What Meta’s Ad-Free Option Means for Users & Advertisers

Data privacy concerns are soaring, and Meta is making news with the most recent changes to its social media platforms. The company announced an ad-free option in which users can pay a fee to remove all ads from their user experience. This option will be available in over 30 European countries in its initial phase.

Previously, Facebook and Instagram users could be shown targeted ads based on their personal data, or they could not use the apps at all. But many complained about this ‘deal with it or leave’ approach. Now users will have the option to pay a $10/month fee – which will increase to $17/month in 2024 – and be free of ads completely. Meta will also begin charging an extra monthly fee in 2024 for each additional account connected in a user’s Account Center. So if you happen to have a lot of profiles, this can add up fast.

The European legal system has been pressuring Meta to offer its users more options around data privacy. So it’s unlikely the company would’ve chosen to offer an ad-free option by their own volition.

It’s also unlikely that an ad-free option will be offered in the US, and legislators haven’t passed serious data regulation laws yet and don’t show signs of doing so anytime soon. 

It’s important to note that there won’t be changes made to Meta’s data collection itself. Facebook and Instagram will still gather personal data from users who sign up for the ad-free subscription. The data simply won’t be used for targeted advertising.

Some say the price is way too steep, especially when the platform is still gathering your data. It’s likely that Meta chose its price based on similar services like Nexflix, Spotify, and YouTube Premium.

The implications of Meta’s new subscription are far-reaching. Some hypothesize that this is the beginning of normalizing social media as a paid service. And it could even be the end of reliable social media advertising as we know it. But it’s too soon to tell, and the ad apocalypse isn’t upon us just yet.

Until meaningful regulations are passed in the US and Europe to force big companies to collect less personal data (for free), this is the mediocre solution that Meta has presented for those concerned about their privacy.

What does it mean for advertisers?

Since ad-free is currently restricted to the EU, advertisers would be wise to focus on US and Asian markets. This means putting more effort into quality design and marketing campaigns for these regions.

Getting good at organic content will be a must in 2024, as leaning solely on ads is becoming less and less reliable. Enhancing brand awareness, customer engagement, and social media presence will be vital. Especially for companies that will lose a significant chunk of their viewers as a result of the EU shift, it will be critical to start thinking of natural ways to reach people.

How can businesses level up their marketing strategy?

More than ever, brands need to be leaning into what they’re best at. Now isn’t the time to be following every trend and jumping on every experimental bandwagon. Brands will be looking to distinguish themselves in a more refined way than ever before.

This means tightening up content strategies and cutting the fluff that doesn’t have any ROI. Organic content needs to be directly relevant to the customer’s interests – and brands need to be catching them within the first 3 seconds of viewing. This goes for videos, images, and text posts.

It’s also a time for companies to learn the bones of the social platforms they’re using. What works for you on TikTok may fall flat on Instagram. Part of successful marketing is learning that dance – combining an authentic brand message with awareness of what works. 

If your target audience exists somewhere other than Facebook and Instagram, now is the time to experiment with new ad platforms. Places like TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, or Pinterest can be valuable places to expand.

Tools to Level Up Your Ads

Unlimited Graphic Design

Creating ads is often time-consuming and tedious, even for brands that are well-resourced. This is why more companies are outsourcing than ever before. Unlimited design services like Penji and DesignJoy function like an extension of your marketing and design team. They’ll make you ad templates for any platform, custom graphics and illustrations for any purpose, landing pages, and more. 

Partnering with a design company can drastically improve your productivity and output without the costs of hiring a new employee. Most offer unlimited design revisions and access to a variety of specialists (animators, illustrators, logo designers, etc). You can skip the process of vetting freelancers (and probably getting ghosted half the time) and know that you have a design team at your disposal year-round.

Ad Testing

Imagine being able to test your ads with AI algorithms trained on consumer research. Well, you can. Hippoc is a tool that lets you test your ad designs so you can optimize them for maximum effectiveness. You simply upload a design, select whatever your campaign goal is (eg. brand awareness), and the platform will rate your ad on a scale from 0 to 100.

For companies that are tired of blind A/B split testing with confusing results, ad testing tools can give you additional direction. Test different ads on the platform and do a free A/B test based on the AI data gathered in the tool.