In this blog, we'll review seven critical and yet common Facebook ad targeting mistakes and show you how to avoid them! Facebook ads' targeting strategies have undergone much change in recent years! From complicated funnels and audiences to post iOS 14 world. Since then, the landscape in tracking and attribution has changed forever. So let's start!
Facebook Ad Targeting Mistake Number 1: Narrow location targeting to only include urban centres
You may think you are saving money by stopping wastage and focusing your budget where it matters, right? Unless you have comprehensive and recent data pointing to a definitive advantage of a specific location, we'd advise you not to meddle with this option from the get-go. It's best to allow facebook's intelligent algorithm to decide which areas have better chances of bringing customers to you.
Mistake number 2: Too many ads in one ad group
Facebook's way of utilising your budget works by pouring most of your budget on one to three ads within each ad group. Therefore, if you try to test new ads and upload them into a well-performing ad group, your new ad probably won't be getting much of the budget to show its merits, and thus the data would be inconclusive at best!
It's far better to have multiple ad groups than cramming ads inside each one.
Mistake number 3:Going for the wrong campaign objective
If you aim to sell, conversion is your best bet. There are many campaign types on Facebook. However, for 90% of businesses, only a handful are worth exploring, while the rest would underperform in comparison.
Mistake number 4: Don’t exclude your current clients or customers from your prospecting campaigns
In theory, it may sound good, but they would only make up a smaller proportion of the overall targeting audience size. Not excluding them may lead to upselling or repeat purchase opportunities. You may think we are already targeting them via our' remarketing campaign'. I'm sorry to be the bearer of the bad news; the audiences based on your website interactions have far less accurate than you'd think.
We are not suggesting to actively add them to your targeting audience but simply not excluding them. This way, the Facebook algorithm would learn more efficiently than in a situation with more restrictions.
Mistake number 5: restricting age groups
Too narrow or specific age-related targeting would deprive you of opportunities you didn't know existed. Give Facebook more wiggle room, and try not to implement too many of your assumptions in the campaign. Larger audiences are better; you'll always have the chance to narrow them down once new data is available and supports your hypothesis.
Mistake number 6: using detailed targeting with lookalike targeting
in Facebook ads platform, Detailed targeting works as an "and" function in that you are telling Facebook to target your 'lookalike audience' who also matches the detailed targeting criteria. Firstly, detailed targeting is intuitive, but it has its flaws. Some of your customers may be interested in your offering but aren't classified in facebook's detailed behavioural or interest-based profiling system. If you want to use them, read the next mistake to minimise your risk.
Mistake number 7: Too many targeting options in detailed targeting
One of the most misunderstood Facebook Ad Targeting mistakes is detailed targeting. If you have multiple ad groups with fewer targeting criteria, you can quickly work out which criteria work the best and deliver the highest CTR at the lowest CPA. If there are more than three criteria in each ad group, you'd be guessing which one could be the actual driver. This way, you take the guesswork out of the equation.
To recap, here are the top 7 Facebook ads targeting mistakes you want to avoid:
- Mistake number 1: Narrow location targeting to only include urban centres.
- Mistake number 2: Too many ads in one ad group.
- Mistake number 3:Going for the wrong campaign objective.
- Mistake number 4: Don’t exclude your current clients or customers from your prospecting campaigns
- Mistake number 5: Redistricting age groups.
- Mistake number 6: using detailed targeting with lookalike targeting.
- Don’t try to outsmart Facebook.
- Mistake number 7: Too many targeting options in detailed targeting
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Conclusion
Facebook's targeting and ad algorithm are designed to explore various options for your campaign. Therefore, it's best not to restrict it with various options early on and allow the data and results to guide your decisions. In other words, don't try to outsmart Facebook! Check out this page. if you'd like to learn more about our Facebook ad services.
Did you know that Republic Marketing has been selected among the Top PPC Management Agencies in the United Kingdom by DesignRush? If you have a Paid Social or PPC project in mind, you can book a meeting with one of our experts here!
