Basic Targeting

Basic targeting includes:

• Demographics and Events
• Location
• Interests
• Behaviors

Demographics and Events

Get basic demographic and location-based targeting data to define targeting from Targeting Search, then specify options in the targeting spec, which contains ad set attributes defining who should see the ad.

Note: You must specify at least one country in targeting, unless you use a Custom Audience.

Targeting by demographic

curl -X POST \
  -F 'name=My AdSet' \
  -F 'optimization_goal=REACH' \
  -F 'billing_event=IMPRESSIONS' \
  -F 'bid_amount=2' \
  -F 'daily_budget=1000' \
  -F 'campaign_id=<CAMPAIGN_ID>' \
  -F 'targeting={ 
      "geo_locations": {"countries":["US"]}, 
      "industries": [{"id":6009003307783,"name":"Accounting and finance"}], 
      "life_events": [{"id":6003054185372,"name":"Recently Moved"}], 
      "relationship_statuses": [2,4] 
  }' \
  -F 'status=ACTIVE' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets

Fields

Location

Search and retrieve values for location targeting with Targeting Search. This targeting has two parameters: geo_locations to target locations, and optionally, excluded_geo_locations to exclude areas.

Use country_groups for geo_locations to target broader geographic regions such as Europe or North America.

Fields

Examples

Target by countries

curl -X POST \
  -F 'name="My Reach Ad Set"' \
  -F 'optimization_goal="REACH"' \
  -F 'billing_event="IMPRESSIONS"' \
  -F 'bid_amount=2' \
  -F 'daily_budget=1000' \
  -F 'campaign_id="<AD_CAMPAIGN_ID>"' \
  -F 'targeting={
       "geo_locations": {
         "countries": [
           "US"
         ]
       },
       "facebook_positions": [
         "feed"
       ]
     }' \
  -F 'status="PAUSED"' \
  -F 'promoted_object={
       "page_id": "<PAGE_ID>"
     }' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets

Location targeting with exclusions

curl -X POST \
  -F 'name="My Reach Ad Set"' \
  -F 'optimization_goal="REACH"' \
  -F 'billing_event="IMPRESSIONS"' \
  -F 'bid_amount=2' \
  -F 'daily_budget=1000' \
  -F 'campaign_id="<AD_CAMPAIGN_ID>"' \
  -F 'targeting={
       "excluded_geo_locations": {
         "regions": [
           {
             "key": "3847"
           }
         ]
       },
       "geo_locations": {
         "countries": [
           "US"
         ]
       },
       "facebook_positions": [
         "feed"
       ]
     }' \
  -F 'status="PAUSED"' \
  -F 'promoted_object={
       "page_id": "<PAGE_ID>"
     }' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets

Target by zip codes

curl -X POST \
  -F 'name=My AdSet' \
  -F 'optimization_goal=REACH' \
  -F 'billing_event=IMPRESSIONS' \
  -F 'bid_amount=2' \
  -F 'daily_budget=1000' \
  -F 'campaign_id=<CAMPAIGN_ID>' \
  -F 'targeting={
      "geo_locations":{
          "zips":[{"key":"US:94304"},{"key":"US:00501"}]}
  }' \
  -F 'status=ACTIVE' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets

Target by custom locations, geomarkets, and location types

The following code sets up targeting for:

• 5 miles around 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA
• 5 kilometers around latitude: 36, longitude: -121.0
• DMAs 501 and 543 and COMSCORE_MARKETS 2001 and 2054

curl -X POST \
  -F 'name=My AdSet' \
  -F 'optimization_goal=REACH' \
  -F 'billing_event=IMPRESSIONS' \
  -F 'bid_amount=2' \
  -F 'daily_budget=1000' \
  -F 'campaign_id=<CAMPAIGN_ID>' \
  -F 'targeting={ 
    "geo_locations": { 
      "custom_locations": [ 
        {"address_string":"1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA","radius":"5"}, 
        { 
          "latitude": "36", 
          "longitude": "-121.0", 
          "radius": "5", 
          "distance_unit": "kilometer" 
        } 
      ], 
      "geo_markets": [ 
        {"key":"DMA:501","name":"New York"}, 
        {"key":"DMA:543","name":"Springfield-Holyoke"},
        {"key":"COMSCORE_MARKET:2001","name":"New York, NY"},
        {"key":"COMSCORE_MARKET:2051","name":"New Orleans, LA"}
      ], 
      "location_types": ["recent","home"] 
    } 
  }' \
  -F 'status=ACTIVE' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets

Search and targeting

To target males age 20-24 within 10 miles of Menlo Park, CA or living in Texas or in Japan:

Step 1

First, get Japan's country code:

curl -G \
  -d 'location_types=["country"]' \
  -d 'type=adgeolocation' \
  -d 'q=japan' \
  -d 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/search

Step 2

Get Texas's region code:

curl -G \
  -d 'location_types=["region"]' \
  -d 'type=adgeolocation' \
  -d 'q=texas' \
  -d 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/search

Step 3

Search Menlo Park, CA city code:

curl -G \
  -d 'location_types=["city"]' \
  -d 'type=adgeolocation' \
  -d 'q=menlo' \
  -d 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/search

Step 4

Provide genders and age as age_min and age_max.

Step 5

Our targeting spec is ready with country, region and city codes:

curl \
  -F 'name=My First AdSet' \
  -F 'daily_budget=10000' \
  -F 'bid_amount=300' \
  -F 'billing_event=IMPRESSIONS' \
  -F 'optimization_goal=REACH' \
  -F 'campaign_id=<CAMPAIGN_ID>' \
  -F 'promoted_object={"page_id":"<PAGE_ID>"}' \
  -F 'targeting={ 
    "age_max": 24, 
    "age_min": 20, 
    "device_platforms": ["mobile"], 
    "genders": [1], 
    "geo_locations": { 
      "countries": ["JP"], 
      "regions": [{"key":"3886"}], 
      "cities": [ 
        { 
          "key": "2420605", 
          "radius": 10, 
          "distance_unit": "mile" 
        } 
      ] 
    }, 
    "publisher_platforms": ["facebook","audience_network"] 
  }' \
  -F 'status=PAUSED' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets

Target Multiple Cities

Set custom_type to multi_city and define either country or country_group as described before.

curl \
  -F 'name=My AdSet' \
  -F 'optimization_goal=REACH' \
  -F 'billing_event=IMPRESSIONS' \
  -F 'bid_amount=2' \
  -F 'daily_budget=1000' \
  -F 'campaign_id=<CAMPAIGN_ID>' \
  -F 'targeting={ 
    "geo_locations": { 
      "custom_locations": [ 
        { 
          "custom_type": "multi_city", 
          "min_population": 500000, 
          "max_population": 1000000, 
          "country": "BR" 
        }, 
        {"custom_type":"multi_city","country_group":"Europe"} 
      ], 
      "location_types": ["recent","home"] 
    } 
  }' \
  -F 'status=ACTIVE' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets

Parameters

Interest Targeting

Target based on interests from someone's timeline, from Pages liked or from keywords associated with Pages or apps someone uses. See Targeting Search, Interests.

To target people interested in soccer, first query:

curl -G \
  -d 'type=adinterest' \
  -d 'q=soccer' \
  -d 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/search

Add this interest by name and id to a targeting spec, where path is the path of this interest in ads tools.

curl -X POST \
  -F 'name="My First AdSet"' \
  -F 'daily_budget=10000' \
  -F 'bid_amount=300' \
  -F 'billing_event="IMPRESSIONS"' \
  -F 'optimization_goal="REACH"' \
  -F 'campaign_id="<CAMPAIGN_ID>"' \
  -F 'promoted_object={
       "page_id": "<PAGE_ID>"
     }' \
  -F 'targeting={
       "facebook_positions": [
         "feed"
       ],
       "geo_locations": {
         "countries": [
           "US"
         ],
         "regions": [
           {
             "key": "4081"
           }
         ],
         "cities": [
           {
             "key": 777934,
             "radius": 10,
             "distance_unit": "mile"
           }
         ]
       },
       "genders": [
         1
       ],
       "age_max": 24,
       "age_min": 20,
       "publisher_platforms": [
         "facebook",
         "audience_network"
       ],
       "device_platforms": [
         "mobile"
       ],
       "flexible_spec": [
         {
           "interests": [
             {
               "id": "<INTEREST_ID>",
               "name": "<INTEREST_NAME>"
             }
           ]
         }
       ]
     }' \
  -F 'status="PAUSED"' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets

Here's another example:

curl \
  -F 'name=My AdSet' \
  -F 'optimization_goal=REACH' \
  -F 'billing_event=IMPRESSIONS' \
  -F 'bid_amount=2' \
  -F 'daily_budget=1000' \
  -F 'campaign_id=<CAMPAIGN_ID>' \
  -F 'targeting={ 
    "geo_locations": {"countries":["US"]}, 
    "interests": [ 
      {"id":6003139266461,"name":"Movies"}, 
      {"id":6003397425735,"name":"Tennis"}, 
      {"id":6003659420716,"name":"Cooking"} 
    ] 
  }' \
  -F 'status=ACTIVE' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets

Fields

Behavioral Targeting

Target based on digital activities, devices people use, past or intended purchases, and travel. View options at Browse such as Frequent Travelers. See Targeting Search API.

curl -G \
  -d 'type=adTargetingCategory' \
  -d 'class=behaviors' \
  -d 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/search

Add the behavior to targeting spec:

curl \
  -F 'name=My First AdSet' \
  -F 'daily_budget=10000' \
  -F 'bid_amount=300' \
  -F 'billing_event=IMPRESSIONS' \
  -F 'optimization_goal=REACH' \
  -F 'campaign_id=<CAMPAIGN_ID>' \
  -F 'promoted_object={"page_id":"<PAGE_ID>"}' \
  -F 'targeting={ 
    "age_max": 24, 
    "age_min": 20, 
    "behaviors": [{"id":6002714895372,"name":"All frequent travelers"}], 
    "device_platforms": ["mobile"], 
    "genders": [1], 
    "geo_locations": { 
      "countries": ["JP"], 
      "regions": [{"key":"3886"}], 
      "cities": [ 
        { 
          "key": "2420605", 
          "radius": 10, 
          "distance_unit": "mile" 
        } 
      ] 
    }, 
    "interests": [{"id":6003107902433,"name":"Association football (Soccer)"}], 
    "publisher_platforms": ["facebook","audience_network"] 
  }' \
  -F 'status=PAUSED' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets

Another example:

curl -X POST \
  -F 'name="My AdSet"' \
  -F 'optimization_goal="REACH"' \
  -F 'billing_event="IMPRESSIONS"' \
  -F 'bid_amount=2' \
  -F 'daily_budget=1000' \
  -F 'campaign_id="<CAMPAIGN_ID>"' \
  -F 'targeting={
       "facebook_positions": [
         "feed"
       ],
       "geo_locations": {
         "countries": [
           "US"
         ]
       },
       "behaviors": [
         {
           "id": 6007101597783,
           "name": "Business Travelers"
         },
         {
           "id": 6004386044572,
           "name": "Android Owners (All)"
         }
       ]
     }' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
https://graph.facebook.com/v24.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/adsets

Fields

Learn More

• Search Targeting - Query for Facebook's native ads targeting options.
• Audience Targeting
• Special Ad Category

Other targeting:

• Audience Network - Run ads on Audience Network and extend the reach of your link or app ads