Why Is Facebook Advertising A Great Tool For Microtargeting

If you have a message or an offer that you want to push to the right audience, but don't know how, when, or where to do it, then Facebook Ads micro-targeting is for you.

The "right audience" above doesn't mean broad or general. It suggests a specific type of audience down to the micro-level. You may find it a little eerie, but micro-targeting exists in the online advertising world.

So what exactly is Facebook Ads micro-targeting? How does it work? We will find out all the answers in this article.

What Is Micro-targeting?

Microtargeting is a mix of the terms "advertisement" and "narrowly-targeted groups." It is a strategy used by a lot of industries to produce highly specific advertisements to narrowly-targeted groups or audiences.

Politicians have mastered the art and science of micro-targeting more than any famous advertisers I know.

Primarily, micro-targeting works this way - First, take a social media profile (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Next, put it into a psychological test tube. Finally, create precisely targeted ads.

Micro-targeting aims to use data alongside predictive analytics. It allows you to create a more profitable and targeting marketing campaign, personalized for each customer (both current and potential).

I mentioned the term "psychological test tube" before. What do I mean? Find out next.

Human Personality: An OCEAN Of Opportunities

In the 1980s, psychologists created a model to evaluate a person's personality based on five vitals traits. They called it The Big Five or by the acronym OCEAN:

• Openness
• Conscientiousness
• Extroversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism

In the field of psychometrics, the Big Five model has become a standard technique. If researchers know enough about a person's personality to give a score in each of those five traits, then they can predict what that person's next move will be, given the person's race, religion, political affiliation, and even sexuality.

A lack of data hindered the Big Five model for years. Researchers didn't have enough data about most people, which resulted in heavy reliance on subjects completing lengthy, highly-personal questionnaires.

However, with the birth internet and then Facebook, things gradually changed.

Your Facebook account full of hundreds and perhaps thousands of data about you is a profile that enables online advertisers to know you better than your family or friends.

Your account makes advertising on Facebook a perfect breathing ground for micro-targeting. How? Head to the next section of this article.

Why Is Facebook Advertising A Great Micro-targeting Tool

First of all, Facebook is a great advertising platform for both micro and macro levels. Facebook Ad campaigns are easy to set up. It's one of the reasons why I recommend advertising on Facebook.

With that said, you can customize the visibility of your Facebook Ads on the following basis:

1. Facebook Age Targeting

Advertisers can tweak their services and products to suit their audience's needs better using Facebook's age-based data.

Always remember that the maximum age on Facebook is 65 plus, which reaches all users over 65. The minimum age is 13, so all Facebook Ads will be targeted only to users at least 13 years of age.

If you want to promote products with age restrictions in different locations on Facebook, then you should adjust the age setting before submitting your ads.

2. Facebook Location Targeting

Facebook Ads allow you to reach a large number of audiences at once. You can aim for any country, region, state, city, communities, etc. where you can expand your business. This is especially true for local businesses out there.

Local businesses will need to segment the audience based on which city or state it caters to.

3. Facebook Behavior Targeting

You can split your customers based on buying patterns, purchase history, purchase behavior, device usage, and many more.

4. Facebook Interests Targeting

With Facebook advertising, you can show your target audience different ads, which may vary according to the pages they like, their hobbies, and so many other factors.

5. Facebook Device Targeting

Advertisers can also analyze the devices (mobile and desktop) which their target audience is using to access Facebook. Depending on the device, it's easy to design the size, font, and style of the Facebook ad.

6. Facebook Connections Targeting

With Facebook advertising, you can include users who are related to your Facebook page or event or remove them to find new audiences.

Now, is it okay to add a lot of targeting options in one campaign? Well, too much detail can hurt your Facebook ad campaign.

Just because Facebook has all the necessary tools to target a super-specific audience, doesn't mean you should. Targeting a too specific audience will limit the reach of your ad, which will lead to higher unnecessary advertising costs.

If you focus too much on targeting, then you will lose sight of other essential advertising elements, such as content value.

Always keep that in mind.

The Best Strategy For Facebook Ads Micro-targeting

Let me set proper expectations here.

There's no one size fits all type of Facebook Ads micro-targeting strategy out there. It takes some time and good practice to perfect this art, as I said earlier.

1. Start With A Marketing Plan

NEVER launch a Facebook Ads micro-targeting campaign without a plan.

A killer marketing strategy is vital because it makes achieving success a lot easier for any advertiser. When you target your ideal audience more smartly, you reduce the costs of Facebook Ads and double your chances of turning leads into sales.

Figuring what problems you want to solve and why customers should choose you, helps you quickly identify the specific issues of users on Facebook.

2. Analyze Your Target Audience

As a Facebook advertiser, targeting your ads to anyone and everyone is so tempting, but this will only waste all your resources. Why? Because you'll be advertising to users who either aren't interested or who would not benefit from your offer.

However, analyzing your target market will help you determine the following:

• How much your target audience is willing to spend.
• How often they will purchase.
• How you will adapt to Facebook Ads trends in the future.

3. Check What Your Competitors Are Doing

It will not hurt to look at what your competitor is doing and apply their best practices to your Facebook Ads micro-targeting campaign.

Analyze the targeting options (age, location, behavior, interests, etc.) they're using.

4. Look For Alternative Targeting Methods

Having a plan B, C, or D is always appropriate in advertising. You might want to consider advertising on other platforms like Instagram, Whatsapp, and Messenger. All of which are under the Facebook network.

Other platforms like Google can also help you target the right audience.

5. Plan Your Budget

Facebook offers one of the cheapest advertising packages out there. You can spend $5 a week and reach 1,000 Facebook users or spend $50,000 a week if you want to reach more people.

Always consider your advertising budget before launching a Facebook Ads micro-targeting campaign.

6. Create Target-specific Content

You should put a lot of thinking on your Facebook content. Remember that your ad is nothing but another Facebook content, and there's a lot of them on the platform.

Create target-specific content to make sure that the right audience will pay enough attention.

7. Start Your Campaign

Once you've gone through steps 1 to 6 of this guide, then you are ready to set up a Facebook ad campaign.

8. Review And Rerun

Your job doesn't end after launching a Facebook ad campaign. Your duties include reviewing the overall performance of your ad.

Go to the Ads Reporting tool on Facebook Ads Manager and analyze the following metrics:

• Results
• CPC or Cost per click
• CPR or Cost per result
• Reach
• Frequency
• Amount Spent

Don't be afraid to tweak your campaign if any of those metrics aren't performing well.

Lastly, rerun your campaign and repeat the whole process until you get the best Facebook ad results!

And that's it!

Those are the reasons why Facebook advertising is an excellent tool for micro-targeting.

Do you want to know some examples of successful micro-targeting campaigns? Head on to the recommended resources section below to learn more about the 2008 (Obama) and 2016 (Trump) US electoral campaigns.

Both campaigns used Facebook Ads micro-targeting to win the elections.

Recommended Facebook Ads Micro-targeting Resources

What is micro-targeting and what is it doing in our politics?

How Data and Micro-targeting Won the 2012 Election for Obama

All of Facebook's Ad Targeting Options (in One Epic Infographic)

So what do you think about the article? Are you ready to launch a Facebook Ads micro-targeting campaign?

Leave a comment below and let's chat!

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