Facebook is estimated to surpass 3 billion users in 2022. That's twice as many as Instagram and three times as many as TikTok, although TikTok boasts the fastest growth rate and the potential to challenge Facebook for the crown.
For now, however, Meta is the most popular social networking site in the world. With such high traffic, many business owners want to advertise on the platform. However, for advertising to work and be successful, a proper strategy is necessary. What targeting options does Facebook offer? Check it out.
What is Facebook targeting?
Targeting is the process of displaying ads to specific types of users. For example, you can target ads to people interested in a specific topic (fashion) based on age, interests, profession, and other factors.
Of all the major advertising channels, it's safe to say that Facebook has the most advanced targeting options available. Nearly 2 billion daily active users worldwide provide the network with a wealth of data that allows it to identify the largest audience.
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Facebook knows practically everything about everyone, so it has an excellent basis for targeting based on:
- gender,
- age,
- location,
- language,
- relationship status,
- education,
- industry/workplace,
- general and specific interests (likes, follows, activities).
Because the portal has such detailed information about its users, you can target extremely specific niches. For example, if you want to find people interested in fashion and living in Warsaw, you can use interest and location targeting.
You'll then select two things: fashion and Warsaw. This will ensure your ads are displayed only to users who meet these two criteria.
Targeting allows you to narrow your audience to a more specific group of potential customers or users of your products and services. The narrower the scope, the more relevant your ads will be.
Targeting options on FB – target audience
Facebook offers advertisers three different options for business-focused targeting:
- Primary audience groups: targeting, among others, by age, interests and geographic location,
- Custom Audiences: collected from CRM (customer relationship) or website visitor data,
- Similar audience groups: determined based on interests to the best customers on Facebook.
If you've been running your business for a while and have the data you need, your primary targeting tools should be custom and lookalike audiences. But what if you're just starting out and don't have any customer data or aren't seeing any traffic to your Facebook page?
This is where targeting with the core audience statistics available in Facebook Audience Insights comes in. They're a starting point for any advertiser without any prior preparation.
Facebook's core audience and ad reception
Audience statistics will help you define the primary audience for your ad. They will help you determine whether your group should be large or narrow based on specific criteria. To get started, simply learn:
- Demographic data: age, gender, education, job position, religion, etc.,
- Location data: for better advertising in the cities, countries and communities where you intend to do business,
- Interests: select customers for a specific advertising category, e.g. beauty, fashion, healthy eating, fitness, etc.,
- Behaviors: take into account recipients' previous purchases and device usage,
- Contact: Set your target audience to people who have contacted your website or participated in an event.
You can also save and use the audience you create when using the FB ads manager.
Custom audiences and targeting those interested in the offer
Facebook also allows you to target people who have already shown interest in your business. This includes both regular customers and those who have simply visited your website or taken specific actions. You can also leverage information collected in your CRM system or email list.
Another option is to target your ad to people who are indirectly interested in your offer. The idea is to identify a similar audience to those who have been active on your website and are likely to respond to your ads. Simply create a seed audience of people you know, and Facebook will match them with new potential customers who share similar characteristics and interests.
How to set up Facebook advertising to be effective?
The principle of Facebook ad targeting is simple. The better and more precisely you understand your target customer, the more control you can have over your Facebook ads, and the better your results will be . So what can you do in your targeting settings?
- Focus on specific locations. You can select individual countries, cities, or narrower areas (e.g., a neighborhood). This is ideal if you operate locally. It's also possible to exclude specific locations.
- Take into account the age, gender and language of your target audienceBy precisely limiting these parameters, you can significantly increase the effectiveness of your advertising material.
- Set a specific level of education, and even specify specific fields of study and years of graduation. This is a good choice if, for example, you want to target only medical students.
- Target specific industries, professions and employers, especially when your offer is addressed to a very specific group of people.
- Look at life events. For example, an engaged person will soon be getting married, so wedding vendors and service providers dealing with anything related to the wedding reception have the opportunity to reach new people involved in the preparations. The same applies to the "in a relationship" status. Such relationships provide an opportunity to promote their services to suppliers of small gifts, gift certificates, or flower delivery.
- Don't forget about your parents. Facebook offers the opportunity to reach those who already have children, but also potential future parents. E-commerce providers of baby accessories or children's toys and accessories can benefit from this.
- Target fans of a specific interest. Fashion, sports, culinary preferences, beauty, etc. – you can set very detailed options for addressing your ad.
- Focus on the technology you use. Providers of smartphone products, applications, and services can take a very targeted approach here. They can filter their target audience by operating system (Android, iOS), phone brand, or even internet connection speed.
As you can see, setting up Facebook ads largely depends on the audience you want to reach and the industry you operate in. If your product or service offerings are local, your target audience can't be too large.
It's worth taking care to narrow it down precisely. The right approach is to find a happy medium that allows you to achieve what's best for you.
How to check the availability of your targeting ideas on Facebook?
With all the targeting ideas that pop into your head, it's important to check if they're also available in Facebook's database. Even though the possibilities are vast, that doesn't mean they're limitless. Unfortunately, you won't find everything there.
While you’re conducting your market analysis, open Facebook Audience Insights in your ad account and search for a relevant term, for example, in the “Interests” section (e.g., travel, books, football).
If Facebook finds something relevant to your search, that targeting option is available and can then be used in your advertising campaigns. Facebook Audience Insights not only helps you check the availability of your targeting solutions, but it's also a helpful tool for generating new ideas.
All of these targeting options on Facebook increase the relevance of your ads to the users who view them. It's worth taking advantage of them!
FAQs about Facebook targeting
Targeting is the process of precisely defining the audience your advertising campaign will reach. Thanks to the vast amounts of data collected by the Meta platform, advertisers can reach users based on their characteristics, specific behaviors, interests, and previous interactions with the brand.
Basic targeting allows you to select users based on demographic data (age, gender, location, relationship status, education), their interests (e.g., the sites they follow, the topics they read), and their behaviors (e.g., the phone operating system they use, shopping habits, or frequent travel).
This is an extremely effective option for targeting ads to people who have already interacted with your company in some way. These may be users who have visited your website (remarketing), people from your uploaded mailing list (e.g., current customers), or users who have previously engaged with your posts or watched videos on Facebook or Instagram.
"Lookalike" groups are created by Facebook algorithms based on your previously defined best audiences (e.g., based on a list of customers who have made a purchase). The system analyzes their common characteristics and then searches the entire network for new users with similar profiles. This is one of the most effective ways to scale your business and acquire new customers.
A meta pixel is a short piece of code placed on your website. It's the absolute foundation of effective campaigns, as it records user behavior on your site (e.g., viewing a product, adding to a cart, or completing a transaction). Without the data it collects, it would be impossible to implement precise remarketing or create advanced lookalike audiences (LALs) based on website events.
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- Facebook targeting is the precise targeting of ads to selected groups of users based on their detailed demographics and interests.
- Facebook offers three main targeting methods: Basic Groups for beginners, and Custom and Lookalike Groups for businesses with their own databases.
- Core audiences on Facebook are created by precisely defining their demographics, location, interests, behaviors, and previous interactions with the brand.
- Custom and lookalike audiences allow you to precisely reach people who already know your brand and new users with similar profiles and interests.
- Effective Facebook advertising requires precisely narrowing your audience through detailed parameters such as location, demographics, life status, industry, and technology used.
- The availability and relevance of targeting ideas is best verified directly in the Facebook Audience Insights tool, which allows you to search for specific interests and generate new inspiration for campaigns.
