Drop your New Year’s resolution yet? Yeah, us too. But if the excitement of a new decade wasn’t enough to spur big changes, maybe this will: Facebook had its Q4 2019 earnings call last month, and digital marketers—especially those representing small businesses—have a lot to take in.

Facebook’s death has been greatly exaggerated

People like to say they’ve taken a step back from the Book, but the numbers tell a different story. FB reported a 35% jump in ad impressions alongside an 8% uptick in users. In other words, pleeeeenty of people are actively scrolling their News Feeds. While new user growth might be slowing, the amount of time Facebook users are spending on the platform has increased substantially.

But targeting is about to get trickier

Three privacy-related trends are going to make ad targeting trickier:

• Regulatory pressure – From legislation like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act.
• Browser changes – It remains to be seen how Facebook will be affected by Google’s announcement that third-party cookies are going bye-bye.
• Facebook’s “Clear History” Button – In late January, Facebook rolled out its Off-Facebook Activity tool that allows users to view and clear what Facebook knows about your browsing history off of Facebook.

Small businesses could (finally) get a leg up

There is speculation that The Great and Powerful Zuck will be tossing a bone to smaller advertisers. Says Mark: “A big focus for us is making sure that individuals in small businesses have access to the same kind of tools that historically only larger companies have had access to.” Could it be he has a soft spot for the little guy? Or could this shift in priorities be a response to slowed ad spend from big brands? Either way, we’ll take it.

Get ready to go full funnel

Facebook is driving toward an end-to-end solution for advertisers. The social-media giant is working to find you new leads and customers while also processing transactions within their platform. It’s not there yet, but you know what happens when Zuck sets his mind on something.

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