Facebook is one of the largest social media marketing platforms available currently. And as such, it has quite a lot of features for marketers and content creators, with more on the way in the coming year. Therefore, keeping up with the trends and the new features is essential if you use the social media platform to its full potential.
So, what are the new updates in line for 2022? How do Facebook’s targeting changes affect you? We answer this question and more here.
Top Facebook Changes
The beginning of 2022 has been relatively slow for Meta (Facebook and Instagram). However, you can be sure that Zuckerberg's team has some exciting news lined up. Here are some of the changes that Facebook has released so far.
Metaverse
Facebook started its transition to Meta in 2021, starting with a name change. Meta is a virtual 3-d augmented reality world that provides its users with opportunities for gaming, socializing, education, and many more. While the initial stats aren’t as promising, it is still in its nascent stage.
Meta Advantage Suite for Ads
Facebook, or as it is now called Meta, has consolidated all automated ad products under a single umbrella, “Meta Advantage Suite.” Meta Advantage Suite has two groups of products:
Advantage: It allows you to automate certain aspects of the campaign like detailed targeting options
Advantage+: Allows you to automate the entire campaign process
Horizon Workrooms: New Remote Collaboration
Oculus users can now use “Horizon Workrooms,” a virtual reality world, to collaborate with their colleagues. In this new update, users can hold meetings, brainstorm, or have additional conversations without leaving their workstations. It also has some of the best technologies, including hand tracking, mixed-reality desks, keyboard tracking, virtual whiteboard, oculus avatars, etc. You can also bring your computer, keyboard, and desk into the VR.
Facebook Reels
Facebook launched reels in 2021, which are now available in 150 countries. Facebook Reels are essentially a video sharing feature where users can upload short videos onto the Facebook app. Even though it is a few months old, it is the most popular content format.
Content creators can now monetize the reels with overlay ads, provided that they are a part of Facebook’s in-stream ads program. They are designed such that the viewers can see the reels as well as the ads at the same time. The creator makes more money as more and more people engage with a monetized Reel.
Facebook’s Targeting Changes - A Review
As a part of Facebook’s changes, it will be removing the targeting options related to polarizing topics such as race, ethnicity, political affiliation, religion, sexual orientation, and health.
Generally speaking, Facebook prefers highly personalized ads enabling people to discover small businesses and others who may not have the visibility enjoyed by big brands. If so, why is Facebook limiting specific targeting? To a great degree, it is to prevent discrimination.
By removing the ad targeting options, it hopes to minimize abuse and discourage discrimination. However, the change hasn’t been received well by political advocacy groups and non-profits. This is because their revenue stream is heavily reliant on the targeting options.
How Does Facebook’s Targeting Changes Affect You?
Even though the sensitive categories were removed from the targeting options, the core function still remains. Thousands more categories are still available for marketers to target their niche audience.
Non-profits can use “Engagement Custom Audiences” to target their audience(those who have liked their page and watched their videos). Users can still see personalized ads but with less abuse, discrimination, and spam.