How To Find CHEAPER Facebook Target Audiences

TL;DR

Find cheaper Facebook target audiences by opening an ad set in Ads Manager, selecting Inspect, and reviewing the Auction Competition graph. Zero percent represents average competition, while 20 indicates high competition and minus 20 indicates low competition. Because less competitive audiences are less expensive to advertise to, comparing this data after targeting changes can reveal better options. Read on for the steps, benchmarks, and cautions.

Transcript

in this video i'm going to show you how to find less competitive target audiences for your facebook ads some audiences are now so competitive there's so much advertiser demand for those people that advertising to them can be really expensive this is fine but there's a simple tool you can use to find out how many other advertisers are trying to reac... Read More

Key Insights

• Facebook advertising costs are influenced by audience competition due to an auction-based system, where advertisers bid for ad space.
• The supply of users on Facebook and Instagram remains large and stable, but demand from advertisers has increased, raising costs.
• Facebook's removal of targeting options has increased competition, as more advertisers target the same audiences.
• The Inspect tool in Ads Manager helps identify auction competition, showing how many advertisers target the same audience.
• Auction competition levels indicate how competitive an audience is, with data points showing above or below average competition.
• Changes in ad set targeting can significantly affect auction competition, impacting advertising costs and results.
• Auction overlap measures how often your ads compete against each other, which can affect delivery and should be minimized.
• Despite high competition, if a target audience provides a good cost per conversion, it remains a valuable choice.

Questions & Answers

Q: How can you find cheaper Facebook target audiences?

In Ads Manager, select a campaign, open Ad Sets, and click Inspect beneath the relevant ad set. Review the Auction Competition section to see whether its audience faces above- or below-average advertiser competition; less competitive audiences are less expensive to advertise to.

Q: What does the Inspect tool show in Facebook Ads Manager?

The Inspect tool provides several types of ad-set data, including an Auction Competition graph. That section shows how much competition exists from other advertisers trying to reach the same people during a selected period.

Q: How do you read the Auction Competition graph?

The middle line at zero percent represents average competition across Facebook and Instagram. Positive values mean the target audience is more competitive than average, while negative values mean it is less competitive than average.

Q: What Auction Competition values indicate high or low competition?

Meta's reference points say that 20 indicates high competition and minus 20 indicates low competition. Values such as 50 or minus 30 therefore represent substantial differences from average competition.

Q: Why are some Facebook target audiences more expensive?

Facebook advertising prices are set through an auction in which advertisers bid for ad space in front of target audiences. When more advertisers try to reach the same people, demand and competition increase, making those audiences more expensive.

Q: How did fewer Facebook targeting options affect audience competition?

Facebook removed thousands of targeting options earlier that year. With fewer choices available, more advertisers were pushed toward the same options, increasing competition and making certain audiences more expensive.

Q: Can changing ad-set targeting reduce auction competition?

Yes. In the example, auction competition was 24 on June 6, then fell to about minus 30 three or four days later after the ad-set targeting was updated; the speaker later identifies the low point as minus 32.

Q: What should you check after changing an ad set's targeting?

Check the Auction Competition graph for a meaningful shift and note any targeting-update marker. Also watch the learning phase: in the example, the ad set remained there for a long time after the change, and its cost-per-lead data was not considered accurate because it had few conversions.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Facebook advertising costs are driven by competition among advertisers bidding for ad space on the platform. The Inspect tool helps advertisers find less competitive audiences, potentially reducing costs and improving results.

• The auction-based system of Facebook advertising means that as more advertisers join the platform, competition increases, especially after Facebook reduced targeting options, making some audiences more expensive.

• Using the Inspect tool, advertisers can assess auction competition levels, adjust targeting strategies, and identify less competitive audiences, optimizing for cost-effective conversions and avoiding auction overlap issues.