Will Facebook's Ad Transparency Bring an End to Dark Posts?
Will Facebook's Ad Transparency Bring an End to Dark Posts?
Facebook ads. Does that freak you out? No worries, it freaks me out too. I mean to be honest, it gives me nightmares. The kind of nightmares that will make Freddy Kruger shake in his striped sweater. Digital advertising is confusing enough, I mean the algorithms, the budgeting, the copy, it's all confusing right? Well to top that post off, Facebook has made another big change recently: ad transparency. Most importantly, ad transparency to stop dark posts.
Why is Transparency Important?
Facebook has a long, documented history of using private user information to target ads, yes, but that was because advertising on Facebook is measurable by posts made public, that drive traffic to a social media site or light posts. A dark post is when a post refers a user to a social media site comes from a locked private source, like emails, private messages, or a bookmark from a browser. I remember when I used to save websites as bookmarks on my private home desktop a long time ago from posts I used to see on band's website forums, private messages on AIM (RIP), or in emails from friends (or lack thereof in middle school). The tons of traffic I brought to these websites from those posts were not measured because they were considered private. Facebook is now looking to measure that, with the ways of saving posts, videos, and ad transparency.
What will this do?
Ad transparency just means that a user can view all the ads a page has made even if the user was not targeted. This is to mainly target political ads which "promoted posts that are shown to the specific target audience, yet don’t appear on the advertisers' actual page, making them invisible to those not targeted", according to SocialMediaToday. Have you ever seen an ad you wanted to show to a friend on messenger but couldn't find it on your page? That is because, in simple terms, you were the targeted demographic. Facebook is trying to do right ever since they've come down with harsh criticism with promoting "fake news" in the election.
What Does This Mean for Me?
As a small business owner, knowing about these ads changes are helpful to those who want to know more about your business, however this means that more eyes will be on your campaigns. You will need to be more mindful about who you are targeting as it will be known to the public. This change will hopefully drive more ethical ads from businesses, and hopefully political campaigns alike.
I Can Help!
Facebook ads can be rough! With the millions of things you have on your mind with running your small business, Facebook ads should be the last thing! However, I can help you figure it all out. Social media has been my thing for the last five years and I can help you build a strategy around your current social media sites to help drive more leads and get a great ROI! To learn more contact me at Supriya@SupriyaPrasad.com to get a free audit on your social media today!