Process Flow
Animated overview of the full workflow
TL;DR
Interest targeting lets you reach people based on their interests, hobbies, and activities on Facebook and Instagram. Access it in the ad set under Detailed Targeting > Browse or search. Combine multiple interests to define your audience. Layer with demographics and behaviours for more precision. Use the Audience Size indicator to keep your audience between 500,000 and 5 million for optimal delivery.
Step-by-Step Guide
Follow these 4 steps to complete this guide
- 1
How Interest Targeting Works
Meta determines user interests based on pages they like, content they engage with, apps they use, ads they click, and self-reported profile information. You can target broad categories (fitness, technology, cooking) or specific interests (CrossFit, iPhone 15, vegan recipes).
- 2
Finding the Right Interests
Browse categories: Demographics, Interests, and Behaviours. Each has subcategories. Search for specific terms relevant to your product or service. Use the Audience Insights tool to research which interests your existing customers share.
- 3
Targeting Strategy
**Layering:** Combine interests to narrow your audience. 'Interested in fitness AND interested in nutrition' is narrower than either alone. **Exclusion:** Exclude interests to remove irrelevant segments. If selling premium products, exclude 'discount shopping' interests. **Testing:** Create separate ad sets for different interest groups to see which performs best. Once you find winners, scale those ad sets.
- 4
Interest Targeting vs Broad Targeting
As Meta's algorithm improves, broad targeting (minimal interest restrictions) often outperforms narrow interest targeting for conversion campaigns, especially with mature pixel data. Test both approaches.
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