Trending at TwoSix: Facebook Interest Targeting

Posted: April 26, 2022

New Study Finds Facebook’s Interest Targeting is Inaccurate Around 30% of the Time

Facebook has recently condensed its interest categories during a time when changes to pixel and cookie tracking have led advertisers to rely even more on interest-based targeting. Interest-based targeting is a go-to among ad creators to reach their desired target market, but it may not seem as accurate as you would like to believe.

Interest-based targeting does work to a certain degree because it’s learning about users through their activity in the app.

An experiment by North California State University studied interests through Facebook-controlled data through 14 new blank slate accounts were tracked. It seemed that simply scrolling through a page determined that the user was interested in that subject. It also seemed that any engagement whatsoever would suggest interest to Facebook, even if that engagement were negative.

The study showed that Facebook incorrectly inferred interest when someone liked Apple, the tech company, it thought they also liked apples the fruit, which could be true because apples are delicious, but still, it’s not the same thing.

This news can be a little disheartening but also expected because interest-based targeting is a great way to target users when it works, and it still does 70% of the time. We have found that custom and lookalike audiences based on website traffic and customer lists are more reliable and valuable to target users. The learning phase Facebook has incorporated to serve ads more effectively is thought to be a tool to help weed out false interests. Interest-based targeting is still a great way to reach users, but defining your core audience and targeting them directly by building an audience reigns supreme and is a great way to fill in that gap.

What to do going forward?

To amplify your Facebook marketing efforts by contacting an ad strategist. The TwoSix team is exapt at interest targeting to ensure that your ads will reach the right audience. Fill out the contact form, and a member of our team will reach out shortly.