Social media is a brilliant way to find new customers and drive sales, but privacy laws and changes to what can be tracked have impacted how – and what – targeting can take place. From GDPR impact on social media ads to collecting first-party data ethically, it can be a minefield. But don’t worry: we can help clear it up and make privacy-first digital marketing easy.

GDPR’s impact on social media ads

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in May 2018, with the aim to put customers’ personal data protection first. For marketers, this meant a pivot to ensure their marketing was GDPR compliant.  

GDPR changed how marketers use personal data, especially for custom and lookalike audiences on platforms like Meta and LinkedIn. Customer lists including names and email addresses were often uploaded to social media ads managers, with the system ‘matching’ the information with their database to target those people, or ones similar to them.

Custom audience lists still work: if your users have given clear consent, and your privacy policy backs it up. Platforms like Facebook Ads Manager will “hash” the uploaded data, keeping it secure.

GDPR is EU-based and applies to all companies who do any dealings in the EU, even if they are not based there. While US data privacy laws for marketers differ, if you’re targeting anyone in the EU, your social strategy must be GDPR compliant: no exceptions.

What marketers need to do: Ensure that only customers who give consent have their data used for custom audience lists. Make sure that your data privacy policy clearly explains how data will be used and shared with social media platforms.

Social media targeting post-cookie

For decades, marketers have relied on third-party cookies as a way to track users online and then target them with ads. For example, if you’ve ever scrolled a website looking at a pair of shoes, left the site without buying, then been targeted by an ad on Facebook for those very shoes…that’s due to a third-party cookie.

However, in the last decade, many browsers have begun to block third-party cookies by default, with privacy concerns a major reason for this. This has made it more difficult to create retargeting ads on social.

When it comes to social media targeting post-cookie, marketing teams need new ways to personalise targeting…without cookies.

There are three main options:

1: Focus on first-party data

First-party data is information your audience gives you directly: think CRM and sales data, content downloads, email sign-ups, and customer feedback. This information can provide valuable insights into your customers and help you target them effectively. For example, using information based on demographics and products purchased to create segments

What marketers need to do: Collecting first-party data ethically is crucial. Be transparent and make sure your privacy policy spells out what you’re collecting, why, and how long you’ll keep it.

2: Pivot to contextual targeting

Contextual targeting is a pay-per-click (PPC) format that is based on keywords. Unlike third-party cookie ads, contextual targeting doesn’t follow users: it meets them in the moment, based on what they’re reading or searching.

Basically, the ad appears in the context of what you are looking at: if you were reading an article on a website about the best trainers for long-distance running, a billboard ad at the top of the page for trainers would be a contextual ad. It’s about showing relevant ads, right when interest is highest.

Contextual targeting used to be mostly for web ads, but in 2024 TikTok introduced search ads, as part of the platform’s move to focus on search.

What marketers need to do: Keywords are key for this format. It is important to create a list of at least 20 terms around what people may be searching for if they were in the market to buy your product. These should be fairly short, ideally four words maximum in length.

3: Use the platforms’ targeting tools

Another option is to target ads in a post-cookie world is by using the targeting systems on the social platforms themselves: using the demographic and interest targeting available there.

This is a basic form of targeting and may not be as accurate as some of the other formats, but it is ideal for broad awareness.

What marketers need to do: Knowing your current audience will make it easier to find the right targeting options. Any audience segments held by the marketing team will be useful to narrow down targeting to the right people.

While privacy-first digital marketing may be a new way of thinking for your business, there are still plenty of ways to target customers that are compliant with GDPR and other privacy laws. And if you get it right, you’ll build stronger customer trust and better long-term results