Google and Facebook employ distinct methods to reach your target audience and filter out low-quality traffic. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to bear in mind that Google and Facebook generate a portion of their revenue from user ad clicks. As a result, they may display your ad to as many users as possible, even if they don’t align with your intended audience. In essence, the responsibility falls on your shoulders or those of the Denver marketing agency you’ve partnered with to refine your targeting to reach only users who fit within your audience scope.

FACEBOOK AD TARGETING

Facebook’s audience targeting is located at the ad set level under “Audience.” In this section, you can adjust parameters such as location, age, gender, detailed targeting, and language. If you’re creating custom or lookalike audiences from scratch, you can refer to Facebook’s instructions.

“Location” dictates the geographical reach of your Facebook ad. You can choose to target users who “live in or recently were in this location,” “are living in this location,” “recently were in this location,” or “are traveling in this location.” Age and gender can also be customized, although certain industries like credit cards, loans, jobs, housing, or social issues are restricted due to Equal Employment Opportunity and Civil Rights laws.

“Detailed demographic” is where you fine-tune your targeting. With over 300 interests available as of January 2023, it’s essential to select as many as possible that define your audience. A helpful tool is the “Narrow Audience” option, which requires users to fit into both the primary list of interests and a secondary list. This narrows your audience, providing Facebook with a clearer view of your target users.

“Exclude” is another feature in detailed targeting, allowing you to filter out users in a specific interest group. For instance, if you’re selling skiing equipment, you’d include interests like “ski” and “skiing” but exclude “waterskiing” to eliminate unrelated users.

Additional options for optimizing your ads include placement and ad scheduling, but the “Audience” section in the ad set is where most of your targeting is defined.

GOOGLE ADS TARGETING

Google offers multiple avenues for targeting users, with the primary one being the “Audience” tab. Here, you can click “Edit Audience Segments” to add audiences at the campaign or ad group level. Similar to Facebook, you can narrow down your target audience significantly. With thousands of options available, take your time to search for segments aligned with your campaign’s objectives. Google also provides “combined segments” similar to Facebook’s “Narrow” option.

You or your Denver marketing agency can create custom audiences for users who meet the criteria of each segment you include, thereby providing Google with a more defined user to target.

If you have Google Analytics linked to your Google Ads account, you can create custom audiences in Analytics and import them into Google Ads. This option is more advanced and specific, so consulting a Denver marketing agency for assistance is advisable. These audiences can be found under Browse > How They Interact with Your Business > Website Visitors.

NEED FURTHER GUIDANCE? CONSIDER ENGAGING A PREMIER DENVER MARKETING AGENCY

By following these principles, you should observe changes in your ad performance, with the potential for decreased clicks. This reduction isn’t necessarily negative; it signifies that low-quality traffic is no longer clicking on your ads. As a result, your budget is spent more efficiently, aligning your campaigns with users more likely to convert.

If you prefer professional guidance, our experts at Mountain Peak Marketing, specializing in Google and Facebook ads, are ready to assist you. Reach out to us at [email protected] or 719-621-8480 to collaborate on optimizing your ad campaigns and driving higher conversions.