Facebook Offers Enhanced Targeting Features

Sonya Wood - July 28, 2009

Facebook already offers behavioral targeting which allows advertisers to reach visitors based on interests. Advertisers can also target visitors by demographics. For example, marketers can target females between the ages of 25-34 with college degrees that are interested in travel.

Slowly, Facebook has been enhancing its targeting features. With the recent release of ad scheduling and ad editing, advertising on Facebook is becoming more appealing.  Last week, Facebook announced even more features to enhance targeting. First and perhaps most interesting is connection targeting. With connection targeting, advertisers have the ability to only reach fans of any of their pages, users of any of their applications, members of any of their groups, or attendees of any of their events, which can help solidify brand loyalty with the right messaging.

Another feature update is the ability to advertise in multiple countries. In the past, if you wanted to target different countries, you would need to create a new campaign. Now, advertisers have the options to add up to 25 different countries per campaign. Ad delivery is based on IP address.

Birthday targeting is another feature that was recently released. The ability to capture this specific audience sounds insignificant, but can be very powerful. Remember, by creating very specific ad copy messaging, you can reach an exact audience. Who wouldn’t click on an ad that says, “Happy Birthday to you. Click here and save 10% on your purchase for your birthday”?

With each rollout of enhancements from Facebook, advertisers have more opportunities to better target their audience. Combined with specific ad copy, advertisers can reach a highly qualified and engaged audience.