Meta's ad system has changed how it gathers user data, and small business owners who rely on social advertising need to respond in two ways: keep their own customer data fresh, and shift the message when targeting gets blunt. That is the practical guidance from Max McCoy, a paid media specialist at Circulus Digital Media, writing in the BEO newsletter from WISH-TV.
The change is real but manageable. McCoy says Meta increasingly relies on first-party data, artificial intelligence and automated targeting. Off-app tracking has weakened, so advertisers measure and retarget customers differently than before. And businesses now get less control over exactly where ads appear, because Meta pushes automated placement instead of letting advertisers hand-pick feeds, Reels or Stories.
This article translates those platform changes into a working checklist. Everything below traces to McCoy's published comments; it is information, not legal or marketing advice, and one strategist's view rather than a guarantee of results.
What actually changed in Meta's data gathering?
Three things, according to McCoy. First, Meta now leans more on first-party data — information the platform collects directly from its own users — plus AI and automated targeting. Second, signals from interactions with Meta's in-app AI help inform how audiences are targeted. Third, changes to off-app tracking have altered how advertisers measure and retarget customers once they leave the platform.
For a small business, the practical consequence is simple: the platform knows more about its users than about your customers. The targeting machinery still runs. But the inputs it favors are Meta's own signals, not the third-party tracking that used to fill the gap. That is why McCoy says these changes make a business's own customer data more valuable than it was before.
What can a small business owner do this week?
McCoy's advice points to a short list of concrete steps. Each one is grounded in his published comments.
- Audit your own data. McCoy says advertisers increasingly turn to CRM lists, website pixel data and lookalike audiences to reach existing customers and new prospects who resemble their highest-value buyers. If you do not know what is in your CRM, or whether your website pixel is installed and firing, start there.
- Keep the data current. "Fresh data is the best data," McCoy says. A customer list last updated two years ago targets people who may have moved, changed jobs or stopped buying. Set a recurring date to refresh your lists.
- Build lookalike audiences from your best customers. The point is not just any lookalike. McCoy's framing targets people who resemble your highest-value buyers, so identify which customers actually drive revenue before you upload anything.
- Accept automated placement where it makes sense. Meta is giving advertisers less control over exactly where ads appear and pushing automated placement and optimization. Fighting that shift manually costs time; the alternative is to let the system place ads and judge it on results.
- Change the message before you abandon the platform. McCoy tells business owners who can no longer target as precisely as they once could that the answer may be a broader message rather than leaving social media altogether.
Why does a broader message work?
McCoy points to a credit union as the worked example. Rather than relying solely on highly specific audience targeting, the credit union shifted toward financial education and positioned itself as an expert. That strategy produced highly engaged video views at a very low cost.
The logic holds for other owners. When precise targeting narrows, a message built to be useful to a wider audience does the sorting that the algorithm used to do. A viewer self-selects by watching. That is a different job for your creative: teach something, rather than aim a narrow offer at a narrow list.
What does this mean for your marketing budget?
It means the asset you control matters more than the settings you configure. McCoy says businesses should focus on maintaining their own usable, current data rather than relying entirely on audience segments controlled by social media platforms. An audience segment can change with an algorithm adjustment. A CRM list you maintain does not. We covered a connected angle in Entrepreneurship Explained: What the Word Actually Means.
Owners weighing where to spend should treat the customer database as infrastructure, the same way they treat a website. For more on building reach without heavy ad spending, see our guide on how to get your first 100 customers without an ad budget, and our broader entrepreneurship coverage for small-business marketing basics.
What remains uncertain?
McCoy's comments describe the direction of Meta's changes and one credit union's result. They do not quantify how much targeting precision has declined, and the low-cost, highly engaged video views he cites are one documented case, not a promise for every business. Owners should test on their own accounts, measure against their own baselines, and treat any single strategy — including this one — as a hypothesis to verify with their own numbers.
The lesson the record supports is short. Platforms will keep changing how they collect and use data. The businesses that keep their own customer lists fresh, and keep their messages useful enough to earn attention without surgical targeting, are the ones that do not have to start over each time an algorithm moves.
