GDPR – do you need to change your approach to your Facebook advertising?
The 25th of May 2018 was an important and equally scary date for many businesses. It brought about the new rulings on date protection; the EU’s attempt at making your online experience a safer one.
There were a lot of scare tactics, to the point that businesses were deleting all their records – will there be a date blackhole because of GDPR?
Without getting distracted, what we are really here to address is will GDPR effect my Facebook advertising in any way?
The answer is yes, but not to anywhere near the level you might think/fear. The only businesses that will need to make any changes are those who were actively using custom audiences created with mailing lists from external sources. ie. if you had a list of email addresses that you imported into Facebook to then target with an advert. If you have done this and haven’t sought permission of every user on that list, STOP the advert immediately.
The reality is, however, that very very few businesses utilise Facebook advertising to anywhere near this level and as such the vast majority of you will not be affected.
Facebook Pixel tracking
Interestingly, the use of Facebook Pixels has not been affected by GDPR. Facebook Pixels are a fantastic tool that allow businesses to track Facebook users to visit their website, to then retarget them with specific adverts when they next visit Facebook – a hugely effective tool and one you should be using if you don’t!
The reason for Pixels not being affected by GDPR is that no personal information is gathered by Pixels – you are not able to select specific individuals in any way. Great news!