Facebook Panics After Russia Controversy

If you haven’t already checked it out, Facebook recently made an announcement about their new transparency policies. After getting wrecked by the U.S. Federal Government’s Russia investigation, Facebook, Google, and Twitter are on the defense to appease the government.

(This post is not political, I promise)

In case you missed it, here’s the announcement.

The most important line is this (emphasis mine):

“Starting next month, people will be able to click “View Ads” on a Page and view ads a Page is running on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger — whether or not the person viewing is in the intended target audience for the ad. All Pages will be part of this effort, and we will require that all ads be associated with a Page as part of the ad creation process. “

This is crazy, in my opinion.

ANYONE will be able to go to a Business Page and see exactly what ads they’re running.

In the past, if you weren’t in the target audience (location, demographics, interests) you had to “hack the system” a bit to see your competitors ads. There were two methods to do this:

1. Use spy tools, which were always shut down by Facebook
2. Trick Facebook into showing you the ads, by convincing Facebook you’re in the ad’s target demo (I wrote about how to do that here).

The reason why you have to “hack” to find ads is that they’re listed as “dark posts.” These posts are posted covertly and only shown to people in the target audience.

Now? All of that is changed. If you want to see your competitor’s ads (or anyone’s ads, really), all you have to do is go to their page. That’s it!

In my opinion, this is absolutely crazy. Facebook is overreacting and trying to be as transparent as possible to look good for the public. Their reputation is on the line right now with all the Russia stuff, so they’re doing all they can to look good for the people.

I understand that, but for advertisers, this is not a good thing. For businesses, it’s even worse.

This update means that when you publish an ad, guess what, your competitor can INSTANTLY duplicate it.

If you start using a new offer (30% off, free fries w/ purchase, etc.), your competitor can see that and go lower, instantly

If you start using new ad copy or images, your competitor can instantly rip it off and do the same thing.

I get what Facebook is doing, but this will make the advertising market that much more competitive.

So how do we fight back? Here are the keys to success in my opinion:

A Truly Unique Sales Proposition

Your Unique Sales Proposition has to be bulletproof. It’s time to double down on the uniqueness of your brand.

There’s nothing special about 30% off French Fries, if everyone has the same recipe, but if your product is unique, customers will pour in. Anyone can offer 30% off fries, but how many fast food places can offer Waffle Fries?

None – except Chik-fil-A. It’s time to take everything unique about your business and magnify it even more.

If you don’t know what makes your business unique, get to the drawing board, and figure out what makes you special.

Find the characteristics of your biz that no one can rip off, then amplify those characteristics in your ads.

Create Ads That Can’t Be Copied

Despite my doom and gloom writing above, I don’t think this is really the end of unique advertising. There’s still plenty of ways for advertisers to present ads that their competition can’t rip off. Here’s how.

1. Video – Takes time and money to produce, and shows much more detail about the business, which is hard to reproduce. Video is killing it on Facebook right now, and videos made with love and care will continue to go a long way.
2. No Stock Images – The days of boring ads images are over. You have to use images that are of your actual business and employees, to use the ad to walk people in the door (before they actually do).
3. Creative Copy – Gone are the days of boring ad copy. Anybody can write “30% off now, come in.” Boo-riing. Businesses will now compete for who can write compelling copy that positions their biz above the rest, grabs the reader’s attention, and drags them through the sale.

Overall, I think this update is an overreaction from Facebook. When they roll out these changes, there will be a flood of complaints from advertisers and businesses. By this time the public scrutiny over “Russia” will die down, and Facebook will turn down the transparency.

Until then, it’ll be a cut throat market for advertisers. Your ads have to be completely on point, ready to push back against the competition. If you aren’t sure if your ads are up to par, here’s how to make sure your Facebook Ads don’t suck.