How to target Facebook ads to fans of a competitor page

Getting your ads in front of your competitors is a well known in Pay Per Click (PPC) strategy. It can help you generate leads and cripple your competitions’ sales. Google ad marketing allows you to target competitor brands and product keywords but up to date, Facebook does not have the direct option to target competitors but there is a way around it.

One may think to target the followers of your competitors’ Facebook page however as previously mentioned this is currently not a targeting option that Facebook allows. While this may not be an option interest targeting is a very powerful tool that can be used for this exact scenario.

How it works

Interest-based targeting can be used in this situation because you can use your competitors as the interest being targeted. Once you get to your detailed targeting you can type in your competitors’ name and Facebook will populate your audience with users who are interested in your competitor. While this is not targeting people who have directly liked the page it is the closes option Facebook allows and although not stated by Facebook the “interest” you choose to target will likely include followers of the page.

You also want to test different keywords that characterize your competitors’ pages for example if they sell computers target other similar interests related to computers in addition to the name of your competitor.

Does it work?

An interest described by facebook means “People who have expressed an interest in or like page related to”. This means it’s not an exact science but it’s the closed Facebook allows. If you’re still not sure you can use this method, find the estimated audience that Facebook gives you and cross-references it with their pages followers, Keep in mind Facebook also owns other platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp so the numbers may vary slightly, but it will give you a rough estimate of the audience you’re targeting. The only way to know for sure if this is the right targeting option for your business is to test it.

Overall while not as easy as Google Ads or other Search Platforms, on Social Media, you can target your competitors’ pages to some extent, it is definitely a strategy worth testing. Still not sure how to get started targeting your competitors?

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