Promoting a Playable campaign on Facebook shouldn't be more difficult than promoting any other digital campaign. But we’ve noticed that Facebook is becoming more strict with guidelines, and some of our customers' business accounts have been blocked or suspended because their paid ads were perceived as being "not in line with Facebook guidelines".
While this isn’t directly related to Playable, it's affecting our customers, so we’ve put together this unofficial guide for how to make ads that comply with Facebook's guidelines.
Once you’ve created Facebook ads, don’t forget to set up pixel tracking on your campaign. This can help you measure your ads’ effectiveness and create custom audiences for retargeting.
Learn how here: Tracking with Facebook Pixel (visible only to logged-in users).
Tips for promoting on Facebook
Read the Facebook guidelines
It is crucial that the ads are in line with Facebook’s policy. Facebook may close your account if the ads do not comply with their guidelines. And if you want to re-open a closed Facebook account, you’ll need to prove that you understand why the account was closed in the first place.
Read the policy here.
Verify your Business Manager
Facebook wants businesses to verify their business accounts to prove that the account is authentic and trustworthy. Business verification checks whether a Business Manager account belongs to an actual business or organization. A verified account appears more "trustworthy", which may give you a better chance of reversing Facebook's decision to lock or close an account.
You can find a short guide on how to verify your account here.
Be aware of the limitations on what you can share
If your business relates to pharmaceuticals, cryptocurrency, alcohol, gambling, cigarettes, or other similar products, be aware that these topics are very tightly controlled in terms of how you can communicate about them. Facebook keeps a close eye on these businesses and what they are sharing.
Read more about restricted or prohibited content here.
Avoid mentioning or addressing controversial subjects
As with point 3 above, you need to be careful when referring to controversial subjects (e.g., cryptocurrency, gambling, firearms, etc.) even if you are condemning them. Facebook will scan ads for specific keywords, so even using these words in a positive context may result in your account being closed.
Facebook scans the entire campaign landing page, also external links
Facebook looks at the whole landing page and not just the Facebook post. This also includes links that send users out of the campaign.
Imagine you’ve made a personality test where users get a certain result. This result could include a link to a landing page on another website. If that landing page references controversial subjects like alcohol, even though it might only be a "gin-tasting experience", Facebook could see this as a violation of their policy.
Do not address the consumer directly in your communications
You shouldn't communicate directly to the end user in your ads, meaning you shouldn't use the word “you” in your copy. For example, instead of asking "Are you stressed?", communicate in more general terms, such as “6 out 10 people have experienced stress”.
This is not an issue for all accounts, but it is something Facebook scans for. If Facebook is already monitoring your account's behavior, they will be more strict about this.
Avoid using images that show an action (click bait)
Click bait is when you trick someone into clicking on something. Including a CTA (call to action) in your ad's image or text will be seen as click bait.
Picture an ad that promotes a "spin the wheel" campaign with a picture of the wheel and text that says "spin now". This makes it look like if you click on the ad, you can play the game directly in Facebook — but because it links away from Facebook, it will be seen as click bait. So your ad should not give the impression that the game can be played on Facebook itself.
See below for examples of non-compliant and compliant advertisements. If using an image like this, you may receive an error message like: "Image doesn’t comply = Non-existing functionality in the image."
Be careful when using abbreviations
Abbreviations can be read differently when Facebook scans the text and image. This might not be a significant problem for companies that communicate in English, but abbreviations in other languages can be read incorrectly.
Remove disapproved ads from your account
If you have ads that are rejected, you should either appeal for a manual review by Facebook to resolve the issue or remove the ads completely. If you have too many disapproved ads on your account, it might trigger Facebook to shut down your business account for suspicious behavior.
Appeal to Facebook if your account is closed
In the unfortunate case that your account is closed, it is possible to appeal and get a review from Facebook. In their feedback, you will be able to read why the account was closed. If the Business Manager has been verified, the chances of getting the account opened again are greater (see point 2). Referring to the guidelines and acknowledging the error made can also help you in the process (see point 1).
While there is no guarantee the account can be re-opened, it can be a good idea to contact an agency that works a lot with Facebook because they may have access to a higher level of Facebook support.
Facebook has created a short description of the process here.
Be careful when using a new Facebook account for advertising
In recent years, Facebook has been trying to prevent false accounts from being created. This means accounts without any history will have a higher chance of being closed or viewed as suspicious. For this reason, you should be careful when creating new accounts specifically for advertising Playable campaigns. If you create a new account, make sure to verify the Business Manager, and if possible, create some posts before promoting the first campaign.
Keep it simple and be consistent
To build up credibility for your Facebook Account, be consistent with the way you are running ads, especially if you are launching a new account. There are no definitive guidelines to follow, but there are some inconsistencies that can appear suspicious.
Try not to publish ads from multiple different IP addresses, as this might trigger Facebook's security system. You should also avoid promoting the same product or service from multiple Facebook Pages and Ad Accounts.
Be aware of who has access to your account. If your account's users are also admins on disabled ad accounts, it might affect your credibility even though it’s not related to your Business Manager or company