Meta has made changes to how we’ll manage paid ads. Here’s what charities need to know.
Amongst the outrage of Meta removing fact checkers and replacing them with community guidelines (although this will currently only affect the US), this latest change by Meta almost went unnoticed. However its impacts are likely to be pretty significant and that’s because Meta has started to roll out some major changes to advertisers, including charities operating in key areas such as “health and wellbeing”, as well as social and political spaces, restricting the collection of sensitive data. The full, comprehensive list of affected categories can be found here.
Why has Meta introduced this change?
The primary reason behind these changes is to enhance user protection and privacy by preventing the sharing of sensitive information through the Meta Pixel. For example, data about users who sign petitions or download specific health-related guides will no longer be tracked. This means your campaigns will be less targeted and will likely see a drop in performance as Meta has less data to optimise the ads with.
How do I know if my campaigns have been affected?
By now you should have received an alert from Meta if your campaigns are affected. If you haven't, keep an eye on your Business Manager account for any notifications.
If you think you have been incorrectly categorised, you may have the option to ask for a review. For example, if sub-domains relating to your lottery or event sign ups page have also been flagged. However, if you do ask for a review and it’s rejected, you won’t be able to ask again for another 30 days.
Affected accounts will also be offered a 30-day extension before restrictions are applied. We strongly recommend that you request this extension to give your organisation more time to plan and reduce the immediate impact on any live campaigns.
What does this mean?
If your account is impacted by these changes, here’s what to expect
Several lower-funnel events have been disabled. While fundraising conversion campaigns can still track when a donation is made, the donation value can no longer be passed back to Meta.
This is a significant change that will affect both the Meta algorithm and your in-platform reporting data. Manual optimisation will now be required for high-value donations.
Lookalike and retargeting audiences will be more challenging to target, as audience groups based on collected website data will no longer be available. However, first party data will still be available to build retargeting audiences.
What can we do?
While these changes do pose a number of challenges, there are still effective ways to run successful campaigns.
Focus on upper funnel campaigns like awareness and engagement which remain unaffected and consider making adjustments to already live campaigns - such as switching from conversions to leads.
Lead-generation campaigns are another possible option. You might want to test or shift your focus to optimising ads for Meta’s built-in lead-generation forms, as these are not impacted by pixel restrictions.
Monitor your campaign performance closely over the coming weeks, paying special attention to key KPIs like cost per lead and cost per donor. If you notice significant increases, it may be time to reassess.
Finally, don’t rely solely on in-platform data as your main source of truth. With these changes, your CRM data is likely to be the most accurate measure of how well your campaign is performing overall.
And if you’re a charity that has been affected, or are worried about what this could mean for your upcoming campaigns, come and talk to us here at DTV and we’ll be happy to help.
Bio
Adèle is a senior digital strategist at DTV with over eight years of experience in the sector. She started her career in international development, contributing to UK and global advocacy campaigns before moving into fundraising. Today, Adèle works with a diverse range of charities to develop digital fundraising strategies, better understand audience motivations, and improve overall donor journeys.