10 crucial Facebook ad targeting tips for boosting your conversions.

Do you want your ads to reach your ideal audience, and boost your conversions whilst also improving your ROI? Discover how you can utilise Facebook Ad Targeting.

Facebook advertising offers effective targeting tools that you can utilise when creating your ad campaigns. Want to understand why Facebook ad targeting should be included in your paid social strategy? Let’s get started!

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10 Facebook Ad targeting tips

1. Getting to grips with your target audience

You need to understand your target audience so you can create relevant content and increase your conversions. This is an essential first step in the world of paid social and starting here will allow you to better navigate the Facebook Ad targeting process.

Facebook Audience Insights is a tool that enables you to gather information on your audience. Not only does it present the demographic data of those who engage with your content but the tool offers insights beyond this. For example, you can discover data on audience interests, jobs, and relationships … the list goes on!

Another tool marketers often use when gathering audience insights is Google Analytics. Combining insights allows you to create a more detailed picture of your audience and in turn produce specific, relatable and engaging content for your audience.

As Facebook says, “The more customer insights you have, the better you’re equipped to deliver meaningful messages.”

2. ‘Retarget’ as a way to boost conversions.

People will often engage, view or show interest in your brand without completing a conversion; a person could view your site, scroll through your products, even have a product saved in their basket but never actually purchase it. Facebook’s Custom Audiences function allows you to retarget those specific individuals as a way to boost conversions.

Before this is possible, Facebook requires you to download a software called ‘Facebook Pixel’. This will help you track audience engagement, interactions and behaviour patterns related to your website. Explore the benefits of Facebook Pixel here.

3.  Reach New Customers by Creating ‘Lookalike Audiences’

When looking to expand your audience pool, it is important that you target individuals who share similar interests, behaviour patterns and traits with existing customers. By using the Lookalike Audiences feature, you can make sure you create content that remains relevant and resonates with new potential customers and in turn boost your conversions.

4. Keep up to date with the ‘Life Events’ of your audience.

Despite often being overlooked during the targeting process, the ‘Life Events’ Facebook ad tool enables targeting based on milestones and key moments in people’s lives. These pivotal moments could refer to marriage, having a child or starting a new job.

As mentioned previously, the more you know about your audience, the more relevant your content will be. Therefore, you can use this information to create engaging content that coincides with key ‘life events’ experienced by your audience.

5. Relevant content is key!

You may have noticed the phrase ‘relevant content’ multiple times throughout this article so prepare to hear it some more. It is vital that your content speaks to your audience directly and meets their needs/desires. Compelling copy and creative content is a fundamental part of having a successful ad campaign. Facebook advises a 20% rule when it comes to the text to image ratio in a successful ad.

Although relevance is key, it is also just as important that your content is relatable and authentic. People trust people, showcasing reviews or real life experiences (also known as user-generated content) shared by your audience is a powerful way to boost conversions.

6. Take the time and utilise Facebook’s ‘Detailed Targeting’

Facebook offers specific and detailed targeting options. Precisely refining your audience means you will be better able to tailor ads and successfuly boost conversions.

Although this may take time in the short term, you will receive a long term benefit in both money and effort by doing this before starting your campaign. It will improve ad efficiency and improve your ROI.

7. Broader awareness campaigns need ‘Broader Targeting’

Not all ad campaigns require detailed targeting.

Sometimes you might not be 100% sure who your target audience is and that is ok! Broader Targeting is still an effective way to start your ad campaign strategy. Facebook offers more basic targeting such as geographic location and wide age ranges.

If starting more broadly, it is very important to review and adapt your targeting strategy as you learn more about your audience. As mentioned earlier, Audience Insights produces useful data that you can consistantly review. You can then learn from the data to adapt and tailor future campaigns.

8. Combine custom audiences to boost conversions.

Facebook introduced ‘Custom Audiences’ so you can create a list of people you want to target with your ad campaign. This could be a list of customer emails or phone numbers.

From this you are able to create Custom Combinations; meaning you can include some customers in your targeting and exclude others, depending on your campaign goals.

Although it may seem easier and more manageable to focus your ad campaign on one key audience, it is not always the most effective way of reaching the right people.

For example, let’s say you sell dog food. You create a full email list of your current customers and send out an email with your new ad on. Once you receive multiple orders, you create a new ad campaign for those who have still not purchased any of your product. Using this feature, you could then exclude all the ‘already purchased’ customers and directly target the new ad to ‘yet to buy’ customers.

This option saves time, money and effort.

9. Monitor and test. Monitor and test. Monitor and test (and then test again!).

Real-time ad monitoring is essential when making sure your budget doesn’t go to waste. By keeping an eye on your ad campaign in relation to your objectives, you can adjust the ad where appropriate. Waiting until the end of the campaign to assess effectiveness is not cost or time efficient.

When setting up your campaign, Facebook offers a ‘Create Split Test’ function. This involves factors such as audience selection, formats, ad placements and so much more.

You can then allocate budgets to your ad campaigns and the split test will then show you which strategy will work best. Facebook will also support you in understanding which of your ads is more effective. You can then leverage this information when creating future campaigns and ensure you achieve the best results.

10. If you are new to Facebook, experiment with the new AI feature.

Advantage + Audience Targeting is a new tool that simplifies the process and helps you start your ad campaign journey quickly. Advanced AI is used to identify your ideal target audience, which allows you to get started in next to no time.

Get in touch!

Now you know how to use Facebook Ad Targeting to reach your ideal audience, boost your conversions and improve your ROI, are you ready to get started?

Here at Embryo, our team of experts can help take your ads to the next level – contact us today.

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