? ON Advertising’s digital strategy services can help you stay ahead of the ever-changing social media industry. We can assist in creating innovative and creative ways to remain on top of the competition, while still staying aligned with your goals. Contact us to see how we can help your business grow and learn more about the services we have to offer.
