5 Beginner Tips for Targeting Shoppers with Facebook Ads

If you’re trying to get your feet wet in the world of online advertising, then you’ve probably considered Facebook or Google ads. Good choice! They are the powerhouses of online marketing and have by far the biggest reach out there in terms of targeting. Today, we’ll have a look at five beginner tips for Facebook ads.

#1 Targeting by geography

Let’s start at the top, shall we? If you have a brick-and-mortar (a.k.a. a physical location), then you’re definitely going to want to get some foot traffic to your shop. What better way to find potential customers than by targeting them by location? You can target broadly by choosing the entire country, but you can also get really precise by targeting a specific neighbourhood, which is perfect for small businesses.

#2 Targeting by hobby

shutterstock.com/Andrey_Popov

Now we can start to get into the specifics of who your customers are. If you sell hobby-related products, then targeting by hobby is a no-brainer for you. However, even if you don’t sell such products, using this targeting option can still bring you a lot of relevant traffic.

Remember, once you start getting to know exactly who your target audience is, you should create a marketing persona. This “persona” will include a lot of information about this generic customer, including their hobbies. Not only will this persona description help your content creators write for their audience, but it will also help you target your customers better.

Selling aquatic tanks? Target reptile lovers!

If you have a Facebook page with some followers, Facebook’s analytics tools can give you great insights into who your followers are and what characteristics and hobbies they have based on their actions on the social network (page likes, post interactions).

This information can be invaluable for online marketing. For example, if your target audience is men aged 35-55, with a high income, it might be very possible that these people also play golf.

#3 Targeting parents   

Remember being a teenager? Me either. However, I do remember working at a pretzel shop after school and still being completely broke somehow. My parents basically paid for everything. If you’re a shop whose main customers are children (or young adults), it might be a great idea to target parents.

With this option, you can choose the age range of the children, which is obviously very helpful. Age groups include 0-12 months, aged 1-2 years, 3-5 years, 6-8 years, 8-12 years, 13-18 years and even 18-26. So, whether you’re selling baby clothes, nerf guns, or apartment furniture, targeting different kinds of parents can bring you lots of traffic.

Thanks, mum! You’re the best!

#4 Targeting engaged customers

With the GDPR having come and gone, a lot of the successful marketing tactics (like remarketing) must now be rethought. However, one clever alternative is to target Facebook users who react to “Shop Now” action buttons. These are users who have used this button for other shops and companies, but the mere fact that they are open to and engage with this button makes them more likely to interact with your ad and click on it as well.

#5 Targeting with mixed options

Naturally, you can use many of these targeting options together to find your perfect customer. Be aware, that the more options you use, the less people you will reach. However, this smaller group will most likely be more relevant for your products. This concept is also known as micro-targeting.  

Perhaps your product is perfect for new parents who love American Football. Targeting them would be very easy.

Stay focused, kid! Today’s match is really important!
(shutterstock.com/Michelle D. Milliman)

Conclusion

Facebook can be an incredible way to reach your audience. With insights going beyond simple demographics, Facebook can let you find the perfect customer as long as you know what their interests are - and Facebook Analytics can even help with that, too!

Check out our ultimate Facebook ads guide by clicking below: