Types of targeting
| Type | Based on | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Where people live or are | A 15-mile radius around your shop |
| Demographics | Age and other traits | Adults aged 30 to 65 |
| Interests | Pages and topics people engage with | Home improvement |
| Custom audiences | Your site visitors or customer lists | People who viewed your pricing page |
| Lookalikes | People similar to a source list | Similar to past customers |
Why broad often wins now
Privacy changes reduced the data behind detailed interests. Meta's delivery system uses your conversion data and creative to find buyers inside a broad audience. A strong ad aimed at "everyone within 20 miles" often beats a weak ad aimed at a narrow interest.
Special ad categories
Housing, employment and financial products ads fall under special ad categories. These ads cannot target by age, gender or ZIP code, and lookalikes are not available. In the US and Canada, location targeting must cover at least a 15-mile radius.
Health and financial limits
Since September 2025, Meta flags custom audiences that suggest health conditions or financial status and blocks them from campaigns. Health businesses should plan on broad targeting and strong creative.
Good example. A roofer targets adults in its service area broadly and lets video creative do the filtering. A separate ad set retargets site visitors.
Bad example. A roofer stacks six narrow interests into a tiny audience. Costs rise and delivery stalls.
Read what a lookalike audience is. Our Facebook and Instagram ads management builds audiences that fit policy.