If you’re anything like I was when I first started out creating Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns, you’re probably overwhelmed by the massive array of Facebook ad targeting options available.
Truth be told, I still get overwhelmed, which is why I created this Meta Audience Targeting Guide. It includes a list of almost all the interests, demographicsbehaviour targeting options available when advertising on Facebook and Instagram.
Download the full PDF guide here
Waaaay back in 2015, after creating numerous Facebook Ads campaigns for clients, I began to get frustrated sorting through all the targeting options available in Ads Manager (and Power Editor back then). So, one Friday afternoon, I grabbed a cold beverage and decided to map them all out.
Much has changed since then… targeting options come and go, so you may see some changes to the options available in this PDF.
The Version 1 map was readable… if you printed it out on an A3 page and used a magnifying glass. With this latest version, I created a PDF guide with multiple pages, for two reasons:
There are now so many more targeting options and it’s impossible to fit them on the one readable map. Now you can print out these pages (remember that old format?) and stick them on your wall for easy reference… at least that’s what I did for a while.
I hope the maps in this guide help you (and perhaps your clients) more easily discover target audiences for Facebook ads campaign.
The maps in this guide are pretty big, so I’ve added a PDF download option at the end of the post.
Facebook Ad Targeting Options Overview
Facebook Ads Audience Targeting is available (mostly) at the Ad Set level where you can explore various Facebook ad targeting options, including:
Location
Age
Gender
Language
Detailed Targeting
Connection
Placement
In the next few sections, we’ll drill down to all the targeting options you can access within these sections. Any targeting options with strike throughs may not be available in your region.
Top Level Targeting Options
Targeting options are all available at the Ad Set level. Here are the top level options. The targeting options that have striked out appear to be seasonal, so over time, targeting options will come and go here.
One of the detailed targeting options includes the ability to engage with political content.
Drilling Down into the Audience Targeting Options
1. Demographic Targeting List
This one’s a biggy. The main sub-categories are:
Home
Work
Relationships
Generation
Financial
Politics (US)
Ethnic Affinity
Education
Life Events
newly engaged people friends
relationship newly engaged
Household Composition
hip young adults
home working women young
Each of these then gets broken down. Once again, you can download the high resolution PDF so you can zoom into the detail.
2.Facebook Ads Interests List
Next we have a list of interests. Naturally, there are even more targeting options here. The main sub-categories for Facebook Ads Interests targeting are:
Family & Relationships
Technology
Food & Drink
Business & Industry
Hobbies & Activities
arts photography sculpture singing
first person shooter games
massively multiplayer online games
Shopping & Fashion
Fitness & Wellness
food diet foods
3. Behaviours Targeting
Finally, we have the Behaviours available for targeting with Facebook Ads. The main sub-categories are:
Financial
Consumer Classification
accessories auto service buyer
services women’s apparel sports
Digital Activities
free software
internet explorer facebook access
windows vista facebook access
Mobile Device Usage
Aniversary
Multicultural Affinity
Seasonal & Events
Expats
Travel
Soccer (assuming this is a seasonal option)
Purchase behaviour
More Categories
tv viewers light
tv viewers moderate
Top Tip: Combine Audience Targets
While there’s an overwhelming variety of targeting, the power comes when you combine Detailed Targeting options at the Ad Set level.
Mix and match your targeting along with Demographics, age, gender and placement to really niche down.
I hope the maps in this guide helps you (and perhaps your clients) more easily discover target audiences for Facebook ads campaign.
Oh, and if you’re using Facebook Lead Ads, and want to more easily access lead datagrab a 14 day free trial of LeadSync.me
Download the full PDF guide here.
Access your leads where you need them.
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Luke is the founder of LeadSync and, as a Digital Marketer, has been helping businesses run lead generation campaigns since 2016.
