Open Targeting: The Big Facebook Ads Debate
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses the evolving importance of targeting in Facebook and Instagram advertising. It challenges the conventional wisdom that detailed targeting is crucial, suggesting that 'open targeting'—advertising to a broad audience without specific interests or demographics—can be effective due to Meta's advanced algorithms. The script outlines scenarios where open targeting excels, such as with mature ad accounts, broad appeal products, and local businesses, while also noting its limitations and the importance of retargeting for certain campaigns.
Takeaways
- 🎯 Open targeting is a strategy where no specific targeting options are used, allowing ads to be shown to a broad audience within a chosen location.
- 🚀 Open targeting has become more popular due to advancements in Meta's advertising platform, which can now better determine the right audience for ads.
- 🔍 Some marketers advocate for always using open targeting, believing that Meta's algorithms are better at finding the right audience than manual targeting.
- 🛑 The speaker disagrees with the extreme view of not retargeting, citing scenarios where specific retargeting is necessary, such as for abandoned cart campaigns.
- 📈 Open targeting can be effective for mature ad accounts with conversion history, as Meta can use this data to improve ad performance.
- 💍 Products or services with broad appeal are good candidates for open targeting, as they are likely to resonate with a large portion of the population.
- 📉 The speaker notes that the criteria for using open targeting are becoming less stringent as Meta's AI improves, allowing for testing even with newer ad accounts.
- 🏘️ Open targeting is often preferred for local businesses or in countries with smaller populations, where detailed targeting options could limit the audience too much.
- ⏳ Open targeting may take longer to deliver results compared to more specific targeting options, as there are more variables for the algorithm to consider.
- 📊 The best targeting options can change over time, and the speaker suggests re-testing open targeting periodically as the ad account generates more conversions.
- 🔄 Meta is introducing a hybrid targeting option that sits between open and detailed targeting, offering a new approach to consider in advertising strategies.
Q & A
What is open targeting in the context of Facebook ads?
-Open targeting refers to not using any specific targeting options, such as interests, behaviors, or demographics, and instead advertising to everyone within a chosen location, often with an age range of 18 plus, allowing the platform's algorithms to determine who sees the ads.
Why has open targeting become more popular over the years?
-Open targeting has become more popular because Meta's advertising platform has become more sophisticated, and it is now better at determining who to show ads to than it was six or seven years ago.
What are the potential downsides of using open targeting?
-The downside of using open targeting is that by not specifying interests, you might miss out on people who don't fall within a specific interest category but could still be good prospects for the business.
According to the script, why might someone advocate for only using open targeting?
-Some people advocate for only using open targeting because they believe that Meta's algorithms are more capable of figuring out the best audience for the ads than the advertisers themselves.
What is the speaker's opinion on not retargeting as part of open targeting?
-The speaker feels that not retargeting is a step too far and believes there are scenarios where retargeting is necessary, such as for add to cart campaigns or when using an omnipresent content strategy.
What is an 'omnipresent content strategy' and why is retargeting important for it?
-An omnipresent content strategy is a method used by service-based or expertise-based businesses to demonstrate their knowledge, results, and trustworthiness to prospects over time through various ads. Retargeting is important for this strategy to ensure that prospects see a variety of ads that address all the necessary points.
Under what conditions does the speaker recommend using open targeting?
-The speaker recommends using open targeting for mature ad accounts with conversion history, for businesses with products or services that have a broad appeal, and for local businesses or those operating in countries with smaller populations.
What is the 'hybrid option' mentioned in the script, and how does it relate to open targeting?
-The hybrid option is a new feature introduced by Meta that acts as a middle ground between open targeting and more detailed targeting options. It's designed to provide a balance between the broad reach of open targeting and the specificity of interest-based targeting.
Why might open targeting take longer to deliver good results compared to more specific targeting?
-Open targeting might take longer to deliver good results because it involves a larger and more diverse audience, which requires more time for the platform's algorithms to learn and optimize the ad delivery.
What advice does the speaker give regarding testing open targeting with new ad accounts?
-The speaker advises that even though open targeting may perform better with mature ad accounts, it's worth testing with new ad accounts as Meta's machine learning processes improve, and to retest open targeting periodically as the account generates more conversions.
How does the speaker suggest determining the duration for testing different ad targeting options?
-The speaker suggests that the duration for testing ad targeting options should be based on how far off the target CPA is and the number of conversions being generated, with more conversions allowing for quicker assessment of ad performance.
Outlines
🎯 Rethinking Facebook Ad Targeting
The script challenges the conventional wisdom that precise targeting is crucial in Facebook advertising. It introduces the concept of 'open targeting,' which involves not using specific targeting options and instead advertising to a broad audience within a chosen location, often just 18 and above. The author argues that due to advancements in Meta's advertising platform, the system can now better determine the right audience for advertisers. The script also mentions that while some experts advocate for exclusively using open targeting, the author believes there are scenarios where specific retargeting is necessary, such as for abandoned cart campaigns or when using an omnipresent content strategy to build trust with high-value customers.
📈 When to Use Open Targeting in Facebook Ads
This paragraph delves into the scenarios where open targeting is most effective. It suggests that mature ad accounts with substantial conversion history are ideal for open targeting, as Meta's algorithms can utilize this data to optimize ad delivery. The script also highlights that open targeting works well for products or services with broad appeal, as opposed to niche offerings. It acknowledges that the criteria for using open targeting are evolving, with Meta's improving AI allowing for its use even in newer ad accounts or for more niche products. Additionally, the script discusses the effectiveness of open targeting for local businesses or in countries with smaller populations, where detailed targeting options could limit the audience size too much. It also advises that open targeting may take longer to deliver results compared to more specific targeting options and encourages retesting it as the ad account generates more conversions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Targeting
💡Open Targeting
💡Meta
💡Conversion Data
💡Broad Appeal
💡Retargeting
💡Omnipresent Content Strategy
💡Mature Ad Accounts
💡Niche Products or Services
💡Local Business
💡Hybrid Option
Highlights
The importance of targeting in online advertising is challenged, suggesting it might not be as crucial as previously thought.
Four categories are identified where targeting may not be necessary, allowing for energy to be redirected towards other marketing strategies.
Open targeting is defined as advertising without specific targeting options to a broad audience.
Meta's advertising platform has evolved to better identify suitable audiences without detailed targeting parameters.
Advocates for open targeting argue that Meta's algorithms can outperform manual targeting selections.
Retargeting is suggested as an exception to open targeting, especially for campaigns aiming to convert potential customers who have shown interest.
The omnipresent content strategy is recommended for businesses with high customer value to demonstrate expertise and trustworthiness.
Open targeting is often the most successful cold audience targeting option, but not always, depending on the scenario.
Mature ad accounts with conversion history tend to perform better with open targeting due to Meta's understanding of the business' conversion patterns.
Products or services with broad appeal are more suitable for open targeting, as they can reach a larger percentage of the population.
As Meta's AI improves, the criteria for successful open targeting is becoming less stringent, allowing for testing with newer ad accounts.
Open targeting is more effective for local businesses or in countries with smaller populations due to the limitations of audience size when using detailed targeting.
Testing open targeting over longer periods may yield better results as the algorithm refines its audience selection.
The best targeting options can change over time, and it's important to stay updated with the latest advertising strategies.
Meta is introducing a hybrid targeting option that blends open targeting with more specific targeting methods.
Transcripts
if you've ever set up a Facebook ads
campaign watched a YouTube video on
Facebook marketing or spoken to anyone
about online advertising you'll know
that setting up your targeting is a
pretty big deal
or is it what if I told you that
targeting isn't as important as you
might think it is if and that's a really
big if you fall into any of these four
categories which in theory means that if
you don't need to worry about targeting
anymore you can put that energy into
crafting better offers coming up with
better and creative or doing whatever it
is that you want to do with that time
that you've saved but before I get into
that I need to catch up to speed with
open targeting so let's quickly start by
explaining what open targeting is now
open targeting is quite simply not using
any specific targeting options not
adding in any interest any behaviors any
demographics just advertising to
everyone within your chosen location
often you would have the age range as
just 18 plus you wouldn't add in any
detailed targeting options and you would
have the broadest possible audience the
most open audience and that's what open
targeting is now we would never have
used open targeting six or seven years
ago and since then it's become a lot lot
more popular the logic behind it is that
meta has become a lot more sophisticated
as an advertising platform and the
platform itself is so much better now at
working out exactly who to put your
audience in front of than it used to be
six or seven years ago and often it's
going to do a better job of finding out
who to put your ads in front of than you
as the advertiser are so if you limit
your audience significantly by selecting
a specific interest you're potentially
missing out on all those people that
don't form within that interest
categorization that matters not able to
advertise to because you've set that
parameter that they would otherwise be
able to work out okay this person isn't
technically interested in this but based
on their recent activity we think they'd
be a good Prospect for this business
let's put an ad in front of them and see
if they become a lead or see if they
purchase that the logic behind it now
there are extremists that say you should
only ever go with open targeting why
would you go with any other option just
let the algorithm let meetta figure it
out that's always going to be the best
approach and some of these really strong
advocates for open targeting wouldn't
even retarget they wouldn't make an
exception for retargeting they would say
meta's going to figure out who visited
your website recently or who's on your
email list or whatever so just do open
targeting and the people that need to be
retargeted will be retargeted now
personally I feel that that is a step
too far I think there are definitely
scenarios in which you absolutely want
to be specifically retargeting people
let's say for example you were running
an add to cart campaign where people who
had added something to cart but had not
gone ahead and purchased by your website
you wanted to put an ad in front of them
to help get them over that final hurdle
with say an exclusive 10 discount you've
probably seen these sorts of things lots
of us has used these well you can't
really do that if you're not going to be
targeting you might not want to offer
the 10 to absolutely everyone in an open
targeting setup likewise if you're using
the omnipresent content strategy which
I'm a big fan of for service based
businesses expertise-based businesses
where you have a high average customer
value and you need to demonstrate to
your prospects that you know what you're
talking about that you can deliver good
results that you are trustworthy that
you've done work for people just like
them in the past you need to tick all
these boxes before they're ready to work
with you and you can do that in an
omnipresent content strategy because you
are guaranteeing that you're putting
many different ads in front of people
over time that do tick all those boxes
how can you do that if you don't
retarget you can't really do that by the
way if you want to know more about on
present content strategy I'll include a
link in the video description below to a
video that shows you exactly how to do
that how to set it up and all that sort
of stuff so for me the not retargeting
side of open targeting that element
that's just too far I think that's too
extreme but we also have to discuss the
other side of it of is open targeting
always going to be the best option as a
cold audience targeting option that is a
much more interesting question and I do
want to State at this point that I am by
no means against open targeting we use
open targeting a lot in fact I would say
that it is commonly our most successful
cold audience targeting option but it is
not always our most successful cold
audience Target production I think
that's a really important distinction so
in a minute I'm going to go through
exactly when we would and wouldn't use
open targeting when I'd recommend you do
so before I get in touch I want to
quickly mention our done for you
Facebook book and Instagram advertising
service if you want my company to create
manage and optimize your campaigns for
you help you get significantly better
results take that workload off your hand
and you want to find out more
information about that you can click on
a link in the description below that'll
take you to a page on our website where
you can go ahead and book a call in with
one of my team members find out more
information and obligation call
um hopefully we'll get a chance to work
together so as an agency when do we like
to use open targeting firstly if an ad
account is fairly mature you've got a
reasonable amount of conversion data in
there we find that open targeting tends
to perform better and that makes sense
because if you've had more conversions
take place then meta understands what a
conversion is for your business the
types of people that are likely to
convert and all sorts of other data
points like what time of day are people
most likely to convert what day of the
week people most like to convert how
many Impressions on average does someone
need to convert for this business they
have all this data they can use to get
you the better results so we're often
looking for accounts that aren't just
brand new ones that have some conversion
history we're also more likely to use
open targeting for businesses where
their product or service has a broad
appeal so for example if you're
advertising jewelry that has massive
appeal you can advertise that to the
general population and know that most
people are either going to be wearing
jewelry or have someone in their life
that they would buy jewelry for so it's
going to hit a really large percentage
of the population if for example you're
selling Springer Spaniel dog training
programs specific to that breed is open
targeting going to come as well probably
not you want to reach the really
specific people that have Springer
Spaniels and that training program is is
right for okay so how broad is the
appeal of your product or service and
that's a determining Factor now with
that said as the years have gone on and
as we've been using open targeting more
and more the criteria that I just
mentioned the requirement for those to
be substantial is coming down explain
what I mean before we might have said
right we're not going to do open
targeting if we have an account with
less than a thousand conversions that
number is coming down all the time as
meta's machine learning processes as
their AI gets better at working out who
to Target and we will now test open
targeting with brand new ad accounts
it's still like to form better with
mature ad accounts but we will test it
with brand new ad accounts the exact
same for the niche product or service
versus the broad product or service
before we would only do it with those
broad product services that appeal to
tons of people now we are more willing
to test it with more and more Niche
product Services there are things that
are really very specific on one end that
we still struggle with we tend to find
we don't get the best results open
Target with those but there are ones
that will work really well now that are
fairly Niche and we'll see open
targeting perform really well that maybe
a year ago two years ago wouldn't have
done so well with open targeting so the
the barrier to entry as it were for open
targeting is coming down all the time
and if you do decide to test open
targeting and perhaps it doesn't work as
well as some other options for you now
as your ad account generates more
conversions I'd encourage you to test it
again in say six months time and then
maybe again six months later at some
point it's quite likely that open
targeting is going to be your best
performing cold audience targeting we
are also much more likely to use open
targeting if we're advertising a local
business or one that operates in a
country with a smaller population so if
advertising in the US for example
Nationwide we're going to test open
targeting against a bunch of different
other detailed target options interest
things like that look-alikes maybe if
we're advertising in a country like
Ireland with a population of say 5
million ish we are much more likely to
rely on open targeting because once you
start adding in those detailed targeting
criteria you really narrow that audience
size down and and we know that meta
campaigns generally perform better with
large audiences one of the reasons why
open targeting is working so and that
Dynamic is even more exacerbated if
you're advertising on a local basis if
you're just advertising to a town of 100
000 people there's basically no
targeting option you can go with other
than open targeting if you're
advertising to a city of half a million
people a million people we're almost
certainly going to be using open
targeting and that's going to be our
best performing cold honest targeting
option maybe you get into the point
where you could start using like a 10
look-alike or something but for the most
part with those smaller populations
you're going to have to go with open
targeting so that's something to really
think about particularly if you're
advertising for local business when you
test open targeting it's also important
to be aware that it can take a little
bit longer for that to start to deliver
good results than more specific interest
targeting options let's say because
you've got more people there's more
things that matter when you narrow it
down to say a specific interest you're
only giving them one maybe a few
different groups of people within that
to Target and they're going to sort of
work it out faster now obviously the
downside to that more specific option is
perhaps it doesn't run for as long or
it's not as successful and profitable
once it's up and running but that's just
something to be aware of if you run a
test between say open targeting and more
detailed uh specific interest targeting
Behavior targeting things like that and
you only run the test for two or three
days you might see that open targeting
is not doing well if you ran that for a
couple of weeks perhaps the open
targeting would work better those time
frames are always need to be adjusted
depending on conversion volume I get
this question all the time how long
should I run a an ad for to see if it
works and my answer is always how far
off your target CPA are you and how many
conversions generating if you're
generating one conversion every three
days you've got to run that ad for ages
to know if you're generating 500
conversions a day you might know whether
the ads working within a few hours the
best targeting options change all the
time as well so make sure you subscribe
and I'll keep you up to date for example
right now meta is introducing a hybrid
option I explain exactly what it is and
how it works in this video here this
hybrid option is going to act as
something between open targeting and a
detailed targeting more specific option
it's really interesting go ahead check
out
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