From Ghost to GOAT: Audience Targeting That Actually Works | Dominate with Smarter Meta Ads Targeting

Meta Ads: Smart Audience Targeting

When it comes to digital marketing, getting your message in front of the right audience is everything. It's not enough to simply be seen—you need to be seen by the people most likely to care, engage, and convert. That’s where Meta Ads (formerly Facebook Ads) shine.

We believe smart audience targeting is one of the most powerful tools advertisers have today. Meta's ecosystem, spanning Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network, offers an incredibly rich and nuanced suite of targeting options. Used correctly, these tools don't just drive visibility; they drive results.

So, let's break it down: what kinds of audience targeting can you actually do with Meta Ads, and how do they work in the real world?

1. Core Audiences: The Basics Done Right

Core Audiences allow you to define your audience based on a combination of:

• Demographics (age, gender, education, relationship status)

• Location (countries, cities, or even a radius around a specific address)

• Interests (anything from "vegan cooking" to "luxury travel")

• Behaviours (like frequent travellers, online shoppers, or business decision-makers)

• Connections (people who like your Page or have interacted with your events)

  
  

This is targeting 101, but don’t let its simplicity fool you. When layered thoughtfully, Core Audiences can create extremely specific and relevant groups. For instance, a brand selling eco-friendly swimwear could target women aged 25-40 living in coastal cities who are interested in sustainability and beach vacations.

Smart Move: Always A/B test a few variations of Core Audiences to find the right mix. A minor tweak, like adding a behaviour filter, can drastically improve performance.

2. Meta Ads Custom Audiences: Reaching the People Who Already Know You

If Core Audiences are about prospecting, Custom Audiences are about reconnecting. This type of targeting lets you reach people who already have a relationship with your business, including:

• Website Visitors

• App users

• Email subscribers

• People who engaged with your Facebook or Instagram content

• Previous customers

Meta Ads: Reaching the People Who Already Know You

This is where retargeting magic happens. Think about the last time you browsed a pair of sneakers online, only to see an ad for them the next day. That’s a Custom Audience at work.

Power Move: Segment your Custom Audiences. A website visitor who abandoned their cart deserves a different message than someone who simply read a blog post. Personalised messaging = higher conversion rates.

3. Lookalike Audiences: Finding New Fans That Feel Familiar

Lookalike Audiences are one of the most potent weapons in a marketer’s arsenal. Meta analyses your Custom Audiences (or your customer lists) and finds new people who "look like" your best customers based on behaviour, interests, and demographics.

You can set the "similarity percentage" depending on how broad or narrow you want your reach to be:

• 1% Lookalike = Very close matches, smaller but highly relevant audience

• 5%-10% Lookalike = Broader reach, but slightly less similarity

We often recommend starting with a 1%-2% Lookalike when trying to scale efficiently without losing quality.

Helpful Hint: Refresh your Lookalike source audiences regularly. As your best customers evolve, so should your targeting.

4. Advantage+ Audiences (Formerly "Detailed Targeting Expansion")

Meta's newer AI-driven feature, Advantage+, gives the platform permission to go beyond your set parameters when it predicts it can get better results. It's about trusting Meta’s algorithm to optimise delivery dynamically when your goal is conversions.

While it may feel counterintuitive to give up some control, Advantage+ can unlock scale and performance, particularly for campaigns with large budgets or broad objectives.

Insider Advice: Use Advantage+ selectively. For finely tuned niche campaigns, manual targeting still often wins. But for broad awareness or scaling phases, Advantage+ can be a game-changer.

Our Take

Meta Ads are as much about who sees your ads as what your ads say. Precision targeting isn't just a bonus; it's the foundation of successful campaigns.

We don’t just run ads. We craft audience strategies tailored to each brand's specific needs, combining data, creativity, and smart targeting to drive accurate, measurable results.

Whether you're building awareness, nurturing loyalty, or pushing for conversions, understanding the different types of audience targeting on Meta is your first step toward advertising that actually works.

Ready to turn impressions into impact?

Let's talk strategy.