All You Need to Know About Facebook Behavioural Targeting

April 21, 2014

Facebook’s advertising platform, Power Editor, has received an overhaul throughout the last two months. New updates allow brands to not only structure their portfolio more efficiently, but also reach their desired audience more effectively.

Forget about Broad Categories and Precise Interests. Facebook is now paying closer attention to more of your online habits.

It makes sense from a business perspective to spend more money on the right people. The advertising dollar is always under scrutiny, and it is becoming more and more important to ensure that it remains a viable investment.

So are we narrowing in on our target audience, or are we completely missing the mark?

Facebook is the world’s most popular social media platform. Therefore, it would be more than worthwhile for businesses and marketers to invest in Behaviour Targeting.

 

Shifting from ‘Broad Category’ and ‘Precise Interests’ to ‘Behavioural Targeting’:

Previously, Facebook has focused on interests at face value.

Let’s look at a behavioral targeting example. If a user liked a page, a brand or even a public figure—such as the irresistible Ryan Gosling—, they would be tagged as an avid fan.

The thinking in this strategy relies in the fact that if that user liked Ryan Gosling a year or two ago, an advertiser would market to them. But what if now they find him to be distasteful, or had fallen horribly out-of-love? Oh no! Poor Ryan!

For Broad Category Targeting, advertisers would base their target market on very superficial information that users would have entered. This would include anything from a specific TV show they may have liked, their interest in rock music, or that they are a parent of an infant.

The information that is gathered for this strategy is not meaningful enough for the long term. It fails to take into consideration how interests change. And unlike Behavioural Targeting, Broad Category Targeting also fails to take note of a user’s entire online experience.

Broad Category Targeting

It relies on outdated information that may go back to nine months. A lot can change in nine months. Thus, marketers should realise the great deal of potential in defining who their target audience consists of, based on their recent online activity.

Having information about how people are using the Internet and interacting with each other gives valuable insight into a user’s buying habits and changing interests.

Facebook Behavioural Targeting

This tool treats each user as an individual. Their entire online persona is not necessarily just based on their preference of music or their marital status. It gives advertisers the opportunity to take the specific habits of different users to figure out whom they want to promote to.

Facebook is able to gather many different types of information that will help marketers determine users’ buyer personas, as well as personalities in general. For example, if a user has recently made an online purchase, they will be targeted for similar products sold at similar online stores.

Similarly, if a user has shared an album of photos from their recent overseas trip, they are likely to be targeted if an advertiser is looking to promote their travel tours or facilities.

Making Facebook Ads: Highly Effective or Highly Invasive?

Don’t worry! This doesn’t mean that as a user yourself, you need to worry about who has access to your information. The benefit is that if you’ve shown an inclination towards something, you’ll get more unique and differentiated options.

Marketers will be able to find characteristics of exactly who they want to be selling to. These will be the types of people who are likely to find interesting what you have to offer. In this way, Behavioural Targeting opens the doors to many advertising opportunities. These strategies will provide meaningful information about users’ online activity, making Facebook advertising even more effective.

Do you have any doubts about how to use behavioural targeting for your business? Leave us your question in the comments below!