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We all remember when the digital world was under fire as a result of the recent Facebook data scandal. As the smoke cleared, Facebook was left with a tough choice in what to do to prove to people that the company is serious about data security and privacy. After all, if users don’t TRUST Facebook, then they won’t USE Facebook. And if users leave Facebook, there won't be anyone left to advertise to on Facebook.

Once again Facebook is taking action against discriminatory advertising by removing a large range of targeting capabilities for  businesses that fall into the housing, employment and credit. When creating ad campaigns for these industries, you now must select the Special Ad Category field or your ads will be declined for non-compliance. This is not good news for the many brands in these categories, as the targeting parameters are much stricter. Special Ad Categories are no longer able to target by age, gender or zip code. They are also limited on the interest and behavior targeting audiences. However, all is not lost! There are still impactful ways to reach your target market with Facebook advertising.

Website Custom Audiences 

Go ahead and install the Facebook Pixel on your website so that you can begin retargeting people. Custom Audiences are very helpful in two ways. One, they are targeting people that are already familiar with your brand. And secondly, it creates a larger target audience with the decrease detailed interests.

Those that fall in the Special Ad Category can not create a Lookalike Audience, but you are able to create Special Ad Audiences, which is very similar to a Lookalike Audience.  It will provide a group so you can prospect for business with Facebook users that behave like your website visitors. It is a cost-effective and targeted way to prospect for more business!

Email Custom Audiences

You can upload your email list into Facebook to match users on the platform and serve them ads. This is a great way to leverage your own data.

Offline Conversions

       Facebook Offline Conversions allows you to connect your CRM, Marketing Automation,           POS, or call center system to your Facebook ad campaigns. This helps close the loop                 between a digitally-captured lead and a non-digital conversion such as a sales                           conversation. You can then create custom audiences from your offline conversions.

     Engagement custom audiences

     What better way to nudge users closer to conversion than by targeting those who have           already engaged with your content? You can create a custom audience off of users who         have watched your videos, interacted with your page, interacted with your Instagram              profile, or even interacted with your events. By putting these users into an audience, you        have a highly targeted group of individuals who have already expressed interest in your          brand.

Even with all the drama and turmoil from losing Partner Categories, there are still some high-quality ways that brands can target users with social media marketing on Facebook. Don’t buy into the hype that you should delete your page or give up altogether. Using the tactics outlined above, you will definitely make an impact with your target customers on Facebook!