Instagram offers powerful targeting through Facebook Ads Manager. Here's every option:
1. Demographic Targeting
Age:
•Minimum: 13 years old
•Maximum: 65+ years old
•Target specific age ranges
•Narrow by single year or ranges
Gender:
•All genders
•Men only
•Women only
Location:
•Countries
•States/Regions
•Cities
•Zip codes
•Radius around address (1-50 miles)
•Include or exclude locations
Language:
•Target by language spoken
•Useful for multilingual markets
2. Interest Targeting
Categories:
•Business and Industry
•Entertainment
•Family and Relationships
•Fitness and Wellness
•Food and Drink
•Hobbies and Activities
•Shopping and Fashion
•Sports and Outdoors
•Technology
How It Works:
•Based on pages liked
•Content engaged with
•Apps used
•Other activities
3. Behavior Targeting
Purchase Behavior:
•Online shoppers
•Purchase history
•Device usage
•Travel behavior
Digital Activities:
•Mobile device users
•Operating system
•Browser used
•Internet connection
4. Custom Audiences
Website Visitors:
•All website visitors
•Specific page visitors
•Time-based segments (30, 60, 90 days)
•Visitors who took specific actions
Customer Lists:
•Upload email lists
•Phone numbers
•User IDs
•Match rate typically 50-70%
App Activity:
•People who used your app
•Specific in-app actions
•Purchase behavior
Engagement:
•Instagram profile visitors
•People who engaged with posts
•Video viewers
•Form submissions
5. Lookalike Audiences
How They Work:
•Based on your custom audiences
•Finds similar people
•1-10% similarity (1% = most similar)
Best Sources:
•Past customers
•High-value customers
•Website converters
•Engaged followers
6. Detailed Targeting
Combine Multiple Criteria:
•AND: Must match all criteria
•OR: Match any criteria
•EXCLUDE: Remove specific groups
Example Combinations:
•Age 25-34 AND Interested in Yoga AND Lives in California
•Interested in Fashion OR Beauty
•Exclude: People who purchased in last 30 days
7. Connection Targeting
Target People Who:
•Like your Facebook Page
•Follow your Instagram account
•Used your app
•Responded to events
Exclude People Who:
•Already like your page
•Already follow you
•Already customers
8. Advanced Targeting
Life Events:
•Recently moved
•New job
•Recently engaged
•Upcoming birthday
•New relationship
Income:
•Top 5% of zip code
•Top 10% of zip code
•Top 25% of zip code
Education:
•Education level
•Fields of study
•Schools attended
Work:
•Employers
•Job titles
•Industries
9. Targeting Best Practices
Start Broad:
•Begin with larger audiences (500K-2M)
•Let algorithm optimize
•Narrow based on data
Avoid Over-Targeting:
•Too narrow = higher costs
•Minimum audience: 50,000
•Ideal: 500,000 - 2,000,000
Use Exclusions:
•Exclude recent customers
•Exclude employees
•Exclude wrong demographics
Test Audiences:
•Create multiple ad sets
•Test different targeting
•Compare performance
•Scale winners
10. Targeting Strategies by Goal
Brand Awareness:
•Broad interest targeting
•Lookalike audiences (3-5%)
•Large geographic areas
Conversions:
•Custom audiences
•Lookalike audiences (1-2%)
•Detailed targeting combinations
Retargeting:
•Website visitors
•Engaged users
•Cart abandoners
•Video viewers
Pro Tips:
•Use Audience Insights for research
•Save successful audiences as templates
•Refresh audiences every 30-60 days
•Layer targeting for precision
•Monitor audience size (avoid too small)