B2B Marketing Series: Why Can't I Find Certain "Employers" or "Companies" In Facebook Ads Manager? Data Driven Daily Tip 207

B2B Marketing is not that much different from eCommerce Marketing, really, from a tactical perspective that is.

Facebook Ads is the best example of a platform that is tailor made for doing both very effectively. Our Facebook Ads eCommerce Series gets into that in detail.

But every once in a while, a specific scenario pops up that is solely for B2B Marketers.

Recently, I reported that Facebook Ads has reinstated the Employer Targeting Feature.

But a great question recently came in from a reader:

"Hi Paul,

I don't wish to take up too much of your time, but have read an article of yours and have a question.

I am trying to target music industry people on Facebook and in the 'Employers' section, companies such as Polydor, Universal Music, Sony Music etc do not appear whereas other types of companies do. Any reason for that?

Thanks very much"

Great point. It's actually not that easy to find ALL of the Employers you want to target with an ad.

-This is because Facebook Removed 3 million "terms" / "employers" due to their "Community Guidelines" and has been adding them back slowly but surely.

-The good news is, I've found some tactics that will still help B2B marketers do what they're looking to do. The video above explains, as well as the brief explanation below.

1. When Creating Your Ad, go to Detailed Targeting. Click "Browse"

2. Select "Demographics" > scroll down to "Work" then > "Employers"

Start typing in "Sony Music" - notice it doesn't show, but when you stop at "Sony Mus" - then "Sony Music and Entertainment" shows. So the search is awkward.

Boom, add it.

Once you add it, click suggestions and you'll see a TON more similar "Employers" show, in this case "Atlantic Records," "Interscope Records," and more. The more you add, the better your suggestions get.

Add / Remove, Add / Remove until you've built your audience.

On the Polydor Records example, you'll notice that they don't ever show under Employers, which means they were removed, per above and not added back yet, but building an audience of Job Title + Interest > Polydor Records (which exists) can still build you a very targeted ad likely to hit your audience (although not as exact). Same thing with "Universal Music," which shows under Interests but in much more granular categories, like Universal Music Nashville and Universal Music Motown, etc.

So while it's not EXACTLY targeting the Employer in all cases, Facebook Continues to add them in, so keep trying, and in the meantime consider the alternative as a Job Title + Interest.

Thanks for reading, watching and listening, and have a great day! If you have any questions, email me at paul@datadriven.design.

KEEP MARKETING!

Paul Hickey, Founder / CEO / Lead Strategist at Data Driven Design, LLC has created and grown businesses via digital strategy and internet marketing for more than 10 years. His sweet spot is using analytics to design and build websites and grow the audience and revenue of businesses via SEO/Blogging, Google Adwords, Bing Ads, Facebook and Instagram Ads, Social Media Content Marketing and Email Marketing. The part that he’s most passionate about is quantifying next marketing actions based on real data.