Following a slowing to its rate of growth, Facebook has announced a multiyear plan to rebuild targeting systems and user tracking.
Executives at Facebook claimed that the slow growth was due to changes made to Apple devices. Policy tweaks to Apple’s Identifier for Advertisers made the feature opt-in rather than opt-out by default. Facebook initially warned that these changes would make it more difficult to target and measure ad campaigns, and those warnings have now rung true.
Making changes
Facebook has acknowledged that it will take some time for it to move around this obstacle created by Apple, hence the multiyear plan. Within this plan, it has also decided to target three key product areas – Reels, e-commerce, and the metaverse.
The Reels feature is Facebook’s answer to TikTok. With 60% of Facebook’s video revenue coming from mobile-first video, it is clear that this is an area that they want to develop. Facebook has since introduced financial incentives for creators using this feature.
E-commerce has been a big part of Facebook for a while, but this is set to be pushed even further as we head into the holiday season. For Q4, the social media giant has plans to launch live shopping experiences with popular brands like Walmart.
Finally, Facebook is keen to reinvent itself as a “metaverse company”. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, said: “If you’re in the metaverse every day, then you’ll need digital clothes, digital tools, and different experiences.
“Our goal is to help the metaverse reach a billion people and hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce this decade.”
As Facebook continues to grow and change, advertisers and marketers should monitor the changes closely to see where they will be able to take advantage.
