Social media targeting

Social media targeting means using the advertising tools on a social media platform to put marketing in front of a chosen group of people, based on their interests and the information held in their profile. Instead of paying for an advert that is shown to everyone, a business describes the audience it wants and the platform finds the matching users.

Platforms collect a lot of detail as people use the site. They hold information such as the pages a person likes, the groups they join, the posts they react to, watch or share, and the interests listed on their profile. Because this information is stored against each account, the platform can sort users into audiences.

Choosing the audience

The advertising tools let a business choose an audience by interests, and then narrow it with other details such as age or location. For example, a local skate shop selling beginner roller skates could pick people who follow roller-skating pages or join nearby skate groups, then limit the audience to people living within 10 miles so that they can visit the shop. The advert is therefore mostly shown to people who are more likely to be in the business's target segment, rather than to the whole platform.

Reaching older customers

Social media targeting works from what people actually do on the platform, so it is not only for young people. Different platforms, pages and groups attract different audiences, so a business selling garden tools can reach older gardeners through the pages and groups they follow.