2026-09-20 – BEO – GS As the digital media landscape evolves rapidly, small business owners need to stay informed and learn how to leverage emerging platforms to reach their audience. Max McCoy, a paid Media Specialist for Circulus Digital Media, says Meta’s recent algorithm adjustme nts have changed how it gathers user data. He says Meta increasingly relies on first-party data, artificial intelligence and automated targeting. McCoy says Meta is using signals from interactions with its in-app AI to help inform audience targeting, while changes to off-app tracking have also altered how advertisers measure and retarget customers. At the same time, Meta is giving advertisers less control over exactly where their ads appear, pushing businesses toward automated placement and optimization rather than manually selecting individual feeds, Reels, or Stories.   According to McCoy, these changes are making a business’s own customer data more valuable. He says advertisers are increasingly turning to CRM lists, website pixel data, and lookalike audiences to reach both existing customers and potential customers who resemble their highest-value buyers. He says businesses should focus on maintaining their own usable, current data rather than relying entirely on audience segments controlled by social media platforms. “Fresh data is the best data.” McCoy tells business owners who can no longer target their audiences as precisely as they once could, the answer may be to change the message rather than abandon social media altogether. He gives the example of a credit union that shifted toward financial education and positioned itself as an expert, rather than relying solely on highly specific audience targeting. That strategy has produced highly engaged video views at a very low cost. ...read more read less