Meta's B2B targeting options on Facebook Ads.

Did you know that Meta has specific targeting options for B2B ads? 

Let's dive further into what these are and how you might use them. Here are the segments and their descriptions from Meta.

• IT decision-makers: A B2B audience segment that targets ads to people who are IT decision-makers based on their job titles.
• Business decision-maker titles and interests: A B2B audience segment that targets ads to people who are business decision-makers based on their job titles and interests.
• Business decision-makers: A B2B audience segment that targets ads to people who are business decision-makers in engineering/IT, operations, HR, strategy or marketing, based on their job titles.
• New active business (<6 mo, <12 mo, <24 mo): Admins of engaged businesses that were created in the last [6, 12 or 24] months. Note: This reflects three segments one for each timeframe.

In addition to these segments, you can still use general Meta targeting options such as core audiences, custom audiences, lookalike audiences, and Advantage+ audiences. You can use these targeting options together or separately to create highly precise audiences, tailored to your target demographic and campaign objective. 

The specific B2B targeting options sound very similar to each other, as based on their job titles, these individuals are all decision-makers. However, what differentiates them is that one is business-focused, one covers multiple industries, including IT, and one is primarily focused on IT. According to Meta themselves, 2.9B people (including business and IT decision-makers) use their services daily. 

How might you use the audiences?

When it was first introduced, the reaction to segments based on decision-maker groups was hopeful, as it allows targeting high-level businesspeople who hold credit cards, assuming Facebook is using techniques to accurately segment these users. 

However, even in the early stages, several important factors needed to be considered. Once you filter by country, this audience becomes smaller, which can affect your campaign's success. After that, the success of your campaign will also depend on the nature of your offering. 

For example, whilst the IT decision-maker segment is the most specialised of these choices, it's essential to have a product that specifically addresses issues faced by IT professionals. Similarly, while the segments of business decision-makers are more diverse and don't appear to be restricted to closely related industries, your solution must assist businesses in general, regardless of the situation. 

Since its launch, the number of case studies available providing a transparent picture of how successful specific B2B decision-maker segment targeting can be, is limited. However, there remains solid, credible backing for Facebook’s granular targeting, despite its challenges. 

Even now, how much you trust Facebook to identify and target your ideal audience within the larger audience plays a role. In other words, don't let the size of the audience deter you from trying something new, and it is definitely worth testing. 

Conclusion.

LinkedIn's typically high CPCs have long been a problem for B2B advertisers. Given that user activity on Facebook and Instagram is higher than it is on LinkedIn, when specific B2B segment targeting was first launched, it was speculated that Meta would soon be able to match LinkedIn if it could offer higher-quality B2B audiences at lower prices. 

Over time, we’ve discovered that Meta, like all platforms, has its hurdles when maintaining a high-calibre professional audience. For example, in cases where users may lie about their professional backgrounds or not enter this information at all. Despite this, if Meta's algorithms can successfully pinpoint the aforementioned target markets and overcome the discussed hurdles, they may offer a much-needed substitute for LinkedIn advertising for B2B. Reach out to our team today, for your free proposal!