Planned restrictions on young people’s use of social media should serve as a warning to businesses that rely too heavily on paid advertising platforms, according to marketing expert Thomas Phillips.
The UK government has announced plans to prevent social media platforms from offering services to children under 16 from spring 2027, alongside additional protections for 16 and 17-year-olds, including limits on personalised content recommendations.
While the measures are primarily aimed at protecting younger users, Phillips, founder of DTC SEO Agency, believes they also highlight a broader challenge facing marketers.
He argues that businesses built around platforms such as Meta, Instagram and TikTok remain vulnerable to changes in regulation, platform policies and advertising rules.
“Businesses shouldn’t assume these changes are irrelevant simply because they don’t market to teenagers,” Phillips said.
“The bigger issue is how quickly the rules around reaching an audience can change.”
According to Phillips, many brands have become increasingly dependent on paid social advertising to generate demand and acquire customers, despite having limited control over the platforms they use.
He describes paid social as “renting access” to an audience rather than owning the customer relationship, warning that businesses can be exposed if advertising costs rise, targeting capabilities are reduced or regulatory changes restrict who can be reached.
The comments come as marketers continue to reassess channel strategies amid growing scrutiny of digital advertising, privacy and platform accountability.
Phillips believes businesses should focus on creating a more diversified marketing mix, combining paid media with channels that provide greater long-term control and resilience.
These include organic search, email marketing, digital PR, direct traffic and community building.
He also emphasised the importance of investing in owned assets such as websites, content libraries and customer databases.
“Your website is an asset. Your email database is an asset. The content you’ve created is an asset. The reputation you’ve built through PR is an asset,” he said.
Rather than abandoning paid social, Phillips argues businesses should use successful advertising campaigns to strengthen brand awareness and build audiences they can reach independently of platform algorithms.
“The healthiest businesses aren’t relying on one algorithm, one advertising account or one platform to keep sending them customers,” he added.
As regulators and platforms continue to reshape the digital marketing landscape, Phillips believes diversification is no longer simply a marketing best practice but a business necessity.