As anyone in the digital marketing landscape knows, the terrain is ever-evolving. In recent months, several policies have been rolled out across various digital platforms that may impact your ad targeting. These policies can impact who, how, and where your messages are meeting consumers. We want to help our community stay up-to-date on these policy changes as well as provide possible alternative solutions to support success.
State Laws & Regulations
What Policy is New?
One of the biggest changes on the horizon for digital advertisers throughout this year and in to 2026 is the evolution of state laws and regulations around user privacy. In 2024, twelve states released comprehensive data privacy laws that heavily impact the availability of the type of data marketers use to develop audiences and deliver well-targeted messages.
How Does This Impact Advertisers?
According to the The National Law Review, “these varying requirements include, but are not limited to, notice of data collection/use/sharing practices, certain rights for individuals pertaining to their data, opt-in and/or opt-out requirements for certain types of processing, and contractual requirements for third-party service providers processing personal data on a company’s behalf.”
The best strategy for success as these laws develop, change, and roll out is to prioritize 1st Party Data. This refers to customer data collected directly from a business, such as age, education, background, employment, etc. The best avenues for collecting 1st Party Data include Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, a company website (logins and cookies), subscription emails, customer surveys, and social media accounts.
Discover How Programmatic Advertising Can Help You Reach Restricted Audiences
Meta Policies
What Policy is New?
In September of 2024, Meta announced updates to their business tools available to advertisers in its platform, according to the Search Engine Journal. These updates prioritize user privacy and alter the way in which data is collected from users and shared with advertisers. Certain industries, such as recruitment and financial offers, will also no longer have access to developing special audiences.
How Does This Impact Advertisers?
Some custom audiences previously available may no longer be accessible in ad settings and may impact currently running ads. Managers can assess this impact in the Meta Events Manager and alter ads accordingly.
Additionally, creative UTM parameters will not be able to track detailed, personal data and ads that are currently doing so have been paused or slowed down. We recommend having a detailed strategy for tracking Meta performance and data moving into 2025 that does not rely on UTM tracking and restricted audience data.
Meta and Political Ads
Several laws and regulations have changed across Meta following a contentious election cycle, causing changes to the accessibility of advertising for political campaigns. Learn more about how KeyMedia Solutions can help manage these challenges and deliver success in political advertising, here.
Get Started on Your Strategy for Success
If you are not currently engaged in a form of 1st Party Data collection for your business, these policies and the many more to develop throughout the near future, may cause setbacks to your business’s digital efforts. Get connected with a digital strategist today to audit your current position across these policies and plan the future ahead.