Why does Meta help brands with data loss?

To the surprise of some commenters, Meta has been very helpful lately for brands struggling with data loss. Their motives may not be out of the goodness of their hearts so much as out of a race with a major competitor—but either way, brands benefit.

What is the signal resilience guide?

In 2021, Apple has a guide to application tracking transparency (ATT), which allows iOS users to opt out of data tracking across third-party apps. The ATT update had a direct impact on Meta’s ability to leverage user data to serve targeted ads on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. So, perhaps partly in response, Meta released a guide last year to empower brands that need to adjust their advertising strategies in response to Apple’s ATT update.

Meta’s 2022 Signal Resiliency Guide helps brands target their ads while using less data collected from third-party apps, and teaches social media marketers how to tweak their strategies in the face of increasingly strict online data privacy regulations. After all, the data Meta uses to determine when and where users engage with ads has become much more limited in recent years – so much so, in fact, that the guide defines several previously widespread digital marketing tactics as ‘at risk’:

• cross-terrain tracking
• similar modeling
• frequency control
• target and retarget
• measurement and attribution
• ad platform optimization
• website and email personalization.

Produced in partnership with Deloitte Consulting, the guide recommends shifting advertising...