Your targeting strategy influences who sees your ads. By controlling locations and demographics, you improve the quality of your leads. You also control travel distances for service-based operations. For e-commerce, you adapt differently. This guide explains how to choose locations, set radii, handle service areas, and manage multiple countries. It also covers how to let the algorithm work freely for e-commerce. By following these steps, you help your ads reach the right people, minimize objections, and boost conversions.
Service-Based Businesses with Local Travel
- When You Travel to Customers:
If your business visits clients at their homes, set your location based on your service area. For example, if you live near Birmingham in the UK, you can target Birmingham and set a radius. This radius matches how far your team can travel. If you serve multiple cities, add more than one location. For instance, add London as well as Birmingham. Adjust each radius to reflect realistic travel limits.
You can also exclude certain areas. For example, target London but exclude Harrow if you do not serve that part of town. This fine-tuning prevents wasted impressions on unreachable customers. - When Customers Travel to You:
If clients must come to your location, pick a radius that matches how far people will likely travel. Consider the population density, local competition, and convenience. For example, if your shop is in a small UK town like Kidderminster, a large radius of 40 kilometers might bring too many leads who live too far away. These distant prospects often refuse the long trip. A smaller radius, like 17 kilometers, might yield better quality leads who can reach you easily.
In areas with dense competition, use a tighter radius. In more sparse areas, customers might accept traveling further. For example, in large regions like parts of Norway, people expect to travel more. In big US states or rural zones, a larger radius might work because people are accustomed to driving longer distances.
ECommerce and National Targeting
- When Targeting an Entire Country:
For e-commerce that ships nationally, do not limit regions. For example, if you sell across the United Kingdom, just select the entire country. Avoid excluding certain counties or cities. Let Facebook’s algorithm find buyers everywhere. If some area converts poorly, the algorithm reduces spend there. Trust the system to optimize distribution.
The same applies to the United States. Do not remove states you think will not buy. The algorithm is smarter at filtering low-value segments. Providing one large national audience often improves results. You avoid artificial constraints and let the algorithm do its job. - When Targeting Multiple Countries in One Campaign:
Combining multiple countries into one ad set can create distribution problems. Time zones differ. For example, if you combine the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, Facebook might struggle to balance spend.
When it is morning in the US, it might be nighttime in Australia. The algorithm may spend heavily during US daytime, ignoring Australian prime hours. This leads to uneven results. Some markets see less spend at ideal times.
To fix this, break your campaigns into separate ones per region. For example, create one campaign for the US and Canada. Create another for Europe (like the UK and Germany). Create a third for Australia and New Zealand. By splitting them, you let Facebook optimize each region’s spend and timing independently. This often improves performance and avoids skewed spend.
Time Zone and Cultural Differences
- Why Separate Regions by Campaign:
Different regions respond differently to creative and messaging. The US and Canada might prefer direct offers and strong calls to action. European audiences might respond better to softer messaging or lead magnets. Australia and New Zealand might have different patterns as well.
By splitting regions, you can test different creatives tailored to each audience’s preferences. This customization can yield stronger results. - Practical Example:
Suppose you start with three top-of-funnel campaigns:- TOF ABO (US and Canada)
- TOF ABO (Europe)
- TOF ABO (Australia and New Zealand)
Each campaign uses the same structure but targets different locations. Each gets tailored creatives and messaging that resonate with that region’s buyers. This approach respects local conditions, cultural preferences, and time zones. It also helps you learn which angles work best in each market.
Common Sense and Testing
- Adjusting Locations Over Time:
Start with a reasonable radius or country selection and monitor results. If you get too many leads who refuse to travel or show objections, reduce the radius. If you get few leads, consider expanding.
For e-commerce, start broad and see if certain countries or regions struggle. If you notice poor performance in a certain market, consider isolating it or adjusting the creative. Keep testing until you find the ideal setup. - Trusting the Algorithm for Large Targets:
For large and diverse markets, trust Facebook’s algorithm. If you create too many exclusions or restrictions, you starve the system of data. This can limit optimization. For national campaigns, a broad approach often works best. Let the system learn where to spend and where to scale back. Fine-tune after you have data. - Location vs. Demographics:
While this guide focuses on location, also consider demographics after setting your locations. However, start broad with location targeting. Narrowing too much at once can hinder learning. Once you know which areas and age groups convert, you can refine demographics further.
Conclusion
Set your targeting strategy according to your business type. Service-based operations need location ranges that match travel feasibility. E-commerce stores can target entire countries or multiple regions but must consider time zones and cultural differences. Start by trusting the algorithm for large areas and keep things broad. If multiple countries cause skewed spending, split them into separate campaigns. Over time, adjust radii and try different approaches for each region. By following these guidelines, you give the algorithm room to optimize and improve your ad performance