Facebook ads first appeared on the platform in 2013 and have been an incredibly powerful tool for businesses to promote their products. However, during that time, advertisers had a difficult and time-consuming process to target their campaigns. Many had to spend hours optimizing individual sections, segments, and testing various customer groups to find the right audience for their products.
With the improvements to the Facebook ad algorithm, now known as Meta, you no longer have to spend hours on optimization and targeting. Instead, AI tools will help you find potential customer groups and automatically deliver your ads to them. As a result, many advertisers are now asking: Is Facebook ad targeting still effective? Do we still need to bother with it? To answer all your questions, we have written this blog post to share insights from our team at Optimal. This post provides a clear explanation and helps you answer questions that have remained unsolved until now.
Advertising targeting methods: Past and present
Before we share our perspective, we would like to briefly review the history of Meta ad targeting to provide a clear context for the current situation. As I mentioned, in the early days, targeting was the deciding factor for success or failure. You can completely transform a failing campaign into a successful one simply by adjusting the targeting, without altering any other aspect. However, this also meant you would spend hours experimenting with ads and checking if your targeting was correct.
However, as Meta improved its platform, more and more advertisers began experimenting with open targeting – meaning they added no targeting options at all, allowing Meta to find the audience on its own. And they saw good results. Gradually, this trend became more common. Letting Meta find whomever it wanted on Facebook and Instagram worked better than limiting it to our specific options.
A few years ago, Meta introduced campaigns that required no targeting, such as Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns, where you didn’t need to input any audience information. The purpose of this campaign was to let Meta fully automate everything. Recently, these campaigns were renamed Advantage+ campaigns and expanded to other types, such as lead generation and sales campaigns. In these campaigns, you can still input targeting options, but they are only considered suggestions.
Meta provided this option to create a “win-win” scenario. Advertisers still feel they have a voice and can provide direction to Meta, which is especially important for new ad accounts. But ultimately, finding the most suitable people to target on Facebook and Instagram is still up to Meta. The combination of warm and cold audiences is now merged, whereas before we typically separated them. Currently, most advertisers choose one of two ways: either they don’t use any targeting options at all, or they use them as suggestions rather than strict constraints.
This leads to the big question: Do we still need to bother with Facebook ad targeting? Most of our clients are advised not to be overly concerned with Facebook ad targeting like they used to be. In a few exceptional cases and specific scenarios, targeting is still very important. I will elaborate on those later. So, don’t jump to the conclusion that you never need to add any targeting options.
Today, with the strong development of AI, most advertisers no longer have to manually target as they did before. Instead, Meta will use AI to target better than you can. If you add overly specific options, you will hinder the algorithm by creating unnecessary barriers and limitations. It is better to let Meta do its job. This allows you to focus on factors that have a much greater impact: the offer, creative content, and brand positioning. These are the things that are becoming increasingly important as Meta automates delivery and targeting.
The right way to target with the Meta ad algorithm
Distinguishing between “Controls” and “Audience suggestions” when targeting
When we say that targeting is no longer necessary, we can guess you might think that sounds crazy. You might be asking yourself, “So, should I just run ads without targeting anyone?”
That’s not the case at all. We want to clarify an extremely important point: we’re talking about detailed targeting within the “Audience Suggestions” section.
Imagine you’re in your ad setup. When you scroll down to the Audience section, you’ll see two distinct parts, like two different worlds:
- Part 1: Controls
- Part 2: Audience Suggestions
And here is the crucial difference:
Everything you enter into the “Audience Suggestions” section—from age and gender to interests and behaviors – is just a friendly recommendation. Meta will consider them, but their algorithm is free to ignore them if it finds that people outside of those categories are more likely to convert. For example, you might think your customers are only 18-25, but if Meta finds a 30-year-old who is a better fit, they will show the ad to that person.
Conversely, the “Controls” section contains the “hard” and unchangeable rules. Meta will treat these as absolute constraints and will never go beyond these limits.
A typical example is location. If you are a local business and only want to advertise in a specific city or area, you must set that in the “Controls” section. Similarly, if your product is only for people over 21 for legal reasons, ensure you set the minimum age here.
The Importance of Custom Audiences “Owned source”
When consulting with clients, we always ask the question: “Why is your data your secret weapon for targeting?” This is a question that few experts in Facebook advertising can answer.
In today’s world of automated advertising, having data from your “Owned sources” is your biggest competitive advantage. Why? Because Meta doesn’t have access to your customer lists or email lists unless you upload them yourself. Think about it:
Meta only stores website access data for 180 days. So what about your loyal customers who made purchases last year? You can re-engage them by uploading their email addresses and phone numbers.
You can reach customers from other channels. If you collect emails from an offline event or an email marketing campaign, Meta won’t automatically know who these people are. Uploading that list helps you “tell” Meta about these potential customers.
Ad optimization: The Never-Ending Story, Even for Experienced Advertisers
Once you understand the role of this data, the next step is to leverage your “owned sources” to optimize your ads.
One of the most powerful features Meta offers is Value Rules. Instead of just telling Meta, “I want to target audience group A,” you can say, “I want to target audience group A, but prioritize the people in this group because they are more valuable to my business.” This is completely different from traditional targeting. It doesn’t limit your reach; instead, it optimizes your ad performance by focusing your budget on the people most likely to generate high profits.
Ultimately, running ads on Meta has been and continues to change. Your job is no longer to try and “target” with pinpoint accuracy, but to become a smart data provider, enabling Meta to do what it does best.
Optimization instead of targeting
If you’re a new business owner starting to advertise your business on Facebook with a new ad account, providing these “suggestions” is like giving Meta a rough map. You’re telling them: “Hey Meta, this is what I know about my customers. Let’s start here!” This helps Meta accelerate its learning process, allowing you to see better results from the outset.
But once your account has accumulated a lot of data, hundreds or even thousands of conversions, Meta no longer needs those “suggestions.” At that point, they have already built their map, and that map is far more accurate and detailed than any suggestion you could provide.
We have conducted many tests on long-standing ad accounts and found something interesting: Meta almost completely ignores detailed targeting options. Regardless of whether you add a list of interests or behaviors, the campaign results are nearly identical to running ads with open targeting. Meta is smart enough to find the most suitable people for you on its own.
If you encounter issues related to your Facebook ad account while advertising, don’t feel discouraged. The Optimal Agency team is here to help you.
Optimal is confident in its position as a top advertising agency in Vietnam. With numerous business-verified ad accounts capable of handling large budgets, we are certain we can help you optimize and scale your advertising. We are committed to creating highly profitable ad campaigns and providing full support for all your needs when you start advertising.
Final Words
What are you waiting for? Contact us directly right now.
Final words
This blog post has helped you find the answers to two common questions that many advertisers face, as I mentioned at the beginning. Facebook ad targeting isn’t unnecessary; it just needs to be applied to specific situations. Throughout the article, we detailed the changes from Meta to help you better understand how the Meta advertising system operates. Today, you no longer need to perform certain manual tasks for ad targeting; Meta will handle that for you. Your job is to provide Meta with your “owned data sources” to ensure your Facebook ads are optimized and delivered to the right audience.
