With over 2.9 billion monthly users on Facebook, the everyday consumer probably doesn’t enjoy the idea that every action they take online is being watched, recorded, and tracked. Let alone used to inform advertisers for profit. The new privacy initiatives, most recently championed by Apple and now followed by Google, that allow users to opt-out of cross-platform-tracking is a huge win for users who cringe at the idea of being followed around the internet. Users were being tracked from their favorite social media platforms to their preferred search engines and then to their email app then to their music platform – one can see the never-ending rabbit hole.
You can see the never-ending red thread of user behavior that used to exist.
But we digress, online behaviors historically have been used for such. We all have had that random conversation with our neighbors about their new car, or grill, or pool… only to open up our Facebook accounts to see ads for… Cars, Grills, and Pools. From a consumer perspective, interest-based targeting based on audio data and search engine results can feel a bit intrusive.
But from a marketing perspective? It’s just plain smart.
Honestly, this is essentially a moot point. Because now, if users search for “George Forman Grill” on Google, it’s not exactly guaranteed to show up in their social media feeds.
For a long time, advertisers have relied heavily on Interest-Based-Targeting, Lookalikes of Subscribers and Current Customers, and Lookalike Audiences based on converting user behavior on their website. Paired also with being able to target Job Titles, Employers, and Household Income based on Zip Code Location.
That’s 47 words worth of “It used to be relatively easy to narrow down your target audience.”
With users’ ability to opt out of tracking, the once holy grail of tracking (Facebook Pixel) is no longer king of audience building. But lucky for you, Meta is being forced to pivot.
This is where custom audiences come into play.
Creating custom audiences who engage and interact with your content on the platform is more vital than ever. Why? Because Meta can see user behavior and engagement as long as they are on Facebook or Instagram. It’s not blind to user behavior as soon as they click the link in your ad. The results are more concrete and Meta doesn’t have to guess what users are doing off-platform. With the surge in video content taking over these platforms, a natural audience builder has been put into play: Video Views.
There are so many options for building custom audiences with users who watch your videos.
To give you a taste:
- Users who watched 3 seconds or more of your video
- Users who watched 10 seconds or more of your video
- Users who watched 25% of your videos
- Users who watched 50% of your videos
- Users who watched 75% of your videos
- Users who watched 100% of your videos
And you can layer:
- Custom retention time frames (15, 30, 45 days etc.)
- Group multiple videos, or have standalone videos
On top of using video views as a custom audience generator, you can layer current social media engagement and lookalikes of users who engage with your brand. This includes:
- Users who watch your stories, reels, like posts, or comment on your content.