Wrong audience targeting: narrowing on Meta and Google

Broad targeting buys cheap clicks and expensive leads — wrong audience is the most common budget leak. Interest stacking, wide age ranges and mixing remarketing with prospecting can double CPA. On Meta and Google Ads the rule is narrow test, then scale.

Prospecting vs remarketing split

Remarketing message to cold audience or vice versa kills conversion. Separate campaigns, creative and budget caps.

Don't launch remarketing below 1000 (Google) or 100 (Meta) list size; without data broad prospecting misleads.

• Separate campaign type
• Different CPA targets
• Remarketing frequency cap 3-5
• Exclude existing customers

Custom audience sources

Best lookalike source: last 90-day buyers or qualified leads. All site visitors lower source quality.

Upload hashed CRM lists; target 30%+ email match. Lookalike degradation ties to stale lists.

Google in-market and affinity

In-market segments are close to purchase intent; affinity is for awareness — don't mix in performance campaigns.

Test in observation mode; collect 2 weeks before switching to targeting.

Meta interest narrowing

Test 1-2 narrow interests + lookalike instead of 3+ AND interests. With Advantage+ audience manual sets may shrink — run comparison campaigns.

Antalya local: 15-25 km radius, Turkish, age band by product (health tourism 35-65).

Demographics and device

Exclude or bid down low-converting age/device segments from reports. Turn off 02-06 for B2B lead gen.

Placement report: Audience Network cheap clicks, low quality — isolate.

Test plan

Week 1-2: narrow custom audience. Week 3-4: 1% lookalike. Week 5+: scale winner, kill loser.

Separate creative hypothesis per audience; same visual is not a fair test across audiences.

Right audience matters more than wrong bid — know who converts first.

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