Facebook Adds ZIP Code Ad Targeting

Filed in Featured, PPC Advertising, Social Media by Matt McGee on August 11, 2011 8 Comments

facebook_logoRaise your hand if, like me, you really need to give more time and energy to the advertising options that are available on Facebook. Yeah. Thought so. If you’re a small/local business with a very targeted audience, this could be big news: You can now target ads on Facebook at the ZIP code level.

Facebook’s done a pretty remarkable job of building out its ad platform and there were already a lot of interesting targeting options — especially when they’re used in combination with one another. And this new ZIP code option makes it potentially more valuable for a lot of small/local businesses.

Here’s what it looks like — it’s brain-dead simple to use:

facebook-zip-ads

As you choose ZIP codes, Facebook shows as “estimated reach” in the right column of the page. But I suspect you’ll want to take their “this may not be accurate” disclaimer to heart with these ZIP code ads: Using the three ZIP codes above, Facebook says the estimated reach is more than 52,000 people. But I’m not sure if 52,000 people even live in those three Kennewick ZIPs.

Still, a nice addition.

(via Inside Facebook)

Comments (8)

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  1. Aaron Weiche says:

    I agree that this is another great feature for FB paid and the fact that their steps to advertise are SO easy is great for anyone. My hope though is that they will look deeper into how their ads are displayed and positioned. I think they fall short on that end.

  2. Markus says:

    I tried advertising on Facebook a couple of years ago. I got lots of traffic for a product I know converts but didn’t make any sales. Zip codes would be very useful if you are advertising for a local business.

  3. Gerrid Smith says:

    I can see this being very useful for the presidential candidates in this upcoming election! When there are certain areas that are crucial for the candidate, they can just dial in a campaign by zip code and promote!

    -Gerrid

  4. John says:

    Just the other day I used the zip code feature to create an ad that targeted about 10 zip codes. I thought that its was cool ad-in by FB. My wife has been pitching these seminars and we only wanted to target the towns near the hosting location…

    Regards!

  5. Leon says:

    I am currently working with a daycare and preschool with their marketing. Zip Code marketing would be a good addition since we are targeting neighborhoods and not whole cities.

  6. Yeah, facebook ads are getting more and more useuful and full of options. You can appeal to your target audience in no time with these ads. I always thought that for a small/starting business, facebook ads are the best choice. Even better than google ads!

    • Matt McGee says:

      Appreciate the comment, John, but I’d have a hard time agreeing with such a blanket generalization about Facebook ads being better than Google ads. Perhaps in some cases, but certainly not in all. Probably not even in the majority, or anything close to the majority.

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