Audience hacking has been the name of the game for Facebook marketers… until now.
Facebook’s Analytics tool has provided valuable information for businesses interested in expanding their reach, understanding their demographics, and targeting their ideal customers for years. Now, as Facebook sunsets the tool on June 30, 2021, the future of marketing on the platform is up in the air.
But is that really a bad thing?
Without these demographics and insights, there’s a new exciting possibility: more creative ads.
Less data can make ad success less predictable or “hackable,” leading marketers to spend more time iterating and designing new, compelling ads.
The old-school, Mad Men-type advertisers are preparing for a new era of advertising.
One that just so happens to look… a lot more traditional. And this shift is likely to work in favor of those who have dedicated years to perfecting their branding on Instagram.
Here’s everything you need to know about how eliminating the Facebook Analytics tool might impact how you design your ads.
If you’ve been advertising on Facebook for a while, you may have become pretty reliant on Analytics to learn more about your audience.
User journeys, audience cohorts, and insights have been valuable resources that could take some of the guesswork out of Facebook advertising. So naturally, some businesses are getting concerned that the iconic tool will shut down at the end of the month.
However, the information Facebook can access through its pixel is diminishing, making the tool-less and less useful… especially after iOS14. New privacy options are putting consumers more in control of their data, which means there’s less information and insights available for Facebook to offer businesses. Much of the analytics power behind this free tool relies on information that will no longer be available to Facebook from iPhone users.
For some businesses, this may make ad success less “hackable,” forcing businesses to focus more on creating exceptional ads that capture attention and convert beyond a hyper-focused audience.
Instead, Facebook is focusing on its redesigned comprehensive Business Suite. While insights are still available in the Business Suite, you may start receiving less valuable data than you’re used to.
Business Suite is still rolling out, so it may not be available yet on your account. Meanwhile, Ads Reporting, Ads Manager, and Events Manager will continue to be available for businesses using Facebook… for now, at least.
Many marketing professionals see getting rid of Facebook Analytics as a brief look at bigger changes coming to Facebook’s business management toolkit.
If you run Facebook ads, you’ve almost certainly seen the ads selling “hacks” to get more sales through Facebook.
Even as advertising on Facebook has become more expensive, some businesses have won tons of traffic and sales with the information available through Facebook’s tools. Without all that information, Facebook may have inadvertently leveled the playing field within its platform. There is still a distinct advantage, however, to using other analytics tools that measure your Facebook ad success and provide more demographic insights.
As ad personalization data becomes less readily available, people who run ads will need to start thinking about advertising more traditionally. Businesses will need to engage with customers and better understand their demographics to create ads that target the right audience. As more Facebook tools lose the data that made the social media network’s advertising capabilities so robust, many digital-age marketers will need to go back to the drawing board.
Brands that perform well on Instagram organically are poised to survive Facebook’s impending changes well.
Organic insights on the platform offer a peek into what customers are interested in, and comments give social media managers an opportunity to engage with and learn more about who they’re targeting.
As a visual-first platform, Instagram is naturally the most similar social media platform to traditional advertising media.
Businesses that actively post and engage on Instagram have a better grasp on what branded content captures their customer’s attention and contributes to a growing following.
That puts Instagram-focused businesses at a new advantage as Facebook’s advertising capabilities change.
If your business has already created dedicated ads for Instagram and Facebook, you may be ahead of the curve for upcoming changes.
Capturing your data now is one of the best things you can do before Facebook sunsets the tool. But what else can you do to maintain effective advertising campaigns on Facebook and Instagram?
Here are a few tips to help you seamlessly adapt to coming Facebook changes.
Reevaluating your Instagram organic strategy and testing new advertising creative with organic posts is a great way to gain further insight into what your audience is looking for. Doing this now puts you ahead of the curve as Facebook offers access to less and less customer information.
While your existing ads are still dialed in and working, now is the time to focus on building customer relationships or exploring influencer marketing, too. The recent changes show that advertising may become more limited for Facebook and Instagram, so finding new ways to expand your reach now will pay dividends later.
Reach out to customers through direct messages and ask them questions to learn more about their preferences. Customer interviews are a great asset to your marketing strategy, and learning more about customer demographics directly from your customer can make designing effective ads easier.
To find out who to interview, compare your orders in the last years to your followers on Instagram.
Find the followers who engage most, and reach out to them to gain more information. Rewarding them with a limited-edition freebie, a coupon code, or even a shoutout on your channel can make them more inclined to share with you.
While Facebook’s robust customer insights may be dwindling, new native data for Instagram Reels and Live Videos will offer valuable insight into what’s working for your audience. Since the data is collected natively, or based on customer activity within Instagram, those insights won’t be limited by the iOS14 update. It can also help you prepare for other new changes Facebook is rolling out, like ads for Instagram Reels.
For businesses and creators already producing Reels and Live Videos regularly, this information can prepare you to create Reel ads that are more likely to perform well. Your Reels are already engaging your audience; what can you glean from their performance to incorporate in your ads? It’s worthwhile to test how successful Reel ad content could transfer to Facebook ads.
Instagram’s other business tools in the Professional Dashboard can offer powerful insight into your brand’s performance, too. Combine this information with the valuable data from Tailwind’s Smart Assistant to create ads that make your audience swoon!
If you aren’t already, using a tool like AdEspresso for split testing can help you design ad creative and copy that resonates and targets the right audience.
As audience data dwindles, you may need to spend more time testing your ads. Even if you already have ads that are working for you and attracting new customers, optimizing your content can ensure that you stay up to date on what’s working for your audience.
Less personalization may mean that customers start scrolling past ads more often. Before, even if their eyes glazed over while viewing ads, personalization data made it easy to ensure that you were at least reaching the right audience. Over time, even without their focused attention, you could gain brand recognition and website visitors who passively saw your ads enough times that they chose to learn more.
But now, decreased personalization may make customers even less engaged in advertising. Creating colorful, engaging content will become even more important, giving experienced Instagram users a leg up.
Testing this content regularly can help your brand stay aligned with trends and respond to changes in their audience’s attention. Tailwind Create can help you design content unique to your brand in one click that stands out and engages your audience on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest!
Even though Facebook is retiring its Analytics tool, there’s no need to panic! While there’s no doubt that business tools for Facebook and Instagram are changing, less data may not be that bad for Instagram aficionados.
As someone with an eye for engaging visual content, these changes offer an opportunity for your brand to leave competitors in the dust. Brush up on your traditional advertising skills and use Tailwind’s powerful social media tools to create exceptional ads for your audience!
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