Very few companies know as much about their users as Facebook does.
Facebook is constantly collecting information about your likes, dislikes, demographics, friends, and web history. Every time you log into Facebook (through a computer or mobile device), data is being collected, and Facebook is using that data to make sure you receive the updates and ads that are relevant to you.
The collection and analysis of this data provides advertisers and marketers with a great opportunity to make sure their messages are getting to their target market (and only paying for the impressions or clicks from that target market). This increases ad effectiveness and shifts marketing to more personalized messages. Companies now have the ability to clearly define a target market and make sure they are receiving messages that are personalized for them.
When building a Facebook ad, you have access to a plethora of demographic, interest, and behavioral factors to determine your target audience. Audiences can be defined by factors such as location, age, gender, and language. However, the real power of Facebook ads is the ability to drill down into the interests and behaviors portion of the audience.
Here are 5 unique targeting factors of Facebook ads that you might not currently be using:
1. Employers: Facebook actually allows you to directly target people based upon where a person works. If you are actively trying to market to a specific company, you are able to do so when those individuals are home. It can help give the perception that you are everywhere and can help send an extremely targeted message.
2. Business Travelers: Facebook uses multiple indicators to determine the likelihood that someone often travels for business purposes (both domestically or internationally). This is great information to have as tradeshows draw near as you can send targeted Facebook ads to those likely to be attending. This factor can also be used in conjunction with the Planning Travel factor or the Returned from Trip factors.
3. Technology Adoption Rate: If you are launching an online initiative (such as a new website, online store, or app), you can directly target those who are typically early adopters of new technology. Since these are the people who are most likely to embrace the introduction of new technology, you can make sure they get the right message before those who will adopt it at a later time.
4. Competitors: If you want to directly market to those who are interested in your competitors, Facebook can make that possible. By using other factors such as Industry, Interests, and Job Titles, you can make sure you message is getting to those who potential customers who might not even know your brand exists. Of course, this also means your competition can be doing the same thing to you (just another reason it is better to be an industry leader when it comes to digital marketing).
5. Mobile Device: If you are looking to take your ads to mobile, Facebook can help you narrow down to which devices your ad will be delivered during the campaign. The choices range from device type (tablet, phone, etc) to actual specific types of devices (iPhone 4S or Kindle Fire HD).
These are just a few examples of how many different factors can be used to create a dynamic Facebook ad campaign. With the correct targeting factors and message, Facebook can allow your company to be in the news feed our your perfect prospect without spending money on who will never become a customer.