The shocking truth about facebook ads targeting (what i wish i knew sooner)

Ssooooo let's talk about facebook ad targeting specifically, open targeting. you’ve probably spent hours tweaking interests, behaviors, and demographics, trying to get your ads in front of the perfect audience. but what if i told you that targeting isn’t as important as you think? crazy, right?

here’s what i’ve learned: open targeting where you let facebook do the heavy lifting and show your ad to the broadest possible audience can actually outperform detailed targeting in a lot of cases. why? because meta’s AI has gotten insanely good at figuring out who’s most likely to convert.

but before you scrap all your targeting settings, let’s break this down. when does open targeting work best?

1. your ad account has conversion history – if you’ve already been running ads and getting results, facebook knows who’s likely to convert. the more data you have, the better open targeting can work.

2. your offer has broad appeal – selling jewelry? coaching programs? online courses? anything that could work for a wide audience tends to do well. but if you're selling something super niche like a training program for springer spaniel owners you might still need some specific targeting.

3. you’re advertising in smaller markets – if you’re running ads in a country with a smaller population or promoting a local business, detailed targeting can actually shrink your audience too much. open targeting works great in these cases.

4. you’re willing to let facebook’s AI learn – open targeting doesn’t always hit immediately. sometimes it takes a little longer for the algorithm to optimize. if you’re testing it, give it some time before deciding if it’s working or not.

now, i’m not saying open targeting is perfect. some people go all-in and say you should never use any targeting at all not even retargeting. personally, i think that’s a step too far. for things like retargeting abandoned carts or running omnipresent content strategies (where you stay in front of leads with different types of content), you still want some level of control.

but here’s the thing: the barrier to using open targeting successfully is getting lower all the time. even if you tried it a year ago and it didn’t work, it’s worth testing again especially if your ad account has more conversion data now.

so if you’re stuck in detailed targeting mode, consider testing open targeting. it might just surprise you.

ready to make ads easier and more profitable? let’s do it!!!!!!

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