Facebook has taken down the detailed targeting features from Facebook ads in order to address how advertisers should reach the people. According to some instances, advertisers abuse the detailed targeting options and create a negative experience for the audience. However, due to this depreciation of targeting options, one will struggle with targeting their prospects, which will affect the ROI.
However, Meta assured that they are working on another way around to help out the advertisers.
So, let’s know more about this privacy update, and what Facebook targeting options you have now for your 2022 ad campaigns.
What are Facebook Ad Targeting Update and Its Impact?
Beginning January 19, 2022, Facebook will eliminate Detailed Targeting settings related to health, race or ethnicity, political affiliation, religion, or sexual orientation, as well as options referencing causes, organizations, or public figures.
In response to industry criticism, Facebook parent company Meta is sticking to its word and reducing advertiser targeting options.
It’s evident that great targeting accuracy facilitates the creation of highly tailored experiences that allow for meaningful and valuable user interaction.
On the contrary, when persons are recognized based on their involvement with social causes, health issues, or demographic factors, there is growing sensitivity.
Discontinued Facebook Targeting Options
Advertisers won’t be able to target clients based on their interests, such as:
- Health causes (World Diabetes Day, Chemotherapy, Lung cancer awareness)
- Religious practices and groups (Catholic Church and Jewish holidays)
- Political beliefs, social issues, causes, organizations, and figures
- Sexual orientation (LGBT)
Your ad campaigns have until March 17th, 2022, to target the aforementioned options.
That doesn’t imply you should put off making adjustments until March.
Before March 17th, you can make campaign-level modifications, but Facebook advises that ad set-level changes may cause your target audience to change. They recommend that you avoid modifying your campaigns or ad sets after January 19th if at all possible.
Advertisers that use the deleted targeting option after March 17th, 2022, will receive the following statement from Facebook:
Error code 100, subcode 18157520: Cannot Use Invalid Detailed Targeting Options: Some of Your Detailed Targeting Options Have Been Removed.
What Facebook Targeting Options do You Have?
Broad targeting: Gender, age, and geography are all factors in broad targeting. Targeting widely entails depending on the system to discover the most appropriate people to show your ad to. This technique may lead to discovering potential consumers you would not have discovered otherwise.
Lookalike Audiences: It’s the audiences that are formed from an existing audience and may help you maximize your reach.
Lookalike expansion: Lookalike expansion, which will be done automatically if you use Lookalike Audiences and use the Conversions goal to optimize for conversions, value, or app events. You have complete control over the audience that was utilized to generate the Lookalike Audience. However, Facebook provides advertisements that are not within the set 1-10 percent lookalike range. If the system forecasts that performance will increase, the platform will do so.
Custom Audiences: This allows you to find existing audiences among Facebook users. Customers lists, website or app traffic, and Facebook participation may all be used to generate Custom Audiences of people who are already familiar with your company.
Targeting expansion: It guides delivery based on advertisers’ sophisticated targeting inputs. If the algorithm indicates that delivering ads outside your specified targeting preferences would improve performance, the platform does it. On all targets except Brand Awareness and Reach, opt-in targeting expansion.
Facebook Ad Targeting Suggestions
1. Lookalike & Interest Targeting Integrated Audiences
Some clients may not have much in common with you, depending on the nature of your business or service. Lookalike audiences might fall short in this situation.
In addition, recent privacy changes may make it more difficult to track lookalike audiences.
You may combine a lookalike audience with interest targeting in this way.
On occasion, Facebook will provide you with lookalikes who are poor leads.
That isn’t to say that the source audience was poor; it just means that there aren’t enough similarities for Facebook to rely on.
To guarantee that your lookalikes are qualified, use comprehensive Facebook ad targeting.
2. Detailed Targeting
Detailed Facebook ad targeting remains effective, and you have many targeting options than just interests.
Ads clicks, Pages users engage with, Activities individuals engage in on Facebook connected to things like their device usage and travel choices, Demographics like age, gender, location, mobile device, network connection speed, and so on are all detailed targeting possibilities.
On top of custom or lookalike audiences, you can add detailed targeting to guarantee that your advertisements are seen by individuals who are most likely to be interested in what your company does.
3. Audience Expansion
You should try expanding your audience if you haven’t already.
Lookalike and targeting extension allows Facebook to seek for individuals you haven’t selected and who the Facebook algorithm has determined as a likely good fit.
Facebook will now propose lookalike expansion to you if you have the Facebook Pixel installed and optimized for value events. Marketing For You- a Facebook advertising agency, used this and has received 20% more impressions and 8% increased clicks in an awareness campaign.
Use A/B test expansion to ensure that its a suitable fit for your advertisements.
4. Engagement As Source
It’s more difficult to create lookalikes if you have little to no user data.
To counteract this problem, try increasing Facebook engagement and creating custom audiences to use as a source for lookalikes.
You may leverage Facebook’s lookalike extension to locate even more individuals if you employ a value-based goal.
The following are the sorts of Engagement Custom Audiences that are available:
- Instant Experience
- Video
- Lead Form
- Shopping
- Events
- Facebook Business Page
That’s all!
Facebook has made some big changes, but businesses and advertisers have to move forward with changes to nurture their businesses. So, use the above-mentioned targeting recommendations, and keep up with the trends!
Also Read: New Instagram Updates 2022 For Businesses And Marketers
