How to find the right Target Audience on Facebook? Here are some effective ways!

Updated on: May 7, 2023
How to build an effective target audience on Facebook Featured Image

Learn step by step the process of How to build an effective and relevant Target Audience on Facebook. 

First of all, Targeting the audience on Facebook has been a crucial part of Facebook Advertising

You will learn the smartest and most efficient strategies to target your audience on Facebook by the end of this article.

But first, ask yourself this question – 

Would you watch ads that are irrelevant to you?

For years, YouTube has been showing advertisements to users. Have you ever ignored certain ads on YouTube or waited for an advertisement to get over while watching a YouTube video? 

You might have been waiting for the skip button to appear.

Well, that’s either a sign of a bad advertisement or a bad targeting audience. Who would like to see ads which are not meant for them!

There is a golden rule which you should remember in order to excel in the art of advertising.

“Segment your target audience as much as you can. Narrow down your target audience and increase your relevance.”

The same rule applies to every social media platform. And so on Facebook. 

Also Read: A Beginners Guide to Start Facebook Advertising

Let’s see why it is necessary to segment your target audience on Facebook when you want to advertise.

Why is it so important to segment your target audience on Facebook?

You should know who your target audience is and what their interests, dislikes, and preferences are, among other things. You must also find out the kind of advertisement your customer would prefer to see.

This is very important for you to know perfectly so that you can engage with your audience on Facebook and convert them into customers. 

And if you’re going to spend money on Facebook ads, be sure you know what you’re doing. 

Because why waste money on a user who may not even want to buy your product/service?

With the option of target audience on Facebook, you should take the advantage of advertising to the right set of people who may need your product or service and are interested in it. 

And not just that, Facebook Advertising has many more benefits and perks that one should know before starting out. Consider taking this Online Facebook Ads Course to first equip yourself with all the options in Facebook Advertising. 

One of the reasons why people prefer Facebook advertising is because it lets you focus on the people who are most likely to buy your product/service and thus it is very important for you to segment your target audience. 

In fact, the entire principle of digital marketing stands on this. Digital marketing is not about getting more likes or comments only, it is more about targeting consumers and getting sales from people who already have the potential to become your customer. 

If you wish to find out more about how digital marketing works, sign up for this exclusive Free Masterclass on digital marketing basics and learn some exciting things within 45-minutes! 

Now, without further ado, let’s take a look at some ways of building and improving an effective target audience on Facebook.

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10 Powerful Ways to Improve Your Target Audience on Facebook

 

1. Begin with a mix of basic demographics

When creating an ad, the first thing Facebook will ask you to do is choose your target market’s area, age, and gender.

This is one of the first few stages that will determine the profitability of your ad. You’ll be able to target the correct audience if you do your research and understand who and where your customer base is.

All the 3 options below have their own advantages and drawbacks.

  • People who live in this location:

Businesses that have their target audience residing in a particular location can make use of this option. For example, retail stores can make use of this option to advertise their products or services within the general area.

  • People recently in this location:

This option may be used to locate people who have recently visited an area. Although “recently in” may also imply “currently in,” because Facebook only utilizes mobile GPS to target, using “recently in” isn’t a smart idea unless you know what your targeting strategy is.

  • People Travelling in this location:

This covers users who are traveling more than 125 miles from their home location and are in the chosen area as defined by the device and connection information collected by Facebook.

Rental vehicle companies, and travel firms that provide discount packages, or offers can use this option.

Although, we don’t recommend using location as your only option when targeting a location because it isn’t particularly precise. But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t utilize it at all. 

How to target audience on facebook - Demographics

2. Target People Based On Their Income Level

If your service or product is aimed at people with a certain income level, your advertisements should be as well.

You can target people based on their income, net worth, or liquid assets under the Demographics section.

Your options under income consist of various ranges as shown below. These are 40k to 49k, 75k to 99k, 100k to 124k, and so on and so forth. Based on your target selection, all of these ranges have an estimated amount of individuals as an audience.

Let’s break it down by taking an example. With standard settings in the United States, ages 18-35, all genders, and no language limitations, Facebook will target 14 million individuals in the 30-40K income bracket. 

Now, if you’re a high-end luxury jewelry business and want to target people who earn 500K and above since they’re more likely to buy your items, that’s a viable option. 

Within the 500K category, the reach falls to 1.2 million people. In comparison to the 30-40k income group, this is a considerably smaller market. Therefore, it makes sense to go for this option.

Data may vary as they are subject to change and are not as accurate. Although there are far more people in that economic bracket in the United States for obvious reasons, not all of them are on Facebook or have data available through Facebook’s source.

We’d like to remind you that this approach isn’t very reliable because the data is based on estimates rather than real reported or recorded facts. But you can always run a trial campaign and see if this option works well for you. 

How to target audience on facebook - Income

3. Group your Audience by the level of education

Knowing your target market’s educational qualification allows you to tailor everything from tone to language in a campaign.

It’s also important to think about if your product is suitable for consumers with a certain level of education. If you’re a school providing Master’s degree programs, you should target those who already hold a Bachelor’s degree.

There is a section on education in Demographics. 68% of Facebook users hold a bachelor’s degree or above. If your target client has a secondary education, Facebook has a lot of potential for reaching out to them.

For example, we at IIDE provide a Post Graduation in Digital Marketing for those who have completed their bachelor’s. So to promote our post-graduation program,  we use this option to target them.

How to target audience on facebook - Education

4. Focus On Where Your Target Audience Works

Is your product or service attractive to people in a certain industry or profession? In the demographics section, you may limit your audience by work categories.

You can search for a certain employer, job title, or industry. The number of people engaged in each industry is depicted below as follows:

Target Audience on Facebook - Focus On Where Your Target Audience Works

To further restrict your target audience, you must pick the industry, job title, or both after selecting the work choice. Because, as shown above, the possible reach is 400 million individuals, thus you’ll need to narrow down your selections to reach your target demographic.

We can see from the image below after clicking on the industries option and ticking the “Architecture and Engineering” option, your potential reach falls to 1.3 million people with an 11k to 33k daily estimated reach.

Target Audience on Facebook - Focus On Where Your Target Audience Works1

Here’s an example of a targeted Architecture & Engineering Ad:

Target Audience on Facebook - Architecture and Engineering

You may be even more particular and target job titles to narrow down your advertising to certain titles. Suppose you have a workshop which is about some recent online activities that HR should consider for their employees. 

Then you can target all those individuals on Facebook who work as HR’s in a company.  This will boost your conversion rate even more because your ad will be directed to those who may be genuinely interested in the product or service you’re selling.

Check Out: How to Increase Engagement on Facebook

5. Find People Who Have a Reason/Occasion to Buy Your Goods Or Services

Facebook can recognize whether you’re looking for a certain product or service. They figure this out by looking at your search history and the websites you frequent. When you think about it, it’s a little creepy.

If you didn’t already know, customers research items online 73% of the time before purchasing them. Facebook can identify your ideal customers who are in the middle of a purchase decision and target your ad to them.

And they also know if a special occasion is coming up in someone’s life, thanks to individuals who regularly post and update personal things about their life. 

That means that, even if they haven’t heard of you and were examining competitive sites, you have an opportunity to convince them to consider the products you offer.

This is because the majority of buyers base their purchasing decisions on pricing. So, if you provide discounts, or offers like buy one get one free or even package deals, you may encourage your consumers to consider your goods.

So, what’s the best way to go about it? It’s simple: under Facebook Ads, there’s a section called Behaviors.

Target Audience on Facebook - Find People Who Are Already Interested In Buying Your Goods Or Services

You have two options. First, you can put in some ideas and see what pops up. Or browse by clicking on the behavior option. There are subfolders that allow you to narrow down your search as much as possible.

Let’s have a look at an example. Assume you’re a décor business that sells make-your-own pots, mugs, frames, and other items, and you specialize in items for couples.

The first thing you can do is click on the behavior option and then tick the anniversary option. You will see an Anniversary (within 61 – 90 days) option, this basically means that couples who have had their anniversaries within this stipulated date will be targeted. 

Target Audience on Facebook - targeting ads using behaviour

The blue box represents the anticipated audience for your ad. There appear to be too many, therefore we recommend that you consider other criteria such as age, location, and more.

Must Check Out: How Does Facebook Bidding Work? Find Out Here

We also wanted to take a moment to point out that anniversary is just one of many options you have for narrowing down and successfully targeting your audience. 

Targeting those who have traveled recently or regularly, console gamers, different types of mobile users, and more are some of the alternatives available.

6. Promote New Hires

You can also target individuals who just got into a new job. Under the life events area, you can target folks who have recently begun a new job.

How to target audience on facebook - New Jobs

New employment may result in a pay boost and hence extra disposable income. If you’re an electronics company that sells laptops, for example, you can target this demographic because someone who has gotten a new job will almost certainly want a new gadget, such as a laptop. 

This could also be a lucrative market for you if you offer professional or personal development courses and services, because new job holders may need to gain new skills that will benefit them in their jobs.

7. Target Buyer Profiles Using Demographics

Another way to target your audience who are most likely to buy your goods is to use using the demographics option to target the profiles of buyers you have constructed. You can simply target your audience based on their interests, traits, behavior, and more with these demographics.

For example, if you want to show advertisements to gadget fanatics, simply go to the demographics tab and choose Gadget Enthusiast under behaviors. And only people who fall into this group will see your ad.

This option might assist you in identifying customers who are most likely to purchase your type of product.

And if you’re not aware of your ideal customer’s buyer profile, then there are tools that you can use such as Facebook’s audience insights tool, which can assist you to figure out your ideal customer. 

8. Focus on Audience who support Good Causes

Are you a non-profit organization? Or a company that supports/collaborates with them? If you have a relationship with a charity organization, then focusing on individuals who support it may be a smart advertising strategy.

How to target audience on facebook - Charity Ads

According to a survey, 60% of people are highly concerned about the brands or businesses they follow or purchase from. They keep track of every activity associated with the brand they like.

Target people who are interested in the same cause that you support. 

For example, if your company supports a charitable trust that helps cancer patients, then you may target and show ads about your good cause to audiences who support and work with the same trust.

It will assist your brand in forging an emotional bond with your target audience. A positive picture of your brand will be imprinted in the minds of your target audience.

You can simply do so by selecting the particular charitable donation under the demographics and behavior section.

9. Target People who are currently away from home

Other life events worth targeting include those who are now separated from their families or from their country. Based on their location data, Facebook can tell if someone is presently away.

Most people who are currently away from their families or homes appear to spend more money on meals at restaurants, hotels, ready-to-eat food packets, and other establishments.

And, if you own a food-related business, this is a fantastic opportunity for you to reach out to such people. You may target such folks specifically and show your advertising to them.

You can select the option, “Away from hometown” or “Away from family” under the life events section, Demographics. And boom! Your ad will directly be shown to them. 

If you’re a company that sells ready-to-eat food packets, then this targeting option may be your best bet. Your ad creative can also specifically read out lines such as “ Missing your home-cooked meals?” etc. 

Target Audience on Facebook - away from home option

10. Target Mobile Phone Users

Under Behaviors, you may target users depending on whatever device they use to check in to Facebook. You can use the ”mobile device” user or “mobile device user/ device user time”.

Target Audience on Facebook - target mobile phones

If your product or service is connected to cell phones or tablets, this is a great way to limit your audience.

Or if your product is highly consumed by millennials who are the biggest market for mobile phone users, then this option is recommended. \

There are many options under the “Mobile Device User” category. One example is Facebook access (mobile): all mobile devices: which basically means target those people who primarily use their mobile devices to browse Facebook.

Target Audience on Facebook - Facebook access (mobile) - all mobile devices

Now if You’re a company that sells Android phones only, well you have an option under the “mobile device user” called “All mobile devices by the operating system”.

This will help you target phones with a specific operating system, in this case, android for example.

Target Audience on Facebook - android device operating system option

People are extremely loyal to the phones and operating systems that they use. Over 90% of Android users are unlikely to switch to Apple’s operating system.

This means that if you sell an Android-related product, you should cease marketing to iOS customers right away, and selecting the above option means that your ad is likely to be seen on a mobile device, and make sure it’s mobile-friendly.

How to target audience on facebook - Mobile device user

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We just saw the 10 most powerful ways to find a target audience on Facebook and effectively market to them. 

But that’s not it. If you want to truly take advantage of Facebook Advertising, you should be well-versed with each and every one of the options available out there. Thus, it is essential you learn Facebook Advertising before you step into it.

IIDE’s Online Facebook Ads Course is a life-saver for everyone, from beginners to advanced, from business owners to Facebook marketers and students who want to start in this field. 

And you must know that along with Facebook advertising, there are many other digital marketing skills that let you market your business organically as well as with paid efforts. 

Learn digital marketing with this Online Digital Marketing Course in India and understand the sea full of possibilities to market/ promote your business in today’s day and age. 

Before parting ways, our biggest tip for Facebook advertising would be to start narrowing down your target demographic with the alternatives we showed you through today if you aren’t seeing results from your ads.

There are a plethora of possibilities from which to choose when defining your target market. Don’t be concerned if you go too narrow. If you want to see results, your market and ad must be precise and well-matched.

Remember that Facebook has billions of users. You can concentrate your efforts on only a small number of them and still make a lot of money.

When done correctly, Facebook ads may be incredibly effective. You will see an increase in the ROI for your ads in no time if you understand your ideal target market and apply these strategies to reach them.

We hope this blog has been a good resource for you! Let us know in the comments section below if you have any questions. 

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Aneri Joshi

Digital Marketing Consultant & Trainer at IIDE

A digital marketing consultant with over 8 years of experience in the digital marketing field. She is an alumnus of the prestigious Welingkar Institute of Management & MET College of Pharmacy [Read more]

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