Facebook is one of the most powerful platforms for running online ads. With over 2.8 billion active users, it comes as no surprise that Facebook can help you reach a large audience quickly and efficiently. However, it is important that you are mindful when targeting your audience to ensure that your ad spend is getting used in the most effective way. This way you will be better equipped to get the most out of your Facebook ads and see the return on investment that you are hoping to get.
It is hard to know where to begin when it comes to selecting the right target audience for your Facebook ads. In this article, we will discuss how to choose the best audience for Facebook ads.
1. Define Your Target Market:
The first step to selecting the right audience for your Facebook ads is to define your target market. You need to understand who your ideal customer is, what their needs and pain points are, and what motivates them to buy. To define your target market, you can use tools such as buyer personas or customer avatars.
With certain business models, it is easy to figure this step out. For example, if you are a luxury makeup brand, you will likely find that most of your target market is females with higher incomes and often at least 30 years of age. Though there may be outliers to these demographics, you will be better off targeting these individuals to see the best return on ad spend (ROAS).
2. Analyze Your Existing Customer Base:
Once you have defined your target market, you should analyze your existing customer base. This will help you identify common characteristics among your current customers, such as demographics, interests, and behaviors. Facebook’s Audience Insights tool is great for analyzing your customer base and discovering new targeting options. Understanding the trends in the data found in this tool can take a lot of the guesswork out of discovering your target audience and can lead you in the right direction much faster.
3. Use Facebook’s Targeting Options:
Facebook’s targeting options are incredibly powerful and can help you reach the right audience for your ads. You can target people based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and even life events. You can also create custom audiences based on people who have interacted with your business in the past, such as website visitors or email subscribers. Utilizing Facebook’s targeting tools can help you best optimize your advertising efforts and see results quickly.
4. Test Different Audiences:
You need to test different targeting options to find the best audience for your Facebook ads. Create multiple ad sets, each with a different target audience, and track their performance. You can get pretty specific with your testing. Maybe one group is an open targeting audience, meaning that you let Facebook use its optimization algorithm to show your ads to who they think is most likely to take a desired action on your advertising. Your other group can be more particular with what age ranges, income brackets, genders, and locations you may think are most likely to convert. You can even have retargeting ads that aim to show your ads to people who have already viewed your ad. Use Facebook’s Ad Manager to monitor your ad campaigns and adjust your targeting based on the results.
5. Focus on Lookalike Audiences:
One of the most effective targeting options on Facebook is lookalike audiences. Lookalike audiences are people who share similar characteristics to your existing customers. You can create a lookalike audience based on your email list, website visitors, or Facebook page followers. Lookalike audiences are a great way to expand your reach and find new customers.
In order to use a lookalike audience most effectively, you need to have a Facebook pixel code embedded on your website. This code essentially tracks user behavior that comes from your ads. The data from the pixel is then collected on Facebook and used to understand trends and patterns among various users. The Facebook algorithm can then take this information and use it to display your ads to similar audiences, ultimately creating a lookalike audience.
6. Consider Retargeting:
Retargeting is a powerful way to reach people who have already interacted with your business. While purchase behavior is not one-size-fits-all, it is understood that it can take 6-20 interactions (whether that’s through organic brand placements or advertising) before making a purchase.
By using retargeting campaigns on Facebook, you can retarget people who have visited your website but didn’t make a purchase. Retargeting allows you to stay top-of-mind with potential customers and increase your chances of converting them into paying customers.
You can even use retargeting campaigns to target individuals who have added products to their shopping carts and abandoned their carts. This is a highly effective way to encourage individuals to complete their checkout.
Retargeting campaigns can also be used to display your ads to people who have already made a purchase. Retargeting these individuals can encourage them to continue to make purchases on your website and increase brand loyalty.
7. Keep Your Ads Relevant:
Finally, it’s important to keep your ads relevant to your target audience. Your ad copy, images, and call-to-action should all speak to the needs and desires of your target market. Make sure your ads are visually appealing and easy to understand. You should also aim to update the ad creative and copy to best keep up with change. For example, if you are a clothing brand, you might want to display different product types based on the seasons.
Remember: The more relevant your ads are to your target audience, the more likely they are to click through and convert.
In conclusion, selecting the right audience for your Facebook ads is crucial to the success of your campaigns. By properly defining your target market and using Facebook’s data collection tools, you can create highly effective Facebook ads that drive results for your business.
For more information, feel free to contact a Set Fire Creative client strategist to better understand how Facebook ads can help your business.
Raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California, Juliana left the golden state to attend Utah Valley University and completed a bachelor’s of science in psychology. After graduating, she began pursuing a career in digital marketing and client relations, which led her to Set Fire Creative. Juliana has a knack for all things creative, in and out of the office. In her free time, you can find her working out, traveling, studying interior design, or hosting dinner parties (of course, with charcuterie.)
