25 Tips To Improve Your Facebook Ad Targeting Strategy

Have you ever seen an ad pop up in your Facebook feed that seemed like it was targeted specifically to you? Sure, most ads online are at least somewhat relevant to you because of the many calculations and algorithms that ads have to go through before they reach you. But I’m talking about seeing an ad that seems like it KNOWS you personally. If you have, you’ve probably also wondered how the advertiser knew exactly how to reach you. The answer: Targeting.

For businesses looking to get their message to the right customers, targeting is essential. Finding the right place to put your Facebook ad is paramount to achieving good results, just as it is in traditional advertising. Many businesses spend extensive amounts of time and money creating their ads, from the research phase to the creation phase, but fail to put the same amount of effort into choosing the right Facebook audience. As much effort should go into targeting as goes into writing creative briefs and exploring execution strategies. Depending on your brand and messaging, dropping your ad on the right newsfeeds can be more effective in reaching your target market than even the most sought after traditional media placements, especially in terms of bang for your buck.

To help you get started, Facebook has provided some instruction on how to use its targeting platform here. But that just scratches the surface of what Facebook targeting can do. The amount of targeting combinations is staggering. Below, we’ve listed 25 targeting suggestions from Connectio that you may not have considered. Happy targeting!

  1. Generations (millennials, baby boomers, etc.)
  2. People with an upcoming anniversary
  3. Rate of technology adoption
  4. Household member composition
  5. Friends of people with anniversaries
  6. Small business owners
  7. People with new jobs
  8. People in relationships/relationship types
  9. Facebook event creators
  10. Recent travellers
  11. Parents
  12. Technology interests
  13. Political interests
  14. Facebook payments platform (spending activity)
  15. Browser type used
  16. People who responded to your event
  17. Email domain (AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.)
  18. People living away from home
  19. Mobile device users (brand and device)
  20. Friends of people who like your page
  21. Computer operating system used
  22. Sporting fans and events
  23. Types of travellers (business, leisure, commuters, etc.)
  24. People who used your app
  25. Advanced combination of connections

7 Tips for Creating Effective B2B Facebook Ad Images

Sometimes the greatest ideas fail to resonate with the intended audience. This is particularly true when it comes to B2B advertising. Nothing is more frustrating than designing a beautiful Facebook ad only to have the relevance score plummet and the cost-per-click skyrocket.

So how do you know which images will resonate and which images will flop? Below, we will explore seven tips that will help you choose and design more effective B2B Facebook ad images.

Know your audience

The first step in any great B2C campaign is figuring out who you want to target. While basic consumer data is helpful in establishing your target, the best advertisers will go beyond simple demographics and into behavioral data. The same goes for B2B advertising. You may have enough information to set target audience parameters in Facebook, but unless you know more about your targets’ values and behavior, your executions may fall short.

There are many ways you can establish what your target is all about, but the simplest way is to spend time hanging out where they do. Look at their websites, social media pages, and past ad campaigns. Find the blogs and other publications that exist within the industry and read what your customers are talking about. In short, do your research. After a while you will begin to see what they value. This key information will help determine what type of content they’re likely to respond to.

Have a Distinct Call to Action

The most important part of your image is the call to action. Regardless of what you’re offering potential clients, it is essential that you ask them to do something. This means that if you use text in your image, make sure you include things like “click to learn more” or “get it now.” You could incorporate a button, which indicates the viewer should click on it to take action. Make sure to utilize basic graphic design techniques such as leading lines, color, and alignment to draw the viewer’s attention toward your call to action. Remember, this call to action should be the central focus of your ad image.

Start with a dark background

Using a dark background may seem counter-intuitive at first. After all, most psychologists agree that people are drawn to bright colors. But posts with dark background colors tend to do much better in terms of total engagement and CPC. There are a couple probable reasons for this. The first is that dark colors stand out when contrasted against the white and light gray hues that dominate the Facebook feed. The second is that while bright colors may catch attention as well, dark colors often convey sophistication, authority, and strength. People may be more likely to click your post if they associate your post with knowledge and authority, especially within the B2B space.

Use the Right Photos

Stock photos are a great resource when creating online content. They’re inexpensive (sometimes free), varied, plentiful, and they require little effort to incorporate into social media. Unfortunately, not all stock images are created equal and you should be very careful when it comes to Facebook ads. If an image looks too amateurish or staged, it’s often a turnoff to potential clients. It’s a good idea to pick an image that looks natural and genuine. Preferably, you would have access to professional photos featuring your product either in a natural location or tastefully overlaid onto an attractive background. The best images will stand out, look professional, and convey the essence of what you want to say.

Incorporate charts to Look Smart

Charts and graphs are a good decision if you want to appear credible. A chart usually suggest new research or an increase in metrics, so when business minded consumer see them, they are more likely to stop and pay attention. You don’t have to put an extremely detailed chart on your Facebook ad, but smart design choices that suggest charts or graphs will increase the amount of clicks you receive.

Use Sans Serif Fonts

When incorporating text onto your image, stick with sans serif fonts. While serif fonts are largely found to be the more legible choice in general, there are a couple {reasons} why sans serif fonts work much better online. The first reason is that online ads typically have very short copy. When used in long pieces of copy, sans serif fonts can cause readers to become fatigued, but in short doses, sans serif letterforms can more easily be distinguished. The ability to recognize and read a word quickly is especially important when placing an ad on Facebook, where users may only see your ad for a split second as they scroll through their feed.

Another reason sans serif tends to do better online is they hold their form when scaled down. As the text shrinks, the serifs often become obscured and start to create needless noise around the letterforms. Sans serif letters have more basic shapes, so scaling doesn’t affect their legibility as much.

Experiment

Even after doing tons of secondary research on your target audience, sometimes ads still flop. And that’s okay. Even if something worked well in the past, it may not work in the future. The best way to figure out what your audience will respond to is to try and fail. Don’t be afraid to test out new ideas. Just make sure that you write down the things that go wrong as well as the things that go right. These notes will prove invaluable when fine-tuning your online advertising images.

When it comes to creating B2B Facebook ads, the copy is quite important, but it’s not the first thing that people see. Images are what attract people to your ad and they’re ultimately what convert impressions into actions. Use the tips above to help you choose the right ad images that will help you raise engagement and conversions, while lowering your CPC.