Meta Tests New Geo-Targeting & Link Features

It’s a bonanza week across Meta for this edition of Digital Digest, with the platform teasing a number of new features and ongoing tests. In the below slide, we’ve outlined three key tests and changes to be aware of when planning and discussing your social activity.

Geo-Targeting Costs

In an update to marketers, Meta announced this week that there will soon be a fee added to activity which is targeting audiences in specific locations. The fee – which Meta are ascribing to the cost of targeting an audience in a location with specific regulatory fees (such as a digital service tax) – will be charged as a separate line item. Meta describe the fee as being based on ad impressions delivered in specific locations, stating: Location fees are calculated based on ads delivery to users (ad impressions) in a jurisdiction with government-imposed taxes/levies (e.g. digital service taxes).

In its update, Meta stated that it had previously covered this cost but it will soon be chargeable to brands for activity delivered in the locations outlined below, and noted that more jurisdictions may be added in time.

Austria — 5%

France — 3%

Italy — 3%

Spain — 3%

Türkiye — 5%

United Kingdom — 2%

What will this mean for brands?

Brands targeting audiences in these regions will need to be alerted to this upcoming charge and the additional cost added to plans.

Meta Testing AI Prompts to Improve Targeting

Meta have unveiled a range of new features and tests across its platform in recent weeks, with one notable update coming in the form of AI prompts to help improve targeting abilities in ad set-up. Available in the Detailed Targeting (Advantage+ Audience) feature on their ads platform, Meta now allows advertisers to describe their ideal audience in conversational language. Its AI tool will then generate related interests to match this description.

What will this mean for brands?

For brands, this feature will enable social teams to set up ads more efficiently (should the prompts prove to be as effective as manually selected ones). However, it’s not anticipated that it will drastically alter ad performance, given it’s a tweak of a broader feature.

Clickable Link Testing on Instagram

Also in our Meta-watch this week comes the news that the company are testing clickable links in Instagram captions for paid subscribers. Spotted in the wild by a content creator, the company confirmed to Endgate that they have rolled out this feature to a select group of users.

What will this mean for brands?

It’s not yet known the forthcoming plans for roll-out, but should clickable links become widely available, this will be a gamechanger on the platform for brands and creators who have a direct-to-consumer product or offering. Whilst affiliate programmes such as Like to Know It (LTK) have offered this feature in recent years, the ability to include links directly on platform would enable brands to more directly track activity and sales from social. However, in its current form, the test suggests that this feature will be limited to no more than ten links shared per month, so these will need to be activated wisely.