Actual Screenshot from Facebook

#BigTech religious censorship affects Christian marketers in a significant way, with key words and phrases being systematically eliminated from Facebook’s ad targeting options. Here’s a quick look at a few words and phrases that show how religious censorship is expanding on social media. These words associated with detailed targeting options have been “discontinued:”

• Jesus
• Bible
• Bible Verse
• Worship
• Pray
• Gospel
• Missions
• Missionary
• The Great Commission
• Focus on the Family
• Proverbs 31
• YouVersion
• Rick Warren
• Saddleback Church
• Bill Johnson
• Joyce Meyer
• Franklin Graham
• T.D. Jakes
• Rick Warren
• Billy Graham
• Creflo Dollar
• Benny Hinn
• Joel Osteen
• Lauren Daigle
• Elevation Worship
• Casting Crowns
• Zach Williams
• MercyMe
• Phil Wickham
• Matthew West
• Skillet
• Chris Tomlin
• Hillsong
• Natalie Grant
• Christine Caine
• Lysa Terkhurst

Unfortunately, the list goes on. 

What’s Up With #BigTech Discrimination?

Today’s #BigTech leaders have more in common with the Ministry of “Love” and Ministry of “Truth” from George Orwell’s 1984 than our Founding Fathers would ever have envisioned. Orwell has the worst-case scenario mostly right, except that it’s not controlled by the Government Leaders but rather by Commerce Leaders. 

Facebook (Meta), Google (Alphabet), Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft have clearly adopted a role of censorship, and others like Twitter, GoFundMe, and more have followed. They are publicly removing voices they disagree with and privately adjusting their algorithms to bury “disagreeable” content from their networks.  

There are vital cultural discussions and actions taking place in the midst of this, but for our purposes, where does this leave us as Faith-Based Marketers? We still need to reach the people our companies and charities need to reach. 

Where Does That Leave Faith-Based Marketers? 

Meta is purging their Facebook and Instagram advertising platforms of access to the very data options they’ve been collecting from our faith-based and other communities. They can still use it, but advertisers no longer are able to do so.  

For advertisers who want to reach Christians, Jews, or other people of faith, and separately for those who want to reach Conservatives and other groups, they continue to eliminate ad targeting for key words, phrases, and topics beloved by those communities, such as the list above and more. 

As this discrimination continues, it will effectively remove all Christian targeting options from the advertising system, decreasing the effectiveness of non-profit charities and causes and for-profit businesses that want to reach people based on their Faith ESP (Emotional Selling Proposition).  If faith is a significant driver in someone’s life, Facebook discriminates against those individuals by preventing advertisers from reaching them. 

Among other issues, it’s no wonder Facebook continues to see declining ad sales–their #1 revenue generator.

So, should Christian cause marketers and entrepreneurs leave Facebook? No, but it is important to stop being so dependent on Facebook and Instagram to reach the Christian audience. It’s time to diversify marketing efforts using additional tactics. 

When their excellent advertising system debuted, many, if not most, companies and charities flocked to Facebook and Instagram. Those who want to reach the faith-based audience are no different. For many, social advertising is the marketing tool they’ve become the most dependent on.   

Having worked for 20+ years in faith-based marketing, I can tell you from personal experience that there are marketers at these organizations whose only experience with marketing is Facebook and Google. They consider Social and Google advertising to BE marketing. As a tactic, it has worked very well. But as we experience the deliberate decline in results that Facebook is causing due to religious censorship, we have to diversify our marketing tactics further.

Here’s What You Can Do About Religious Censorship

Religious censorship will only worsen as #BigTech seeks to erase religion from culture. If your organization or ministry relies on Facebook or Google as a significant part of your marketing strategy, this is a harsh reality. 

Now is the time to diversify your marketing efforts. Keep boosting your posts on Facebook and Instagram to make sure your page audience sees them within the social environment. Partner with other Facebook pages like ours to reach their audience. Engage social Influencers to reach their followers. Try out different platforms that are more aligned with your values or at least not aligned against them. But certainly don’t stay firmly planted with both feet only in the #BigTech community.

It’s also time to revisit Direct Email and promotional packages with media that are aligned with your target audiences. Native content, site skins, pop-ups or splash pages can be combined with direct email, email newsletters, and mobile/web ads to create effective campaigns.

I’m Overwhelmed. Can FrontGate Help Me?

Here at FrontGate Media, we have religious censorship workarounds. Fortunately, through our extensive and ongoing research, we’ve found ways to reach your ideal Christian audiences on these platforms that are eliminating faith-centered content. 

You can also plug in our other proven marketing programs that aren’t compromised, like our Christian Influencer Group, Women’s Blogger Network, and Direct Email Lists & Media Brands. We continue to test and pioneer new opportunities in Faith-Based Marketing, like our Devotionals on YouVersion’s Bible App, our relationship reaching the up and coming social media platform Gab with 23+million members, and our Content Writing & SEO Services for your blog, website development, social pages and more. 

Inquire for more information, or read a few more details below.  

Christian Influencer Group

The FrontGate Media Christian Influencer Group is our proprietary group of Christian influencers who generate brand recognition and sales for our clients. Whether you’re promoting a new book, seeking donations, or increasing awareness of your organization, the Influencer Group gets people talking and buying. The best part is these micro-influencers already have a large audience of engaged followers and don’t rely on advertisements to reach your audience. This protects them and you against religious censorship. 

Women’s Blogger Network

Similar to the Influencer Group, FrontGate Media’s Women’s Blogger Network is another way to get your faith-based product in front of Christian women and moms. Our bloggers promote their product reviews on their established blogs and social media channels, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. The bloggers review your product on their blog and include backlinks to your website, landing page, or product. Our bloggers don’t rely on social ads and avoid religious censorship by publishing content on their own websites with an already established follower base.

Direct Email Marketing 

FrontGate Media’s Direct Email Marketing services send your content to faith-based audiences through multiple email lists. Our lists reach more than 20 million Christian subscribers, including church leaders, active donors, and Christian consumers. Email marketing is an effective way to reach your target audience without worrying about religious censorship.

Content Writing & SEO Services

Your own communications touchpoints, including your blog, newsletters, social posts, and website are mostly in your control and not currently affected by religious censorship. If you aren’t actively updating your website or don’t have a website for your ministry or organization, now is the time to get consistent with your content development. You can learn more about our services here.

At FrontGate Media, we’re committed to being Your Gateway to the Christian Audience. We are helping clients reach and engage the Christian audience, even in the midst of increasing religious censorship. Contact us today to learn more about working around censorship and utilizing other marketing strategies to reach your audience on social media and beyond.