Marketing teams are revisiting brand suitability on social media in 2022

By Meta

Brands and people want to know that social media apps are safe places to connect, free from exposure to harmful content. Brand suitability describes the practice of determining a particular brand’s tolerance of advertising alongside safe but sensitive content. Heading into 2022, brand suitability will continue to be at the forefront of the advertising industry’s focus on social media.

In a recent Digiday and Meta focus group, brand and agency participants offered their thoughts and insights into the state of brand safety and suitability on major social media platforms under Chatham House Rule. Their conversation spotlighted the issues they are keeping top of mind. It highlighted how brands are approaching suitability, factors influencing advertising decision-making around suitability and available technology tools brands and people can use to control content they encounter.

By agreement at the beginning of the focus group, participants’ names and affiliations have not been disclosed.

The suitability factor

Social media companies are guided by their policies for what is and isn’t allowed on their platforms. Brand safety on social media involves removing harmful content which no brand would want to be associated with and establishing what content should be monetized.

The Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) sets the industry guidelines for reducing the availability and monetization of harmful content online. Social media companies are making progress regarding safety, beginning with user and advertiser guidelines that define what is and is not allowed on the app, holding every user accountable to those rules.

The focus group highlighted a vital distinction between brand suitability and safety from the social media perspective. Brand suitability is more subjective and determined on a brand-by-brand basis. Content deemed generally safe by a social platform may be unsuitable for specific brands, particularly if it doesn’t align with their industry or values. For example, a video game developer with content geared toward adults may be comfortable advertising alongside an article about alcohol, whereas a more family-friendly brand would not.

Suitability factors that marketers are keeping top of mind

Social media companies are working with GARM’s suitability framework to help brands and users achieve consistency in controlling suitability.

Social platforms provide partner-monetization and content-monetization policies, which determine what can be monetized. These policies apply to all publishers, but certain advertisers may not find those policies alone to be effective enough in controlling suitability.

In the Digiday and Meta focus group, it became clear that social commentary and news headlines about how social media companies are handling significant issues — such as misinformation and hate speech — influence brand decisions on where and how to advertise on social media. The focus group also highlighted that while brand clients have had reservations about advertising on social media apps due to suitability concerns, most still continue to use platforms to drive awareness, reach and revenue.

Another point came to the fore: Because brand suitability is so nuanced, universal technology tools such as ad block lists are meeting some, but not all advertiser needs. This is due to …read more

Source:: Digiday