How to Do Target Audience Research & Competitive Research for Meta Ads

When creating Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram Ads), target audiences are the most important part of the entire process. Even if your ad copy isn’t perfect, showing it to the right people can still make it work. However, even the best ad copy won’t perform well if shown to the wrong audience.

For example, if you have a product for men but your ad is shown to women, it won’t perform well, no matter how amazing the ad looks. That’s why understanding your audience is crucial before creating any type of ad.

In this blog, we will discuss Target Audience Research and Competitive Research.

Three Types of Audiences on Meta

After doing the right research, we can create different audiences on Meta. There are three main types of audiences:

Saved Audience: These are the audiences you save for future campaigns based on age, location, interests, etc.
Custom Audience: These are based on people who have already interacted with your business (website visitors, email lists, etc.).
Lookalike Audience: This is where Meta finds people who are similar to your current customers or audience.

Each has a different purpose, and you should use them where they fit best. But first, let’s dive into Target Audience Research!

How to Do Target Audience Research

The first step in targeting your audience is to create a profile of your Ideal Customer, also known as a Customer Avatar. This is like imagining the perfect person who would want your product or service.

Here’s what you need to think about:

Age: How old are they? (e.g., 30-40 years)
Gender: Are they men, women, or both?
Interests: What do they like? (e.g., shoes, clothing, online courses, personal development)
Facebook Pages They Follow: Which pages might they like? (e.g., Elon Musk, Elle Magazine)
Pain Points: What problems do they have? (e.g., struggling to find time for recreation or health issues)
Location: Where do they live? (e.g., specific countries or cities)
Income Range: How much do they earn?
Buying Habits: Do they shop online? Are they engaged shoppers?

Before moving forward, write down everything you assume or know about your Customer Avatar. This will help you create ads that resonate with the right people.

How to Do Competitive Research

Competitive research helps you understand what other businesses in your niche are doing. You can see what’s working for them, what their ads look like, and how they’re targeting their audience. Here are a few ways to get started:

Search on Google: Look for popular books, influencers, websites, or applications in your niche. Make a list of these and see if you can target these interests when setting up your ads.
Use the “Suggestions” Option: In Meta’s Ad Manager, when you type an interest in the targeting section, you can click “Suggestions” to find similar interests. This helps you discover new and relevant audiences.
Check the Ads Library: The Facebook Ads Library lets you see ads that other companies are running. You can visit the library by going to https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/ and search for your competitors to see their ads, creatives, and even their copywriting!
Facebook Ads Case Studies: Facebook has a page with tons of success stories from different niches at https://www.facebook.com/business/success. You can read these to see what objectives or strategies worked for them, and you can even search their ads in the Ads Library.

Planning Your Ad Set for Meta Ads

After completing your audience research, it’s time to start planning your ad sets.

In the past, advertisers would create multiple ad sets within a single campaign, each targeting a different audience. For example, one ad set might target Tony Robbins’ fans, while another ad set would target Brendon Burchard’s fans.

However, Meta’s algorithm has become smarter over time. Now, it’s better to use broader targeting. By doing this, Meta’s algorithm has more flexibility to find the best audience for your ads. This means you don’t need to create separate ad sets for every little audience segment anymore.

What Should You Do Instead?

Use Broad Targeting: Define only essential details like age, language, and gender.
Use Advantage+ Audience: Meta can expand beyond your set audience to find more people likely to convert.
Focus on Creative: Instead of creating multiple ad sets, create different ad creatives (images, videos, copy) within a single ad set. Meta’s algorithm will optimize the delivery of the best-performing creative.

Setting Up a Saved Audience on Meta

Once you’ve done all the research and planned your ad set, you can save your audience for future use. This will save you a lot of time in future campaigns.

Here’s how you can create a Saved Audience:

Go to Business Manager: Under “All Tools,” find the “Audiences” section.
Use the Shortcut: If you’re already setting up an ad, you can save the audience directly in the “Audience” section of the ad set. Simply click “Save Audience” after filling in the audience details.

The next time you create an ad, you can simply select this saved audience from a drop-down menu.

Key Takeaway

In today’s world of Meta Ads, targeting the right audience is essential to making your ads perform well. By doing thorough target audience research and understanding your competitors, you set yourself up for success.

Remember, don’t create tons of ad sets for different audiences. Instead, use broader targeting with a few ad sets and focus on creating strong ad creatives. Also, don’t forget to save your audiences for easy use in future campaigns!

Now that you understand how to research and set up your target audience, you’re ready to start building powerful Meta Ads!