Have you heard about the Facebook Ad Transparency feature? There are so many ways we can use this as marketers and creative freelancers, that I felt like it deserved a shout.

What is the Facebook Ad Transparency feature?
It’s a section of Facebook (not even Business Manager) that gives additional insight about pages as well as all Facebook/Instagram ads currently running under the profile.

Okay. What’s the why here? Even though you can start small, advertising on social media is an investment. It’s helpful to see what others are doing in your industry. It also gives you the space to imagine how you could fit in and what type of testing you could run.

Keep in mind that the ads and content you see on social are a customized bubble to you, so it’s helpful to see the full span of what’s out there. (This is like your own personal door to your brand of choice’s Business Manager!)

How can you use this ad transparency tool? Oh, let’s count the ways! With this feature, you can gain ideas, gather key insights, and see those (often-called) “dark posts” that would otherwise be hard to find. Here are a few things to check off your list:

• Key advertising intel: Get deep-dive insight into the advertising currently on the Facebook/Instagram networks from brands you want to see. Monitor how others in your industry are using Facebook and Instagram ads and speaking to your target audience.
• Insights into testing strategy! You can see how the iconic brands are testing images or messaging, and gain ideas for your own campaigns.
• Trend Research: Just like Buzzsomo, Google Correlate, or Google Trends and Keyword tools, I can see using this for trend research. Think about it, ad campaigns have money backing them, so whatever a brand or person is promoting is most likely something that they think is important to their brand AND super relevant, super important, or super trendy.

Exciting right? Let’s take a peek!

How do I access Facebook Ad Transparency? It’s not through Business Manager!

1. Find the account you want on Instagram or Facebook.
2. On Instagram, click the “…” next to the account name, on the top right corner. On Facebook, scroll through and look for the Page Transparency box.
3. You’ll see “About This Account.” Click and done!
4. Click “Ads” to see a visual of the ads as well.
   

And as always, follow me on Instagram for the latest , including surprise tips, challenges, and best use-cases to build optimize your mountain tribe!