Facebook™ Ad targeting to get the best results

One of the most common questions I get asked from business owners in regards to their Facebook™ Advertising is “How do I target effectively to get the best results from my Facebook™ Ads?“

And I understand. It’s overwhelming with all the options available. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of ways you can target people with your ads.

Your targeting can be the most confusing aspect of setting up your ads but it is one of the most crucial things to get right as it can make all the difference to how your ads perform.

You need to understand how Facebook™ targeting works so that you know you are setting it up effectively for your campaigns. There are a few vital pieces that most people skip over when it comes to setting up their ads and that usually means wasted money on ads that don’t convert.

Here are my top tips for your Facebook™ (and Instagram™) ad targeting:

Keep it broad.

This might sound contradictory since we are told to niche down and have a super detailed customer profile of our ideal audience. We must absolutely be very clear on this, however when it comes to Facebook™ advertising many business owners try to narrow their audience down too much.

Instead, you need to keep your audience big and broad. Facebook™ is very clever and has so much data on us (I know it is scary, but as marketers it is good news) and when we keep our audience broad Facebook™ is very efficient in finding the right audience for us. Even more so, if you have been running ads for a while as not only does Facebook™ have data on your audience, they also have data on your pixel.

Don’t add too many layers or options.

When you add in many layers and conditions on your targeting you reduce your audience significantly which makes it too narrow and Facebook™ is unable to distribute your ads effectively so you either end up with ads that don’t work or the cost is super high.

Same thing if you add in too many options, Facebook™ gets confused because you are giving too many options.

When you are first starting with your ads or dipping your toe in the water to see what results you can achieve with your ads, I would recommend not having more than 3 targeting options in one audience and only add one layer at the most.

Unless your business is limited geographically or you are running a re-targeting campaign, you want to have at least 1,000,000 people in your audience for Facebook™ to distribute your ads to.

Test different audiences.

You have to be prepared to test images, videos, your creative in your ads and your audiences are no different. To start with, I would recommend testing between 3 and 5 audiences to get a feel for what works and who is relating to your messaging.

Give your ads a chance to work and give Facebook™ time to get into a rhythm with your ads. You can’t always expect immediate results. Give each audience at least 48 to 72 hours before you determine if it is working or not.

Then expand from there depending on what is working.

Even though I have been running ads for many, many years I am always testing. Things change on an ongoing basis and you need to be on top of what is working and what isn’t so that you are getting the best value from your ad spend.

On top of testing your audiences you also need to be testing images, videos, creative, landing pages and your messaging. But don’t get overwhelmed! Take it one step at a time. You’ve got this!

And, if you would like expert guidance on your ads and marketing, I would love to hear from you. I offer one-off audits or I work with clients on a consulting basis to ensure your ads are getting the best possible results and work with your other marketing efforts to reach your business goals. (I do also offer done-for-your Facebook Ads but at the moment I am fully booked)