{"id":12393,"date":"2024-02-09T16:00:10","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T16:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/?p=12393"},"modified":"2024-02-10T00:38:13","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T00:38:13","slug":"beginners-guide-facebook-ads-targeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/beginners-guide-facebook-ads-targeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Ads Targeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facebook Ads has solid targeting capabilities. Where to start?<\/p>\n

Thanks to Facebook\u2019s powerful targeting capabilities, marketers can instantly reach current and prospective customers. From basic demographics to specific interests, there are endless possibilities to connect with the audiences that matter most to your brand.<\/p>\n

The question becomes, who are you targeting, and what\u2019s the rationale behind it? Here are a few tips to keep in mind when developing an effective Facebook advertising strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Set Goals For Your Facebook Ads Campaigns<\/h2>\n

Before you dive into the deep end, it\u2019s important to define your Facebook advertising goals and ensure they align with your overarching business goals.<\/p>\n

Even if you create the best ad in the world, it won\u2019t do you any good if you don’t serve it to the right people. The campaign purpose you select will dictate your targeting approach.<\/p>\n

For instance, if you want to increase likes and brand awareness, you may want to cast a wide net using targeting criteria, such as location, age range, and gender. On the other hand, a more precise purpose, like increasing membership registration, often requires targeting a tighter, niche audience to generate more valuable leads. Narrowing criteria may include tactics like\u00a0zip code targeting<\/a>, interests, and users who follow particular groups.<\/p>\n

Luckily, Facebook Ads Manager makes this easy for you. The platform caters to six different objectives for your campaign, which you can easily choose right at the start of your ad creation process.<\/p>\n

\"Facebook<\/p>\n

Define Your Core Audience<\/h2>\n

Before you can begin targeting, though, you need to first define your ideal customer.<\/p>\n

Start by asking yourself: who are the people I\u2019m trying to attract to my brand? Using basic demographics, like age range, gender, race, geographic location, income level, education level, economic status, interests, and more, begin shaping the profile(s) of your target audience.<\/p>\n

Create Persona Profiles<\/h3>\n

Then, use basic demographics to construct a more specific persona profile<\/a>. For the purposes of this guide, let\u2019s create two hypothetical profiles: one for a fictional company and one for their ideal target customer, or persona.<\/p>\n

Company Profile<\/h4>\n

Brand<\/strong>: \u201cThe Future is Fitness”
\nFictional Company<\/strong>: \u201cThe Future is Fitness,\u201d a women\u2019s only gym in Portland, Oregon that primarily teaches body resistance training and yoga.
\nProfile<\/strong>: The gym prides itself on being environmentally conscious and hires trainers with exclusive credentials, resulting in a steep monthly price tag.
\nGoal<\/strong>: Double membership in the first quarter
\nAdvertising Strategy<\/strong>: Locate adult females in the greater Portland metro area looking to lose weight and tone their bodies. Encourage them to sign up for a trial membership.<\/p>\n

Persona Profile<\/h4>\n

Target Customer<\/strong>: \u201cJane\u201d
\nBasics<\/strong>: Jane, aged 45, is a single mother of two (one in middle school, one in high school).
\nProfile<\/strong>: When she has free time outside of her desk job as a software engineer, she loves to contribute to her community garden, go on local hikes, volunteer at the schools, cook new recipes, and gather with girlfriends for wine night or book club.<\/p>\n

Why Jane?<\/strong> Jane\u2019s profession suggests she may have the right income to justify a monthly gym membership expense. Her hobbies indicate she is social and enjoys a balanced lifestyle, open to physical activity as well as enjoying food and drink. These are qualities that may make a women\u2019s only gym appealing to Jane. Advertising content encouraging a free trial in her area that aligns with her interests may inspire her to click and sign up.<\/p>\n

Jane’s persona may seem oddly specific, but profile development is a best practice many successful brands use. While not every target customer will exactly match \u201cJane,\u201d this exercise helps marketers think about a living, breathing person on the other end of the ad, rather than just a list of qualities. Persona profiles help steer companies like \u201cTFF\u201d in the right direction to target people who align with the brand\u2019s values and indicate high revenue potential for the brand. Don\u2019t forget that you can create more than one persona profile if appropriate for your target demographic.<\/p>\n

Take A Detailed Targeting Approach<\/h2>\n

Facebook has the most sophisticated targeting tools on the market. It\u2019s a great place to discover and reach new audiences with your message. Keep your \u201cJane\u201d persona in mind as you experiment with interest-based targeting.<\/p>\n

\"Facebook<\/p>\n

Start by putting yourself in Jane\u2019s shoes. Think about all of the specifics we created in her profile, and consider what she might talk about or \u201clike\u201d while using Facebook. Self-reported data, such as Jane identifying as a woman in her profile, and the content of her status updates and comments all contribute to Facebook\u2019s interest data about Jane.<\/p>\n

Just because she may want to get physically fit doesn\u2019t mean Jane will actively talk about it online with family and friends. This missing data point means that she wouldn’t likely be shown TFF\u2019s ads if they only targeted women in Portland who are interested in weight loss. However, if you creatively think about the other topics she may be writing about or subscribing to on Facebook, like raising children or gardening, TFF may be able to serve her the ad if they target women in Portland with similar interests to hers.<\/p>\n

Use Personas to Set Up Your Facebook Campaigns<\/h2>\n

With your target persona(s) in mind, it\u2019s time to create your audience<\/a> in Meta Ads Manager. Start with the basic demographic information, such as location, age, and gender of your persona. Facebook recommends starting with those broad details to ensure your audience size is large enough \u2014 between two and 10 million people \u2014 for optimal results.<\/p>\n

From there, you can get more detailed about the traits you want your audience to have. This could be anything from their interests and occupation to their education level and relationship status. Use your persona to guide you but also be sure to keep an eye on Facebook\u2019s audience meter. This will let you know whether your audience is too narrow, too broad, or just right.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t hesitate to create multiple audiences and campaigns. This strategy may seem like a long stretch at first, but by keeping tabs on which audience segments are responding to your ads, you can adjust ad spend and shut off underperforming audience segments. After you list out the demographic information for your target audience (location, gender, age, language), try creating different Facebook audience segments based on interests.<\/p>\n

As an example, for Jane’s persona, try creating an ad set that targets each of the persona’s interests:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Gardening<\/li>\n
  2. Volunteering and\/or Community Issues<\/li>\n
  3. Wine<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    By creating an ad set for each of these interests, you can learn if gardeners are more expensive to target, more or less engaged, or more likely to convert than wine enthusiasts and volunteers. It allows you to adjust how you’re targeting gardeners to get a better response or turn off that segment of the campaign altogether.<\/p>\n

    When you use one target audience that includes all three interest groups, over time Facebook’s algorithm will figure out which segments are most likely to achieve your objective (you set the objective when you create an ad) and only show your ad to that group. Facebook will ‘optimize out’ some of your interest groups and assigned demographics. Optimization is ideal for conversion, but it doesn’t allow you to learn if a segment, or interest group, say, gardeners, is a segment of the market you should focus your advertising on. Since this optimization is working behind the curtain, it prevents you from making critical testing decisions, like testing new ads to increase the engagement of gardeners or cutting them out altogether.<\/p>\n

    Create Custom Audiences and Lookalike Audiences<\/h2>\n

    In addition to being able to refine your audience by demographics, location, and interest, Facebook also offers two additional targeting features that take your current leads or customers into account: Custom Audiences<\/a> and Lookalike Audiences<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    With Custom Audiences, you can reconnect and engage with those who have previously shown interest in your business. This is done by connecting or uploading a specific data source to find that existing audience on Facebook, allowing you to target and show ads to:<\/p>\n