Meta Ads are Changing: Here's What Charities Need to Know (Quick Read)

Some big shifts have happened with Meta advertising recently, and if you're a charity dealing with health or 'social issues' (that's most of you!), you really need to pay attention. We're breaking it down so you know what's up and what to do next.

In a nutshell, Meta is making it harder to directly track conversions (like donations or registrations) from ads if they send people to websites about health or social causes.

The Detail:

• Meta's Events Manager will limit access to mid-level tracking for affected advertisers

• This means you'll have less direct data on things like website purchases, completed registrations, and leads from online forms. (Good news: Reach, Engagement, Traffic, and Landing Page View campaigns should be okay)

• Building Custom and Lookalike Audiences based on these conversions will also be restricted. You'll need to upload your own data more

Are you affected?

Likely yes, if:

• Meta sees your account/website as political, advocacy, social, or health-related

• You run ads to get donations

• You use website lead forms and then ask for donations (those donations won't be directly tracked in Meta anymore).

Probably not right now, if:

• You only use Meta Lead Forms (collecting info directly on Meta for things like calls, legacy gifts, or events).

• Your cause really isn't about social issues or health (but even then, future changes could apply).

Okay, so what do you need to do, or should have done so already!?

Step 1: Check if you are affected, and how your account and website have been categorised

• Go to this page and check if you have a notification about how you have been categorised: Events Manager overview 

  • You can appeal the decision if you feel that they have been miss-categorised

  • If you are offered an extension on your account, request this in order to get more time

Step 2: If you are affected, then review your strategy and adapt where you need to

• If you are running Lead Generation or Registration using a form on your website, consider optimising for Landing Page Views instead of Leads, or using Lead Forms on Meta

  • Make sure you test new approaches and aim to maintain your CPL and the quality of your leads

  • Monitor results in your GA account or from your donations platform, to make sure you have as complete a picture as possible

• If you are running Donor Acquisition via Meta, consider a 2-Step approach using lead generation and email or telemarketing to acquire donors on Meta 

• If you aren’t already, then start importing your donors and subscriber data into Meta in order to create Custom Audiences and Lookalikes, to make the most of your first-party data

If you're affected or just want to know more about different strategies to implement, reach out to me: Josh@hynt.studio