March 22, 2018
Facebook has over 2.2 billion monthly active users. That means 2.2 billion people are liking, sharing, commenting and giving advertisers information on their interests and activity.
While you can use demographic data to target audiences, this is painting people with a broad brush. Facebook collects data on people’s likes and dislikes, locations, and so much more. This is advertiser gold since it allows you to target users in a highly focused way.
Read on to learn more about targeting features your business may be missing out on.
Locations
Most people know location targeting allows you to reach people in the areas where you want to do business, but have you considered pinpointing where you don’t want business? Excluding people in these areas can return better ad results by diminishing unprofitable impressions.
Plus, it helps to get specific. Instead of using a general location like the United States or Chicago, use the ‘Drop Pin’ feature to select a longitude/latitude point at the center of your radius. This feature can help you target a specific brick-and-mortar store location and result in more walk-ins. This feature is especially useful for targeting travelers who are new to the area.
When to use different location targeting options:
-Everyone in this location: If you’re going broad, this is the option to choose. It’s the last updated location of a user as well as users who have their current city on their profile.
-People who live in this location: Do you sell local? This targets users who have their profile set to this location and is confirmed by their IP address.
-People recently in this location: Catch their attention with a time-sensitive ad. This feature targets whoever may be nearby, residents and travelers alike.
-People traveling to this location: This isn’t for targeting locals! This identifies users who have this geographic area as a recent location and are at least 100 miles away from their home location.
If you already have a list of cities or regions you want to target, you can also paste them into a form after hitting Add Locations in Bulk underneath the map. Read more about location and other audience settings here.
Custom audiences
If you already have a database of your customers, custom audiences can help you find these emails on Facebook. By targeting people on Facebook who you're already connected to, you can foster a stronger relationship and drive sales.
Use some of these sources to build your custom audience:
-Customer lists are great for targeting people that are already aware of your brand via your newsletters. You can create a list by importing from your computer or from MailChimp. Deepen your consumer relationship by expanding your touchpoints with them.
For example, since they’re already enjoying your newsletter, they might also enjoy another form of content you offer, such as your blog or your app. Create an ad with a CTA of “Follow our blog!” or “Download.” See other examples from Brand Networks.
-Website visitors call for a more urgent campaign. These are people who are actively using your website. Based on their activity, they may be extremely likely to convert, since they might’ve already added items to their cart. By targeting this audience, you can turn that shopping cart into purchases.
For example, if your focus is on e-commerce, maybe a shopping carousel ad displaying your products with urgent copy like “while supplies last” or “on sale today only” would prompt a conversion.
-App users are likely your most loyal customers. Target these users with a promotion as a reward for their loyalty to keep them coming back. For example, you could show a Facebook ad with a coupon for a free drink with the purchase of a sandwich. It will bring your customers into the store—plus creating an ad with a promo code redeemable in your app will generate more app activity.
Lookalike audiences
Find people on Facebook who are similar to your customers or contacts. By using marketing insights you’ve gleaned off Facebook, you can boost your chances of reaching the right people on Facebook.
If you want to expand your reach, consider implementing a lookalike audience based on customer lists. With lookalike audiences, you input a customer list and Facebook generates a similar audience to your current customers. This is a great way to reach new people who are likely to be interested in your brand. Read more about lookalike audiences.
Detailed audiences
Detailed audiences are users who haven’t interacted with your brand directly, but they hit a target profile that you want to attract.
Find people based on what they’re into, like hobbies, entertainment, and more. Brainstorm your interest options by reading 25 Weirdly Specific Facebook Ads Targeting Ideas You Didn’t Know Existed.
Say you have a strategy where you want to sell cleaning supplies that don’t harm the environment to moms. Facebook helps you get super detailed in your targeting. You can select interests such as Green moms, Climate change, and Green cleaners and supplies. The tab on the right tells you what the reach is for that interest and a description of who that might include.
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Facebook makes finding niche audiences easier than ever. Take advantage of these features to get the campaign results you’re looking for. Need some Facebook advertising assistance? We can help.