Audience Targeting 101: How to Get Your Ads in Front of the Right People

You’ve created a stunning ad with strong copy, a compelling offer, and scroll-stopping visuals. But if it’s landing in front of the wrong people? It won’t convert—and your budget will burn faster than you can say “boost post.”

That’s where audience targeting comes in. Understanding how to get your ads in front of the right people is what separates high-performing campaigns from wasted spend.

Let’s break it down.

Audience targeting is the process of defining who sees your ad. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow advertisers to serve ads based on specific criteria—like age, location, interests, job title, or online behavior. Instead of showing your ad to the general public, you’re laser-focusing on those most likely to engage, click, or buy.

Imagine you're a business coach for creative entrepreneurs. Would you rather show your ad to 10,000 random people—or 2,000 people who’ve shown interest in business growth, follow industry leaders, and have a history of engaging with similar content? That’s the power of targeting.

• Core Audiences
  
  These are built using demographic and interest-based data. You can filter by age, gender, location, profession, hobbies, and more. This is a great starting point if you’re running a campaign for general brand awareness or have a clear sense of who your ideal customer is.

• Custom Audiences
  
  This allows you to target people who’ve already interacted with your business—like website visitors, email subscribers, or Instagram engagers. These users already know you, making them warmer leads.

• Lookalike Audiences
  
  Lookalike audiences are powerful. These are people who resemble your existing customers or custom audiences. Platforms use algorithms to find new people who behave similarly to your top clients—essentially expanding your reach to a qualified pool of potential buyers.
  
  

Effective targeting isn’t about reaching the most people—it’s about reaching the right people. When your message is shown to a warm, interested audience, your cost per click goes down, your conversions go up, and your ads do what they’re supposed to: deliver results.

So before you hit “publish” on your next campaign, pause and ask—who exactly am I speaking to?

Because in paid advertising, your audience is everything.