Facebook ads can be powerful. But if you’re running campaigns in housing, employment, or financial services — or in politics and social issues — you already know the rules feel different. The targeting options that once let you reach exactly who you wanted are now restricted.
So how do you reach the right people when the old shortcuts are gone? That’s the challenge of Facebook’s Special Ad Category. The good news? With the right mix of strategy, creative, and data, you can still run effective campaigns that resonate with the right audience.
Let’s dive into what’s changed, what’s still possible, and how you can make the most of these limitations.
What Exactly Is a Special Ad Category?
Special Ad Categories exist to protect users from discriminatory or misleading targeting.
They apply to:
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Housing, employment, and financial products/services (think: apartments, jobs, loans, credit cards, mortgages).
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Social issues, elections, or politics (with additional verification steps).
If your ad even slightly overlaps with one of these areas, you must declare it. Fail to do so and Meta will disapprove the campaign. It’s not just a suggestion — it’s required.
Imagine you’re a recruiter promoting job openings in New York. Even if your ad copy doesn’t mention age or gender, the fact that it’s about employment puts it under the Special Ad Category. That means restrictions apply automatically.
What Targeting Options Are Limited?
Here’s where most advertisers start to feel boxed in.
For housing, employment, and financial services ads, targeting restrictions include:
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Age: Locked at 18–65+. No narrowing, no exceptions.
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Gender: Must include all genders.
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Location: Cities and regions are allowed, but not ZIP codes or postcodes. If you pick a city like Seattle, your audience will automatically expand to include a 15-mile radius around it.
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Exclusions: Forget excluding certain interests or demographics — that option is gone.
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Lookalike audiences: Completely unavailable.
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Saved audiences: Automatically updated to comply with restrictions.
And starting January 2025, customer list custom audiences for housing, employment, and financial services campaigns in the US will also be restricted.
Think about how this changes your workflow. No more laser-focused “25–35-year-old women in one specific neighborhood with a credit score interest.” Instead, you’re asked to zoom out — and rely on creative, messaging, and optimization to pull in the right people.
If you want a full breakdown of what’s changing across Facebook’s ad platform in 2025 — beyond just Special Ad Categories — check out our guide on Facebook Ads Targeting Updates: How To Adapt in 2025.
So, How Do You Target Effectively Anyway?
This is where strategy comes in. You can’t rely on micro-targeting anymore, but you can still build campaigns that connect deeply with your audience.
1. Use Location Targeting Creatively
Even with the radius rule, you can make location targeting work.
Example: A mortgage broker in Denver can’t target by ZIP code, but they can still run ads highlighting “Homeownership opportunities in the Denver Metro area.” The radius might pull in people outside city limits, but guess what? Some of those people could be perfect prospects — maybe they’re moving into the city.
Pro tip: Instead of thinking of the radius as wasted reach, treat it as a chance to capture movers, commuters, or nearby professionals who might not live exactly in your target ZIP but still need your product.
For advertisers working at the local level, it’s worth reviewing our Step-by-Step Facebook Marketing Strategy for Local Businesses in 2025, which shows how to work effectively with broader geographic targeting.
2. Focus on Interests That Signal Intent
Some detailed targeting options are gone, but many are still available.
For instance, a credit repair company can’t target based on financial distress or ZIP code, but they can target people interested in budgeting tools, personal finance education, or homeownership tips.
Ask yourself: What broader interests overlap with my product?
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Selling apartments? Try audiences interested in DIY home projects or interior design.
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Recruiting for healthcare jobs? Test targeting people who follow nursing associations or health-related career pages.
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Promoting personal loans? Consider interests in small business ownership or entrepreneurial communities.
By framing interests around lifestyles and aspirations, you stay compliant while still narrowing toward likely prospects.
If you’re wondering which targeting options are still effective, our 2025 Guide to Facebook Interest Targeting for B2C Brands digs deeper into interests that continue to drive strong engagement.
3. Let Your Creative Do the Filtering
When you can’t control the demographic dials, your ad content itself becomes the filter.
For example:
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A university offering adult MBA programs can’t target “25–40-year-old professionals.” Instead, they run an ad that opens with: “Thinking about advancing your career while balancing family and work?” Instantly, the right people self-select.
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A real estate ad could feature imagery of suburban family homes versus urban condos, depending on what you want to highlight. The visuals speak directly to different groups, even within a broad audience.
Think of your creative as a magnet. The clearer your message, the stronger it pulls in the audience you’re hoping to reach.
For more inspiration on building scroll-stopping ads that speak directly to your ideal customer, take a look at The Psychology of Facebook Ads: How to Hook Your Target Audience in Seconds.
4. Test Broad Audiences with Advantage+ Campaigns
This one feels counterintuitive, but it works.
Broad targeting (or even Advantage+ campaigns) allows Meta’s machine learning to find the right users over time. The algorithm doesn’t need you to specify “35-year-old engineer in Boston.” It learns who clicks, who fills out forms, and who converts — and then finds more people like them.
A recruiter we worked with ran broad campaigns for tech jobs in Dallas. Instead of slicing the audience by age or background, they used a generic “Now hiring IT roles in Dallas” ad. Within two weeks, Meta optimized toward professionals engaging most with the job ads, and applications started rolling in.
If you’re experimenting with wider targeting, you’ll also want to understand how machine learning works in your favor — our post on Retargeting vs. Broad Targeting: Which Strategy Drives Better Results? compares the pros and cons of both.
5. Build and Nurture First-Party Data
While customer list uploads will soon face restrictions, not all data is off-limits.
You can still leverage:
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Engagement audiences: People who engaged with your Page or Instagram account.
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Video views: Retarget people who watched your videos.
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Lead form opens: Even if they didn’t submit, opening a lead form signals interest.
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Website visits: Using the Meta Pixel (with proper consent).
This isn’t just compliant — it’s powerful. These audiences are warm, familiar with your brand, and more likely to convert.
What About Political and Social Ads?
If you’re running ads around elections or social issues, the bar is even higher. You’ll need to:
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Verify your identity with Meta.
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Attach “Paid for by” disclaimers.
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Accept that all ads will live in Meta’s Ad Library for seven years.
For example, a nonprofit running voter education ads must go through this process before launch. If they skip authorization or if their ad appears to come from outside the country they’re targeting, Meta will reject the ad.
It may feel restrictive, but for transparency, it’s non-negotiable.
A Bigger Mindset Shift: From Exclusion to Inclusion
At the core of these restrictions is a shift away from exclusionary targeting. Instead of asking, Who can I cut out of my audience? the real question is, How can I create messaging that naturally attracts the right people within a broad audience?
Think of it as moving from a sniper rifle to a magnet. Less precision, more pull.
And here’s the upside: by broadening your reach, you may uncover audience segments you hadn’t considered before. That Denver mortgage broker might find new clients in nearby suburbs. That credit repair company might discover entrepreneurs who need help improving their financial profiles.
Final Thoughts
Targeting in Facebook’s Special Ad Category can feel like a constraint — but it’s also an opportunity to refine your strategy.
You can’t rely on ZIP codes, lookalikes, or exclusions anymore. But you can lean on creative, interest-based targeting, broad campaigns, and first-party data to reach the right people. The key is relevance. Make your ad so clear and compelling that the right people recognize themselves in it — and click.
Because in 2025 and beyond, winning with Special Ad Categories won’t be about narrowing your audience. It will be about creating messages strong enough to cut through, even when the net is wide.
