Unlocking Meta: Targeting Christians on Facebook

Facebook's constantly changing rules when it comes to religious advertising can be frustrating. You're not alone in that boat. Trying to figure out what's allowed and what's not, or how to target a Christian audience can be a head-scratcher. But don't worry – there's a way to connect with Christian audiences on Facebook. Let's dive in.

First, what exactly are Facebook's rules when it comes to religious ads?

Well, Meta (Facebook/Instagram) doesn't have strict rules specifically for religious ads. Instead, they've got broader standards all about inclusivity and shutting down anything that seems discriminatory. That means ads touching on stuff like social issues or identity, which often go hand-in-hand with religious content, might have a harder time getting the thumbs-up from Meta.

The key to crafting a religious ad that will pass the approval process is being thoughtful about the wording. If you touch on sensitive topics, use positive language that centers on connecting believers.

Let's look at an example.

The ad below is spreading awareness for an event on one of the most heated conversations of our day: sexual and gender identity. An ad like this could easily veer into discrimination territory and be rejected by Facebook, yet this one was not only approved, it performed exceptionally well!

How did this ad navigate the topic well?

Take a look at how the copy invites users to join the event and focuses on connecting believers rather than expressing explicit disapproval towards opposing people or beliefs. The ad also does not make assumptions about what the audience does or doesn’t believe. It asks a question and then invites people to a discussion.

Problem #1: Targeting Christians

An objection we often hear is that it isn’t possible to target Christians on Meta, ever since they eliminated religious targeting.

Can you still target Christian audiences on Facebook?

Absolutely! Even though Facebook said goodbye to religious targeting using their platform data, there are still plenty of ways to find your Christian tribe.

1. Setup Tracking. Make sure you have Meta Pixels and CAPI implemented on your website. You may need to work with your web developer to get these implemented on your website, but this is a crucial step in your ability to have success with targeting on Meta! Once tracking is in place, your pixels will need time to gather data, depending on the volume of traffic to your site and the number of conversions.

2. Upload Your Custom Audiences. Gather your company or ministry’s first party data. Have you got an email list? Can you export a list of customers? Meta allows you to upload this data in their Audiences tool and use it for targeting and creating lookalike audiences. So gather your data, put it in a csv file, and upload it.

3. Create Lookalike Audiences. Once the customer data is uploaded, Meta will ask you if you want to create a lookalike audience. The answer is YES! Typically you’ll want to choose the United States for the lookalike (unless your customers are international) and start with the smallest lookalike group at 1%. You want to see a group created that looks like this:

Once the Pixel on your website has enough data, create a lookalike audience of your website visitors. For those who installed conversion tracking, you eventually want to create a lookalike audience of actual donors or sales conversions.

4. Target Lookalikes & Custom Audiences. Now when you create a campaign in Ads Manager, those audiences are available to you. You can target lookalikes of your current email list, buyers, donors, etc. that you’ve set up. You can also exclude your custom audiences based on your marketing campaign strategy.

How does this help target Christians on Meta?

If the people visiting, buying, or donating on your website are Christians, the lookalike data will also be primarily Christian. Meta’s data will find all the commonalities between the people in your custom audience and create the lookalike audience. This expands your reach to people who look like your custom audience.

Is it a perfect audience of only-Christians?

No. But it will be a high percentage, and enough to get your great marketing results.

But… what if you don’t have your own data?

Or, what if you’ve been using lookalike audiences already and your results are dwindling?

Parable Digital can help with our extensive network includes pastors, church leaders, and Christian consumers.

Problem #2: Disapproved Ads

What if your Meta ads are getting disapproved as political or socially sensitive content? What if your Christian ads are disapproved?

Meta requires verifications to run political ads or socially sensitive ads (that might include the topics of gender, pro-life, poverty, etc.). If your ministry addresses these culturally relevant topics, you’ll need to get verified. And by you, I mean both you personally as the marketer, and you as the ministry or business page.

1. Identity Verification: if you run ads in Ads Manager, you’ll need to get verified by Meta. This involves uploading identification, mailing address, and sometimes will require getting an affidavit notarized. These hoops can take time, so don’t delay. Head over to Facebook's identity verification page to get started.

2. Page Verification & Disclaimer: You’ll also need to get your Meta Page verified. Go to Business Settings and navigate to Brand Safety. To verify your website domain, you’ll need to provide business identification and verification such as with tax documents, business email/phone. Once you’ve got the page verified, you need to set up a disclaimer and link it to your ad account.

It might feel like a lot to run political or religious ads on Meta, but once these steps are in place, you will be up and running your campaigns.

Parable Digital can help.

If you are new to this or just want an agency to take care of these problems, Parable Digital is here to help. We assist our clients with completing these steps, and our marketers are already verified so that we get your ads running ASAP.

If you’ve exhausted your lookalike data or just need help reaching Christians on Meta’s platform, we have an extensive network includes pastors, church leaders, and Christian consumers we can leverage on Meta and target the precise audience for you.