The Basics of Facebook Ads, Part 3

Click here to start at the beginning of the Facebook Ads series.

The ‘audience’ portion of Facebook ad sets is actually a huge topic, and I’ll probably cover it in a few different posts, since I’m not going to talk about Lookalike or Custom Audiences in this particular post - it would be too long! My goal in this miniseries is to show you the basics of advertising so you can get started without overwhelming you by covering all the different options. With that said, let’s jump right in!

Location
Where would you like your ads to be shown? If you are a brick-and-mortar store, you are likely going to target potential customers within a few miles of your location. Your reach can expand if your business is online and as your budget increases, but I would recommend being as specific as you can within your ideal customer subset. Targeting the entire country will most likely not benefit you if you are working with a smaller budget!

Age/Gender
I don’t have much to add here, but it’s important to think about who your ideal customer is, from age to gender. Customers in the older demographic are often more costly to advertise to, but they also generally have more buying power than younger ages. Again, think through who you want to target and choose accordingly!

Detailed Targeting
This is where you can get really detailed, and specifically target who may be interested in your business. You can choose people who are parents, or parents of kids in a particular age range. You can target ads to different income and education levels. Additionally, you can choose subjects or lifestyles people may be interested in, which is extremely helpful to narrow down your customer. There are hundreds of different options to choose from - if your product/service is fitness related, you can target people interested in working out. If you want to target small business owners, you can do that.

The possibilities are almost endless! This is a great opportunity to experiment with different audiences and interests, if your budget allows.

How Detailed Should I Get?
Back in the day, you could target a VERY small number of people - in fact, I heard a story about a college student targeting ads so specifically that they only showed up to his roommate! After some privacy concerns, Facebook changed these options. There is now a gauge on the right hand side of your ad showing how many people you are targeting, and how many you can expect to reach based on your budget. If the gauge is in the red, you will not be able to start advertising until you broaden the audience a little. You also want to make sure the budget you have allowed for will give you enough reach that you will actually see results.

The Bottom Line
The audience you target is possibly the most important aspect of your ad, so choose wisely! With a smaller budget, more specific/targeted is better so you can maximize the money you are spending. Experiment with different options, don’t get discouraged if your first ad isn’t as successful as you want, and start figuring out your ideal customer on Facebook through their advertising tools.