A big issue is plaguing advertisers: Facebook is no longer allowing advertisers to import certain third-party audience lists into its platform. The move stems from an attempt to shield users from sensitive topics, yet the result has seen advertisers struggle to connect with the public on very real, important issues via the social media giant.
While some audiences may still be onboarded onto the platform, marketers report difficulties navigating how to do so.
This means that audiences you have curated outside of Facebook — such as the hundreds of audiences in Tunnl’s Prebuilt Audience Suite, Premier Audience Suite, and the custom audiences we can build for you — can be challenging to onboard into Facebook's Custom Audience tool.
Why is this a problem?
Audiences help advertisers target the exact people who care about and are likely to engage with their messaging. Without being able to use audiences on Facebook, advertisers risk missing out on a large number of potential consumers and disjointing their outreach campaigns across channels.
Does this mean you are unable to use your third-party audiences on Facebook? Fortunately, no. With a little guidance, you can effectively use Tunnl audiences on Facebook.
Here, we’ll explore the issue of Facebook’s constraints on first- and third-party data onboarding and how Tunnl can help you circumvent the restrictions to reach your ideal audiences where they are most likely to see and engage with your messaging.
Beginning in 2018, Facebook implemented a ban on third-party data that is consistently updated year after year. This ban is twofold:
“Facebook can be considered a ‘walled garden,’” says Teddy Kamody, Tunnl’s Director of Agencies. “Their ban on third-party audiences is meant to force advertisers to trust their data exclusively, but it’s become a big headache for marketers trying to reach niche groups and unify their campaigns across channels.”
The ban is highly restricting for marketers trying to target specific audiences on Facebook, especially those concerned with important social issues. Many advertisers specifically need to reach audiences based on how they feel about today’s most pressing issues — like the audiences found in Tunnl’s prebuilt audience library.
The ban has effectively denied advertisers’ ability to utilize such useful outside data.
Moreover, because Facebook limits use of their own audiences to only their platform, advertisers struggle to unify their targeted messages across channels.
“Facebook has made it very hard to reach the same audience across a campaign on other platforms,” says Teddy. “The increasing amount of restrictions is blocking clients from targeting certain groups on Facebook, and preventing clients from targeting Facebook audiences on other platforms.”
With advertisers feeling the squeeze of restrictions, many wonder, How can I target my messaging to reach my ideal audiences across channels, including Facebook?
With Tunnl audiences, you can.
How do we accomplish this?
Tunnl distributes the third-party data directly into our clients’ ad accounts. By sending the data directly to the account, the audiences do not face the same scrutinizing restrictions that advertisers would encounter should they attempt to onboard the data themselves.
By using Tunnl audiences, advertisers can target the same Tunnl audiences on Facebook that they would target on other platforms and mediums in their ad campaigns. If they do not do this, whoever they are targeting on Facebook would be a different audience than the audience they are targeting on other mediums and platforms.
We understand that onboarding third-party data onto Facebook can feel complicated. To help guide you through the process, we’ve outlined the 5 steps to take to onboard Tunnl’s third-party audiences onto Facebook:
- Step 2: Activate your chosen Tunnl audiences with the click of a button, and our team will onboard them in Facebook.
- Step 3: Within 1–2 business days, we send you a Facebook agreement contract for self-reporting usage. This contract is standard and indicates that you will be charged for data as it is used, through a percent of media model. There are no upfront costs. Because you’re charged based on data usage, if you do not end up using one of the audiences we’ve onboarded for you, you will not be charged for it.
Although Facebook has made onboarding third-party audiences onto their platform difficult for advertisers, it is not impossible. The solution is to have your audience provider, Tunnl, send your audiences directly into your ad account.
From there, you can target your audiences as usual on social media.
“The best part of this is that we’re helping advertisers unify their messaging across channels,” says Teddy. “We want to help marketers reach the people who care about the issues your messaging is about. Now, we can help you do that on Facebook, as well.”
Ready to reach your target audience more accurately and efficiently than ever on Facebook? Explore the hundreds of addressable audiences in our Prebuilt Audience Suite.