Targeting Strategies

The Spectrum From Broad to Narrow

Targeting strategies run on a spectrum from broad to narrow. At the broad end sit demographic and geographic filters, which reach the largest possible audience at the lowest investment per impression but with the least certainty that any given viewer actually wants what is being advertised. Moving narrower, interest and behavioral targeting uses a platform’s own data about what someone engages with, and intent-based targeting (search keywords, in-market audience categories) targets people showing an active signal of wanting the exact thing being sold. Retargeting sits at the narrowest end, showing ads only to people who already visited the site or engaged with the brand directly.

Matching the Strategy to the Funnel Stage

The mistake we see most is picking one point on that spectrum and running every campaign through it. Broad targeting makes sense when the goal is awareness and the investment per conversion is not the priority yet. Narrow, intent-based, and retargeting strategies make sense once the goal shifts to converting people who are already close to a decision. Using narrow targeting for a brand’s entire budget starves the top of the funnel of new prospects, while using broad targeting all the way through checkout wastes investment showing ads to people who were never going to buy in the first place.