The success of any marketing campaign depends on how precisely you target your audience with your ads or any other form of communications. When we see the possibility of targeting on various platforms, Facebook Ads targeting options come out revolutionary.
Just think, You have cake shop and someone gives you the option of the target to the people in your location who have birthday or anniversary next week. Yes! Facebook can give you this level of precise targeting option. In my knowledge, no other media is giving this level of targeting option right now.
Many people are using Facebook Media but not utilizing its complete targeting features. Probably many don’t even know to which extent they can target their audience on Facebook. Right targeting always leads better ROI because one hand it reduces Ad wastage and other hand improve the result and lessen the cost also.
So I compiled the complete Facebook Ads Targeting options in this post. Go through it carefully and think which option will suit best for you to target your audience.
Demographic
In Demographic option, facebook gives you detailed options of targeting. You can target Location, Age, Language, Gender, Relationship, Education, Work etc. You can cross filter the target and create a niche demography for your campaigns.
Location
No platform in the world gives such detailed location targeting. You can target countries, cities, zip codes, radius etc. Lets assume you have a retail shop and your capacity to serve within 10 miles. Facebook says its ok. You can give your ads limited to this surrounding only. Whoa!
Here below you can see a whole range of Location targeting option, which Facebook offers.
Countries, Country/Region, City, Zip/Postal Code, Market Areas
Everyone in this location
People recently in this location
People Traveling to this location
Note: You can drop a pin on Map to target also
Age
From 13 years old to 65+
Language
Language is one of the best segment and filters as well. Facebook gives you a full range of options to target.
Gender
Your product is for Women then you don’t require to waste your ad money by targeting all. Facebook gives you the option to target separately. If your buyers are men and women then you can run the same campaign on both targets separately and monitor which one is giving you a better result. So in gender category below mentioned three options are available now. I wanted to see transgender option too. Hope Facebook is listening to me.
All
Men
Women
Relationship
Relationship category is one of the core target options on Facebook. I assure you Facebook has competency in this option. Relationship data is highly dynamic and Facebook updates it on real time.
Interested In
Men
Women
Men and Women
Not Specified
Relationship Status
Single
In a relationship
Married
Engaged
Complicated
Open Relationship
Domestic Partnership
Separated
Divorced
Widow
Unspecified
Education
Like other platforms, Facebook gives you Education targeting. Here following options are available.
In High School
High School Grade
In college
Some College
College Grade
Associate Degree
Professional Degree
Master Degree
Doctorate Degree
Unspecified
Field of Study
Schools
Undergrad Years
Work
Who says Facebook is not for B2B. It is completely wrong. They give a whole range of options to target. Go through the following options. You will realize that B2B can also have benefits of Facebook Media.
Employer
Job Title
Financial
Here facebook gives you the option of Finacial filter, you can choose according to your offerings.
Income
Net Worth
Liquid Asset
Total Value
Industries
You can target varieties of Industries also.
PS: Facebook Industries based targeting is not as precise as Linkedin is giving but creatively using it with multiple filters can give you a better result in a very lesser cost in comparison of Linkedin.
Administrative
Architecture and Engineering
Art, Entertainment , and Media
Business and Financial Operations
Cleaning and Maintenance
Community and Social Services
Computer and Mathematics
Construction and Extraction
Education and Library
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry
Food Preparation and Services
Government Employees
Healthcare and Medical
IT and Technical
Installation and Repair
Legal
Life, Physical and Social Science
Management
Military
Nurses
Personal Care
Production
Protective Service
Retail
Sales
Temporary and Seasonal
Transportation and Moving
Veterans
Office Type
Home Office
Small Business
Small Office
Home
In Home category, you can target to all residing types. I can’t even explain all in a single post. I just let you compell to imagine that if you have real estate business. You have to run the campaign and you have to reach your prospects, then see carefully following options & think whom you will include and whom you will exclude in your targeting.
Home Type
Apartment
Condo
Multi-Family Home
Single
Square Footage
Year Home Built
Home Value
Property Size
Home Ownership
First-Time Home buyer
Home Owners
Renters
Household Composition
Family Based Hose Hold
Grandparents
Housemate-based Households
New Parents
New Teen Drivers
Veteran In Home
Working Women
Young & Hip
Young Adult in Home
Ethnic Affinity
Probably this option is still limited to the US only. Politicians are using it fullest.
African American
Asian American
Asian
European
Hispanic
Generation
Here generation based targeting options are available. If due to any reason you are facing confusion in Age group targeting. Here you can apply generation based filter instead age group.
Baby Boomers
Generation X
Millennials
Parents
You are running a school and want parents should know that how awesome your school is. So they can take a decision to send their kids to your school. Think about this situation and then decide how awesome this targeting option is.
All Parents
New Parents
Parent With Toddlers
Parents with preschoolers
Parents with easy School – Age Children
Parents with Preteens
Parents with Teenagers
Parents with Adult Children
Moms
Big City Moms
Corporate Moms
Fit Mom
Green Moms
Moms of Grade School Kids
Moms of High School Kids
Moms of PreSchool Kids
New Mom
Soccer Moms
Stay-at-home Moms
Trendy Moms
Life Events
Certain types of businesses or campaigns are based on selling to people experiencing certain major life events. Funeral homes, for example, obviously want to connect with people who are planning a funeral, terminally ill, or lost/losing a loved one. Moving services want to get in front of you if you’ve just purchased a new house or apartment. Wedding photographers target people who are engaged.
Facebook has pretty much every conceivable life event targeting option since we tend to post these to our timelines.
Anniversary with in 30 Days
Away From Family
Away from Home Town
Long Distance Relationship
New Job
New Relationship
Newly Engaged (3 Month, 6 Months, 1 Year)
Recently Moved
Upcoming Birthday
Friends of Any Mentioned Live Events Category
Politics
If you are a politician, political party, political commentators, a particular thought of school writer etc. then you badly need these options.
Liberal
Moderate
Conservative
Very Liberal
Self-Reported
Very Conservative
Likely to engage in politics: Conservative, Liberal
Interest
You like to press ‘Like’ button and facebook likes to collect those data. On the basis of that data, Facebook has created the wide list of Interest base targeting option.
Interests are one of the best Facebook ads targeting options as they allow you to target people specifically interested in a subject related to your product. For example, you could target people interested in your competitors or your broader market segment, or magazines and blogs covering your market.
PS: Here I am mentioning only major ones.
Business & Industry
Advertising
Agriculture
Aviation
Banking
Construction
Design
Economics
Engineering
Entrepreneurship
Healthcare
Higher Education
Management
Marketing
Nursing
Online
Personal Finance
Real Estate
Retail
Sales
Science
Small Business
Entertainment
Games
Live Events
Movies
Music
Reading
TV
Family & Relationship
Family
Fatherhood
Motherhood
Friendship
Dating
Marriage
Parenting
Fitness & Wellness
Bodybuilding
Dieting
Gyms
Meditation
Nutrition
Physical Exercise
Physical Fitness
Running
Weight Training
Yoga
Zumba
Food & Drink
Alcoholic Beverage
Beverage
Cooking
Cuisine
Food
Restaurants
Hobbies & Activities
Art & Music
Current Events
Home & Garden
Pets
Politics & Social Issue
Travel
Vehicles
Shopping & Fashion
Beauty
Clothing
Fashion Accessories
Shopping
Toys
Sports & Outdoors
Outdoor Recreation
Sports
Technology
Computers
Consumer Electronics
Behaviours
The amount of targetable behaviors available is in the hundreds, Here I have listed all larger one. This is simply endless. I am just recommending you a must read an article of Jon Loomer to understand it completely.
Unlike Precise Interests, behaviors allow you to target people by purchase history, intent, and more. This data is gathered by Facebook analyzing many factors and also using external data sets. They are not always useful, but when they are they work great! As an example, you can target people currently traveling or planning their next trip … priceless if you’re in the hotel or event booking market. Check them out and see if they can work for your business.
Automotive
Motorcycle
Owners
Purchase Type
New Vehicle Buyers (Near Market)
New Vehicles Shoppers (In mArket, Max in Market)
Used Vehicle Buyers (In Market)
Business To Business
Seniority
Company Size
Industry
Charitable Donations
All Charitable Donations
Animal Welfare
Art & Culture
Cancer Cause
Children’s Cause
Environment & Wildlife
Health
Political
Religious
Veterans
World Relief
Digital Activities
Operation System Used
Canvas Gaming
Console Gamers
Event Creators
Facebook Payments
Facebook Page Admin
Internet Browser Used
Operating System Used
Photo Uploaders
Primary Email Domain
Small Business Owners
Technology Adopters
Unity Plugins
Expats
Multiple Countries
Finacial
Banking
Spending Method
Investments
Job Role
Corporate Executive
Financial Professionals
Farmers
Media
Radio
Television
Mobile Device User
All Mobile Devices By Brand
All Mobile Devices By OS
All Mobile Device
Feature Phone
Network Connection
New Smartphone & Tablet Owners
Smartphone & Tablet Owners
Smartphone Owners
Smartphone & Tablets
Tablet Owners
Purchase Behavior
Business Purchase
Buyer profiles
Clothing
Food & Drink
Health & Beauty
Home & Garden
Household Products
Kids Products
Pet Products
Purchase habits
Purchase Types
Sport & Outdoors
Store Types
Subscription Services
Technology
Travel
All frequent Travelers
Business Travelers
Casino Vacation
Commuters
Cruises
Currently Traveling
Family Vacation
Frequent International Travelers
Personal Travelers
Returned from trip (1 Week, 2 Week Ago)
Timeshares
Used Travel App (2 Weeks, 1 Month)
Residential Profile
Length of Residence
Recent Home Buyer
Likely To Move
New Mover
Recent Home Buyer
Recent Mortage Borrower
Seasonal & Events
Baseball
College Football
Cricket
Fall Football
Professional Football
Rugby
Connections
The Connections option can be very powerful for your Facebook ad targeting, especially if your business has a strong Facebook following already. It allows you to target people who are fans, friends of fans, or not fans of your Page, app, or event.
People who like your page
Friends of people who like your page
Exclude people who like your page
People who used your App
Friends of People who used your App
Exclude People who used your App
People Who are going to Your Event
Friends of the People who are going to your event
Remarketing
Remarketing is one of my favorite topics. I have written several posts earlier around it. Facebook Remarketing is known as the lowest hanging fruit for advertisers because it allows you to show your ads to the user who have already visited your website or clicked on of their products/services or shared phone number or email ID with you. Here four types of Remarketing options you got by Facebook. These are very powerful.
People who visited your website
Custom List of Email
Custom List of Phone Numbers
Custom List of Facebook User-ID
Look A Like Audience
OMG ! Facebook does not stop to remarketing only. It goes one step further and giving you options to create “Look A Like Audience” from your remarketing list. Facebook understands persona of your remarketing list and fetches out audience who has the similar persona. Google Adwords is also giving similar option but Facebook has better data, so FB’s “Look A Like Audience” list quality is better than Google Adwords list.
In Conclusion, I can tell you these much wide options are the completely revolution in ad placement. It is liberation from wasting ads, It’s up to you to choose the audience you want to reach. You can choose from one or a combination of targeting options that suit your business’s needs, Facebook is helping you to reach the people you care about.
Please write your feedback in the comment column.
Anand
Since 5 years I am self-learning this tech-based online marketing practice and ideas.
The purpose of this blog to share and receive the information and ideas to my community.
Prior to take formal education in Marketing Management. I studied History and Indian culture.
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Great info. Thanks
You are welcome Feon ! 🙂
Never knew Facebook was able to go that deep! Thanks
Welcome, Jim !
Yes! it indeed deep.. Facebook is now world’s biggest media platform with laser targeting options. 🙂
Hi Anand, we have made the Latest Complete Full list Aug 2017 – Facebook Audience Targeting Options – Print Friendly Version for you and for other to have a look: http://www.edigitalagency.com.au/facebook/facebook-advertising-targeting-options/
Thank you and keep well
hi, Can I target people visiting a particular location to attend a conference for three days ?
Yes ! You can ..
This is great stuff Anand!! Keep up the good work!!