8 How to target Facebook ads audience effectively

For over 12 years, we have been directly deploying advertising on the Meta platform, even before it was called “Meta Ads.” Throughout that journey, targeting methods on Meta Ads have changed many times and become increasingly sophisticated. Currently, our team manages over 1,000 ad campaigns for more than 400 clients across various industries. To maintain efficiency, we constantly have to quickly update to the latest trends and immediately apply the targeting techniques that are yielding the best results. In this article, Optimal Agency will share with you 8 Meta Ads targeting tips that we currently use and have proven to be clearly effective.

Target Facebook Ads audience through Remarketing

When we implement Facebook Ads campaigns with advertisers, one of the most powerful tools is remarketing Facebook. Simply put, remarketing is when you use the Facebook Pixel to track user behavior on a website, and then display ads to them on Facebook. This is a way to “call back” people who showed interest but did not complete the desired action.

Example: A customer adds a product to their cart but leaves at the checkout step. Through remarketing, we can display an ad reminding them to return to complete the order, perhaps even including a small offer to encourage a quick purchase.

• Pros: Remarketing helps increase the likelihood of customers returning to the website, not just to buy the product but also to explore more options. You can create specific lists such as: cart abandoners, people who left at the checkout step, or people who viewed a certain product page.
• Cons: If not handled skillfully, remarketing can easily become “annoying.” Ads should be a subtle reminder rather than relentlessly pursuing customers to the point of discomfort. Also, be careful not to remarket sensitive products, such as engagement rings or personal items, as this could lead to awkward situations if the customer shares the device with others.

Interest-based targeting

One of the most common targeting tools we often recommend is Interest Targeting. Facebook tracks thousands of user interests based on their behavior, allowing advertisers to be more precisely selective.

Example: If you sell motorcycle accessories, you can target ads to people who love large-displacement motorcycles or participate in community groups about vehicles. Or if you run a fashion business, you can target people who like famous brands, fashion magazines, or influencers in the industry.

• Pros: You can reach the right group of people interested in the product/service, thereby increasing the likelihood of clicks, website visits, and conversion into orders.
• Cons: If the interest is too broad (e.g., “fashion”), the ad is easily distributed to an irrelevant audience. Conversely, if it is too narrow (e.g., “white office shirts”), you will increase CTR but significantly reduce the reach.

However, after the latest updates of Meta 2025, targeting Facebook ads based on interests is no longer effective and greatly affects advertising results.

Demographics Facebook Targeting

One of Facebook’s greatest strengths is that users declare personal information on their profiles, from age, education, and occupation to marital status. We and other advertisers can leverage this data for extremely precise demographic targeting.

• The obvious advantage is that you can include or exclude audiences based on specific demographic characteristics. Example: if you sell clothes for middle-aged women, you can choose to target “Women aged 50 and older.” Thanks to this, the ad goes straight to the potential customer group, instead of being wasted on people without the need.
• However, relying solely on demographics can make it difficult to guess the user’s true intent. For example, not all women over 50 are interested in fashion; some prefer travel, others enjoy cooking, etc. Therefore, our advice is to combine demographic targeting with other methods (such as behavior or interests) to increase accuracy.

Mobile App Users

If our business or yours owns a mobile application, leveraging custom audiences to target people who have installed and used the app is a very smart strategy. This is an extremely valuable potential customer group, as they not only know the brand but also show actual interest by downloading and using the app on their mobile device.

• Pros: Targeting app users offers a clear advantage. For example, if you own an e-commerce app, you can run “mobile-only campaigns” to bring them back to purchase, or remind them to complete abandoned orders. This helps save advertising costs because you don’t have to “educate” the customer from scratch.
• Cons: The biggest limitation lies in reach. If your app does not yet have many downloads, the customer segment will be quite small, making it difficult to scale the campaign.

Connections

This is a form of targeting the “friends of…” based on the connection list of the people already in the audience segment. For example, if you are organizing an event, you can run an ad targeting the “friends of people who attended that event.” This helps expand reach based on natural social relationships.

• Pros: This method is very useful when you want to reach new people and increase brand awareness. For instance, if your store just opened, running ads to the “friends of people who attended the launch event” will help spread the word quickly and cost less than reaching a cold audience.
• Cons: Although friends often share similar interests and behaviors, this doesn’t guarantee they will also be interested in your product or service. For example, a person who attended a tech event does not mean their friends are also tech enthusiasts.

Lookalike Audiences Targeting

In addition to remarketing, we frequently use Lookalike Audience—an intelligent feature of Facebook. This tool allows you to find people who have similar characteristics and behaviors to your existing customers. Example: If you have a list of 1,000 past buyers, Facebook will analyze them and find new groups of people who are “like” that group. This is an extremely effective way to expand the customer base.

• Pros: Lookalike helps your brand reach people who would normally be very difficult to reach. For those of you building a brand from scratch, this is a “golden gateway” to increase coverage and awareness.
• Cons: Not everyone who is “similar” in demographics or online behavior will have the same purchase intent as your original customers. Therefore, you need to test various Lookalike groups to select the most effective segment.

Behaviour-Based Targeting

When targeting by behavior, we and other advertisers reach users based on the behaviors they exhibit outside of the website and Facebook. This could be “purchase behavior,” “digital activity,” or even “charitable donations.”

• The outstanding advantage of this targeting method is that we can reach the right audience even before they actively search for the product. Example: if you are selling pet accessories, simply select the “Pet Products” option in the purchase behavior section, and Facebook will help display ads to people who have previously exhibited the behavior of buying pet supplies. Thus, you are almost certain that they have a genuine interest.
• However, the limitation of this method is that behavioral data is built up over time, so it is not always accurate. There are cases where users have changed their habits or are no longer interested. For instance, pet accessory ads might be considered insensitive if they appear before someone who has recently lost a pet. This could lead to negative ad feedback, reducing the frequency of display.

Custom Audiences

This is an extremely effective method that we frequently use for our clients. Custom Audiences allows you to upload existing customer lists (email, phone numbers, etc.) to Facebook to create a distinct audience segment.

Essentially, this is a form of targeting customers who already know you but have not completed payment, or encouraging them to return for another purchase. Example: a customer added shoes to the cart but hasn’t paid; you can display a reminder ad with a discount code to bring them back.

• Pros: The clear advantage is that it is extremely specific, avoiding wasted budget on uninterested individuals. You know this group has already shown interest in your product or brand, so the conversion rate is higher.
• Cons: The limitation is that Custom Audiences do not help expand reach. The smaller the list, the lower the efficiency. If the list is under 1,000 people, you may face difficulties when running ads (high CPM, limited data). To overcome this, we often advise clients to create a Lookalike Audience—a similar customer group based on the original list—to expand the scale while maintaining accuracy.

Targeting the right audience in Facebook Ads not only helps save costs but also delivers superior results for the ad campaign. With the 8 targeting methods we have shared, you can flexibly apply them to reach potential customers more accurately, increase the conversion rate, and optimize your budget. Experiment, measure, and adjust continuously, and your advertising is sure to achieve better results.

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