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advantage+ targeting settings

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SDX VISION
SDX VISION

Meta's Advantage+ targeting uses machine learning to automatically find and optimize for your best-performing audiences. This guide will teach you how to configure Advantage+ targeting settings for optimal campaign performance.

Understanding Advantage+ Targeting

Advantage+ targeting is Meta's AI-powered audience optimization that:

  • Automatically finds best-performing audiences
  • Expands targeting beyond your initial settings
  • Optimizes in real-time based on performance
  • Learns from conversion data

How It Works:

  1. Initial Targeting: You set basic parameters (age, location, gender)
  2. AI Learning: Meta's AI tests different audience segments
  3. Optimization: System identifies best performers
  4. Expansion: Automatically expands to similar high-value users
  5. Continuous Learning: Keeps optimizing as data accumulates

Advantage+ Targeting Components

1. Advantage+ Audience

Automatically expands your audience to find similar high-value users.

How to Enable:

  • Go to Ad Set settings
  • Find "Advantage+ Audience"
  • Toggle to "On"
  • Set your base audience

Best Practices:

  • Start with broad targeting
  • Let AI find best audiences
  • Don't over-restrict initially
  • Add exclusions strategically

2. Advantage+ Detailed Targeting

AI optimizes detailed targeting (interests, behaviors) automatically.

Settings:

  • Enable "Advantage+ Detailed Targeting"
  • Add initial interests/behaviors
  • AI expands to similar audiences
  • Can add exclusions

When to Use:

  • Have specific audience insights
  • Want to guide AI direction
  • Need to exclude certain audiences
  • Testing specific interests

3. Advantage+ Lookalike Expansion

Expands lookalike audiences automatically.

Configuration:

  • Create base lookalike audience
  • Enable Advantage+ Lookalike Expansion
  • AI finds similar users beyond lookalike percentage
  • Optimizes for conversions

Best Practices:

  • Use high-quality seed audiences
  • Minimum 1,000 people in seed
  • Combine with Advantage+ Audience
  • Let AI optimize between audiences

Setting Up Advantage+ Targeting

Step 1: Basic Demographics

Age Range:

  • Set your target age range
  • Start broader (e.g., 18-65)
  • Let AI narrow down
  • Can refine later based on data

Gender:

  • All (recommended for most)
  • Men only
  • Women only
  • Custom (if applicable)

Locations:

  • Select target countries/regions
  • Can target by city, state, country
  • Exclude specific locations if needed
  • Use location expansion (optional)

Languages:

  • Select relevant languages
  • Match to your target markets
  • Consider local languages
  • Important for international campaigns

Step 2: Advantage+ Audience Configuration

Broad Targeting (Recommended):

Age: 18-65
Gender: All
Locations: Your target markets
Languages: Relevant languages
Detailed Targeting: None (let AI find)

Why Broad Works:

  • AI has more data to learn from
  • Finds unexpected high-value segments
  • Better optimization
  • Higher conversion potential

When to Use Detailed Targeting:

  • Strong audience insights
  • Need to exclude certain groups
  • Testing specific interests
  • Regulatory requirements

Step 3: Custom Audiences

Include Custom Audiences:

Website Visitors:

  • Last 30 days (recommended)
  • Last 60 days (broader)
  • Last 90 days (very broad)
  • Specific page visitors

Email Lists:

  • Upload customer lists
  • Match to Facebook users
  • Use for lookalikes
  • Exclude from other campaigns

App Users:

  • Active users
  • Past purchasers
  • High-value users
  • Engaged users

Video Viewers:

  • 25% video viewers
  • 50% video viewers
  • 75% video viewers
  • 95% video viewers

Best Practices:

  • Use high-quality custom audiences
  • Minimum 1,000 people
  • Refresh regularly
  • Combine with Advantage+ Audience

Step 4: Exclusions

Who to Exclude:

Recent Customers:

  • Last 30 days purchasers
  • Last 60 days purchasers
  • Last 90 days purchasers
  • Prevents wasted spend

Current Customers:

  • Upload customer list
  • Exclude from acquisition campaigns
  • Use for retention campaigns
  • Update regularly

Competitor Employees (Optional):

  • If you know competitor domains
  • Exclude their employees
  • Prevents competitive intelligence
  • Use sparingly

Invalid Traffic:

  • Known bot traffic
  • Invalid clicks
  • Fraudulent sources
  • Use Meta's built-in exclusions

How to Set Exclusions:

  1. Go to Ad Set settings
  2. Find "Exclusions" section
  3. Add custom audiences to exclude
  4. Save settings

Step 5: Lookalike Audiences

Creating Lookalikes:

Source Audiences:

  • Purchasers (best)
  • High-value customers
  • Engaged website visitors
  • Email subscribers

Similarity Percentages:

  • 1%: Most similar, smallest audience
  • 2-3%: Balanced (recommended)
  • 4-5%: Broader, more volume
  • 6-10%: Very broad

Best Practices:

  • Use 1-3% for most campaigns
  • Create multiple lookalikes
  • Test different sources
  • Combine with Advantage+ Audience

Advantage+ Lookalike Expansion:

  • Enable expansion feature
  • AI finds similar users beyond percentage
  • Optimizes for conversions
  • Increases reach while maintaining quality

Advanced Targeting Strategies

Strategy 1: Broad + Advantage+ Audience

Setup:

  • Minimal targeting (age, location, gender)
  • Enable Advantage+ Audience
  • No detailed targeting
  • Let AI find best audiences

Best For:

  • New campaigns
  • Testing phase
  • Maximum optimization
  • When you trust AI

Benefits:

  • Maximum learning data
  • Finds unexpected segments
  • Best AI optimization
  • Higher conversion potential

Strategy 2: Detailed Targeting + Advantage+

Setup:

  • Add specific interests/behaviors
  • Enable Advantage+ Detailed Targeting
  • AI expands to similar interests
  • More control with AI optimization

Best For:

  • Strong audience insights
  • Specific industry targeting
  • Regulatory requirements
  • Testing specific interests

Benefits:

  • Guided AI direction
  • Maintains some control
  • Expands intelligently
  • Balances control and optimization

Strategy 3: Lookalike + Advantage+

Setup:

  • Create lookalike audiences
  • Enable Advantage+ Lookalike Expansion
  • Combine with Advantage+ Audience
  • Let AI optimize between audiences

Best For:

  • Established businesses
  • High-quality customer data
  • Proven audience segments
  • Scaling successful campaigns

Benefits:

  • Leverages customer data
  • AI finds similar users
  • Optimizes between audiences
  • High-quality targeting

Strategy 4: Custom Audience + Advantage+

Setup:

  • Use website visitors or email list
  • Enable Advantage+ Audience
  • AI finds similar users
  • Expands from known good audiences

Best For:

  • E-commerce businesses
  • Lead generation
  • Retargeting expansion
  • Customer acquisition

Benefits:

  • Starts with known good audiences
  • AI expands intelligently
  • Higher quality leads
  • Better conversion rates

Targeting Optimization Tips

1. Start Broad, Refine Later

Initial Setup:

  • Use broad demographics
  • Enable all Advantage+ features
  • Let AI learn for 3-7 days
  • Don't restrict too much

After Learning:

  • Review audience insights
  • Identify best segments
  • Add strategic exclusions
  • Refine based on data

2. Use Audience Insights

Where to Find:

  • Ads Manager → Audiences
  • Audience Insights tool
  • Campaign performance data
  • Facebook Analytics

What to Look For:

  • Demographics of converters
  • Interests of best customers
  • Behaviors of purchasers
  • Geographic performance

How to Use:

  • Refine targeting based on insights
  • Create new lookalikes
  • Adjust exclusions
  • Test new interests

3. Test Different Approaches

A/B Testing:

  • Test broad vs. detailed targeting
  • Compare lookalike percentages
  • Test different custom audiences
  • Measure performance differences

Test Structure:

  • Same creative, different targeting
  • Same budget allocation
  • Run for 7-14 days
  • Compare results

4. Monitor and Adjust

Key Metrics:

  • Cost per acquisition (CPA)
  • Return on ad spend (ROAS)
  • Conversion rate
  • Click-through rate (CTR)

When to Adjust:

  • CPA too high
  • Low conversion rate
  • Poor ROAS
  • High frequency

Adjustment Strategies:

  • Narrow targeting if too broad
  • Expand if too restrictive
  • Add exclusions for waste
  • Test new audiences

Common Targeting Mistakes

1. Over-Restricting Targeting

Problem: Too narrow targeting limits AI optimization.

Solution: Start broad, let AI find best audiences.

2. Not Using Advantage+ Features

Problem: Missing out on AI optimization.

Solution: Enable all Advantage+ targeting options.

3. Ignoring Exclusions

Problem: Wasting budget on existing customers.

Solution: Exclude recent purchasers and customers.

4. Not Testing Lookalikes

Problem: Missing high-value audience segments.

Solution: Create and test multiple lookalikes.

5. Changing Too Frequently

Problem: Disrupts learning phase and optimization.

Solution: Let campaigns learn before making changes.

6. Using Outdated Custom Audiences

Problem: Targeting stale or irrelevant audiences.

Solution: Refresh custom audiences regularly.

Best Practices Checklist

  • [ ] Start with broad targeting
  • [ ] Enable Advantage+ Audience
  • [ ] Enable Advantage+ Detailed Targeting (if using)
  • [ ] Create lookalike audiences
  • [ ] Exclude recent customers
  • [ ] Use high-quality custom audiences
  • [ ] Let learning phase complete
  • [ ] Monitor audience insights
  • [ ] Test different approaches
  • [ ] Refine based on data

Measuring Targeting Performance

Key Metrics:

Audience Quality:

  • Conversion rate
  • Cost per acquisition
  • Return on ad spend
  • Quality score

Reach and Frequency:

  • Impressions
  • Reach
  • Frequency
  • Unique users

Engagement:

  • Click-through rate
  • Engagement rate
  • Video views
  • Link clicks

Tools for Analysis:

  • Ads Manager: Performance data
  • Audience Insights: Demographics and interests
  • Facebook Analytics: User behavior
  • Custom Reports: Detailed analysis

Troubleshooting

High CPA:

Check:

  • Targeting too broad?
  • Need better exclusions?
  • Learning phase complete?
  • Creative quality?

Solutions:

  • Add strategic exclusions
  • Refine targeting
  • Improve creative
  • Test lookalikes

Low Reach:

Check:

  • Targeting too narrow?
  • Budget too low?
  • High frequency?
  • Audience too small?

Solutions:

  • Broaden targeting
  • Increase budget
  • Enable Advantage+ expansion
  • Add lookalikes

Poor Performance:

Check:

  • Right audience?
  • Creative relevant?
  • Offer compelling?
  • Landing page quality?

Solutions:

  • Review audience insights
  • Test new audiences
  • Improve creative
  • Optimize landing page

Next Steps

  1. Set Up Advantage+ Targeting: Follow configuration steps
  2. Start Broad: Let AI find best audiences
  3. Monitor Performance: Track key metrics
  4. Refine Based on Data: Use insights to optimize
  5. Scale Winners: Increase budget on performers

Thanks for reading the blog. If you want more help, do contact us at https://sdx.vision