Just realized our Facebook ad targeting was way off

Spent a lot on ads but sales were terrible. We aimed at the wrong age group and interests. How do you refine your targeting without wasting budget?

3 comments

3 Comments

jakep241mo ago

Hold up, targeting isn't always the problem. Your ads might have flopped for other reasons, like bad timing or weak creative. Facebook's algo gets smarter with more data, so narrowing too soon can limit its learning. I've wasted time fine-tuning audiences only to see no real change in sales. Sometimes a broad approach lets you find new customer groups you never thought of. Focusing only on targeting misses the bigger picture of your whole marketing plan.

raym681mo ago

Wait, you said you wasted time fine-tuning audiences and saw no sales change? That really shocks me because tightening my targeting is the only thing that ever moves the needle for my campaigns. If I just go broad, my budget disappears fast showing my ad to people who will never buy. Maybe it depends on the product, but for my niche shop, getting the audience exactly right makes or breaks the whole ad. Letting the algorithm "learn" with a broad group just burns money for me.

ryanburns1mo ago

Is it just me, or is Facebook ad targeting basically a game of pin the tail on the donkey? You spend all this cash hoping to hit the right spot, but half the time you're just sticking it on the wall. I've seen so many people freak out over age groups and interests while their ad looks like it was made in MS Paint. Maybe the way Facebook works is smart, but it can't fix a boring photo or bad timing. Sometimes I wonder if we're all just throwing money into a void and hoping for the best. Refining targeting feels like trying to tune a radio that's mostly static.