Facebook offers advertisers the ability to create special ad formats that highlight social issues and promote positive social change. The social issues ad category allows brands and organizations to raise awareness of important causes like diversity, education, environmentalism, equality, healthcare, and more.
What types of ads fall under the social issues category?
There are several different ad formats that can be used to address social issues on Facebook:
- Social issue ad – Basic ad that promotes a social issue, cause or nonprofit organization
- Donation ad – Asks people to contribute to a nonprofit fundraiser on Facebook
- Offer ad – Highlights a special offer, like matching donations, to incentivize giving to a cause
- Augmented reality ad – Uses AR to educate people on a social issue
- Poll ad – Survey that invites participation on a social topic
- Quiz ad – Tests people’s knowledge on a social issue
These ad formats allow creatives that bring social issues to life through image/video content, while targeting users interested in related topics. They contain a clear call-to-action, like signing a petition, donating, watching a video or learning more.
What are some examples of social issues addressed through Facebook ads?
Here are some examples of social causes addressed through special ad formats on Facebook:
Diversity & Inclusion
- Racial equality
- LGBTQ+ rights
- Gender equity
- Acceptance and anti-discrimination
- Multicultural representation
- Disability inclusion
Health
- Access to healthcare
- Mental health awareness
- Disease research and funding
- Women’s health
- Vaccination education
- Public health initiatives
Education
- Literacy programs
- STEM education
- Arts funding
- College access
- Scholarship funds
- Global educational disparities
Environment
- Climate change
- Sustainability
- Conservation efforts
- Renewable energy
- Pro-environmental policy
- Pollution and waste reduction
Humanitarian Aid
- Disaster relief
- Combating poverty and hunger
- Clean water access
- War and crisis response
- Refugee assistance
What options and features are available for social issue ads?
Here are some of the options and features Facebook provides for social issue ads:
Ad Content
- Images, video, carousel, Stories, Playable ads
- Augmented reality effects
- Polls, quizzes, coupons
- Hashtag, @mention, tags
- Custom frame around ad
Targeting
- Location
- Age
- Gender
- Detailed demographics
- Interests and behaviors
- Lookalike audiences
- Custom audiences from your contacts or site visitors
Placement
- Facebook feed
- Facebook Stories
- Instagram feed and Stories
- Messenger
- Audience Network
Optimization
- Split testing ad variations
- Detailed analytics reporting
- Check-ins for nonprofit donations
- Custom conversion tracking
Social issue advertisers have access to Facebook’s full suite of ad tools and creative controls. Your ads can appear across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network.
What requirements or policies apply to social issue ads?
Facebook has advertising policies in place related to ads that address social issues, politics or matters of national importance. Here are some key requirements:
- Page representing organization must be administered from authorized country
- Accurate page information with organization details
- Page must be over 90 days old to run social issue ads
- Disclaimers for sponsored content
- Restrictions on promoting sensitive attributes for targeting purposes
- “Paid for by” disclosure for entities behind ad
- Authorization process for political advertisers including ID verification
In addition, all ads must comply with Facebook’s community standards policies prohibiting hate speech, harassment, nudity, and graphic violence. Advertisers should carefully review Facebook’s Ad Policies for full details.
What are some tips and best practices for creating effective social issue ads?
Here are some top tips for creating impactful social issue ads on Facebook:
- Highlight a specific call-to-action for your campaign – sign petition, donate, watch video, volunteer, etc.
- Use vivid, emotionally compelling images and videos
- Leverage video ads for storytelling (e.g. a personalized plea, testimonial, mini-documentary)
- Use polling and quiz ads to engage users and educate
- Segment your audience into interest clusters for targeted messaging
- Test different headlines, images, copy, layouts to optimize performance
- Utilize captions and carousels to highlight multiple messages/visuals
- Partner with influencers and advocates to expand reach
- Retarget engaged users and website visitors to drive conversions
- Measure results and optimize based on key metrics like clicks, impressions, donations etc.
Conclusion
Facebook provides a powerful platform for nonprofits, brands, organizations and advertisers to promote important social issues through creative ad campaigns. By leveraging different special ad formats, targeting capabilities and placements across Facebook’s apps, social cause marketers can effectively raise awareness, educate users and motivate them to take action whether donating, volunteering, voting or changing habits and mindsets. With thoughtful messaging, strategic distribution and robust measurement, Facebook social issue ads can make a measurable impact.