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In a world where everything is going digital, all businesses depend on digital marketing to stay ahead of the curve. And whether you like it or not, you can agree that Facebook is the go-to social media platform for promoting anything physical or digital.
But, running ads on Facebook is not that simple for crypto companies because there are so many changes in regulation that you don’t know what to put or not put into your ads. Besides the obvious financial loss, it can create legal problems for you.
Of course, the only way out of this maze is to know Facebook’s latest advertising policies on cryptocurrency so you can design and run ads with peace of mind. You can start by reading this guide.
Are You Allowed to Advertise Crypto on Facebook?
Facebook and Instagram are part of Meta, an established online sales and marketing network.
Facebook and Meta acknowledge the emergence and rising value of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Just two years ago, Facebook significantly broadened its eligibility to run advertisements for crypto and blockchain-based services.
The main standard is that Facebook or Meta must provide their written consent before using either of their platforms to promote crypto services.
Facebook demands that advertisers and ad material be reviewed. Advertisers have to comply with all relevant governmental regulatory standards and get prior written consent before posting any advertisements that advertise or sell crypto.
Basically, you can divide cryptocurrency ads into two parts.
Can’t Run These
To cut down on the number of banned ads and forbidden financial content, Meta and Facebook changed their crypto ad policy. Meta allows companies to post regulated ad content about blockchain and other services. Some companies are still forbidden following policy changes:
- ETFs selling crypto or monitoring crypto price changes need to apply and present their case to Facebook for approval.
- Any advertisement or marketing agency offering initial offerings or Binary options.
Except for ads advocating crypto and token offerings from any unregistered firms, Facebook does not officially ban many web3 and crypto companies. It is important to note that these companies cannot get the necessary approvals in any scenario.
Can Run These
Most cryptocurrency-related services and data are exempt from the policy’s requirement for approval.
Companies are free to show news, major events, and instructional content about blockchain technology and crypto. You can get Facebook’s approval for the following cases:
- Any Blockchain service that does not sell digital currencies. Facebook has exempted Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) from this policy.
- Cryptocurrency wallets with no trading or staking utility.
Why Did Facebook Ban Crypto Ads?
Facebook decided to ban all crypto ads because it wanted to rebuild confidence after recent “fake news” disasters and a vast number of scams in the cryptocurrency industry. A prime example was crypto companies using unregulated offerings and selling digital assets to fund their operations.
Strangely enough, Facebook chose to go after the whole cryptocurrency sector, including businesses that adhere to all legal rules and are not at all scams. The industry leader in social media claims that this was an intentional move by Facebook.
However, given the rising public interest, it was difficult to see how such a ban could have a significant negative influence on the multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency market.
Naturally, crypto companies started searching for alternate marketing strategies, and many marketing agencies started looking for other channels to promote their services.
Is it Illegal to Advertise Cryptocurrency?
It’s overly optimistic to think that the rules governing cryptocurrencies and their application are well-established, organized, and simple to follow.
Currently, the SEC is having trouble regulating cryptocurrencies because they haven’t established many specific guidelines in this area.
Cryptocurrency business owners struggle with such confusion because they don’t know where to run ads without getting banned. They are worried about the absence of definitive rules, a lack of awareness, or the growing number of shady crypto startups.
So, the best solution is to go case by case and review each platform based on its specific rules and criteria regarding cryptocurrency. The biggest platforms to run crypto ads are currently:
- TikTok
- YouTube
When Google revised its advertising guidelines in 2018, it prohibited any advertising for wallets, offerings, and crypto trading tips.
The unreliable and suspicious aspects of these services were the main reason behind this ban. It went so far that Google once considered crypto ads a danger to a user experience that could lead to misinformation and a harmful user experience for people.
But, in 2021, Google significantly changed its guidelines for running cryptocurrency ads. However, similar to Facebook, there are restrictions in marketing cryptocurrency products. Companies need to follow certain rules to be approved by Google.
For instance, the company has to:
- Be registered with FinCEN under the title of a Money Services Business. It can also be registered with a federal financial body.
- Follow the latest regulatory standards on a local or national level. Staying compliant is a challenge for most companies, including the ones in the crypto sector.
- Follow all Google Ads rules and standards when creating or running cryptocurrency ads.
Companies may promote cryptocurrency exchanges or wallets by following the above conditions. But, any crypto ads regarding offerings, DeFi, and token/coin exchange are still banned by Google’s standards.
YouTube
Cryptocurrency ad rules on YouTube also changed following Google’s new crypto policy revisions. Businesses are allowed to run crypto ads for their wallets on YouTube, but only if they follow the specific rules we mentioned above.
So, even if you’re allowed to post crypto ads, you must follow the limits set by Google. These limits include broker analyses, trading signals, financial guidance, and affiliate websites with relevant content.
TikTok
In 2021, TikTok released a new policy that forbids influencers from posting advertisements for crypto and all related products or services. This is exactly in contrast to what Facebook and Google did.
TikTok revised its guidelines to ban crypto from its list of approved categories. This action was quite similar to Google’s original decision to prohibit cryptocurrency, which was made to stop the rising number of cryptocurrency-related frauds and scams being pushed on the internet.
Which Ads Are Not Allowed According to Facebook’s Policies?
Like other giant social media platforms, Facebook is quite sensitive to the content and ads you promote on its platform.
It uses strict guidelines to monitor user activity, which is why you have to be up to date about what is permitted and what is not to get your approval.
Facebook bans some ads right out of the gate. Any ad related to tobacco, firearm, spy cameras, adult services, dating, and many other areas is immediately limited or banned by Facebook. Cryptocurrency used to be one of these items, but not anymore.
So, if you’re running crypto ads and don’t know why they didn’t get approved, it may be because of violating community standards.
Here is a brief summary of the mistakes that violate Facebook’s advertising rules in all sectors, including cryptocurrency.
Violence/Illegal Actions
Facebook will ban your crypto ads if they contain a true, serious threat.
The ad will be prohibited if it promotes any illegal activity, including unlawful recruitment, terrorism, or systematic anarchy. This is rarely the case for most crypto products, but you have to be careful about your wording and the pictures you choose.
Privacy/Safety Threat
Facebook will ban any crypto ads promoting harm, sexual misconduct, or any sort of harassment. The same goes for any platform or campaign that reveals people’s private information without their consent.
Exaggerated Content
Your advertisements must be honest and realistic about the services or goods they promote. Facebook’s review team continuously searches for content that offers misleading facts or promises to users, which can lead to financial loss and safety threats.
It doesn’t matter if you run ads for cryptocurrency, dieting, affiliate marketing, or any other area; Facebook bans all content that makes exaggerated claims and promises to people.
Intellectual Property (IP) Violation
Your advertisement won’t be accepted if it infringes on any IP cases, including all current copyrights and trademarks. Make sure to consult a professional crypto marketing agency because they are familiar with the latest regulatory changes in the market.
Too Many Images
Facebook used to implement a 20% rule for images, but that limit has recently been dissolved. Although facts indicate using more text in images can expand your reach, Facebook generally advises you to just cover a tiny section of it with text. Only include text in a picture if it is vital.
Manipulating Facebook’s Brand
When using its image and brand, Facebook does not fool around and is quite strict about what they approve.
In essence, you aren’t allowed to use a modified or out-of-date form of the Facebook logo, and you shouldn’t suggest that you are associated with the platform by utilizing the logo.
It’s not just about using their own brand and logos. You cannot incorporate Facebook’s trademark, domain name, or anything that may look similar to Facebook’s properties and create confusion for users.
This is a common unintentional mistake in many ads that get rejected because of a similarity to Facebook’s logo or brand. There are also strict limitations on how you can use screenshots of their user interface.
Shady Lead Ads Questions
Lead advertisements permit marketers to gather customer information. Thus, Facebook has undoubtedly imposed some restrictions on the type of data you are able to get from your lead ads.
Your lead advertisements will be rejected if they request any private information such as their Social Security Number (SSN), credit card number, home address, medical/criminal history, and anything that Facebook has not expressly approved.
Offering Irrelevant Information
You can’t use any text or content that’s irrelevant to the images in your crypto advertisement or the landing page that customers visit by clicking on the link. Facebook says that such ads provide poor or low-quality content that may create a harmful user experience.
Targeting the Wrong Audience
In order to improve conversion rates and comply with Facebook’s rules, you must keep in mind that the ads you display to a certain group are relevant to them. Your advertising will be rejected if you deliberately offer them content that is false or not relevant.
Non-Functioning Buttons
You have surely seen many images or fake buttons that say “click here” or “download this.”
Facebook draws a big red line over any advertisements that use this trick for their CTA. The same goes for checkboxes, multiple-choice questions, or fake alerts that only misdirect users to unwanted pages. You won’t get any approvals with such techniques.
Landing Page
Sometimes people use click baiting and other strategies to change the surface of advertisements. Instead of using a legitimate landing page to bring in traffic, they place a redirect to a different landing page that converts better but is completely out of line with Facebook’s rules.
Stay away from such tricks because it’s one of the most harmful things that can get you blocked and prevent you from Facebook login.
Bottom Line
Social media platforms are still rethinking how they will handle cryptocurrencies in general.
But now that big players like Facebook, Google, and YouTube have lifted their limits on crypto ads, it’s the best time for any business to run a powerful campaign and boost its revenue.
This guide should give you enough information to avoid some major mistakes when running ads on Facebook. If you carefully follow these pointers, you’ll get more approvals and fewer rejections in time.
Also, stay up to date on the latest changes to Facebook’s policies regarding crypto. With the lack of regulation for this sector, you never know when any social media platform may lift or impose some bans.
Of course, doing this may be easier said than done because you probably don’t have the time or staff to keep up with regulatory changes.
In such cases, it’s much better to work with a reliable crypto advertisement agency because it is their job to find the best channels to run your ads.
Luckily, that’s what we do at ICODA. We’re also ready to get in touch and create an affordable marketing plan for your crypto business.
