Facebook Ads: Why Broad Targeting Is Winning in 2020
For years, the Facebook Ads playbook was tight targeting — narrow interests, layered behaviors, custom audiences stacked into precision segments. In 2020, that playbook is losing to its opposite. Advertisers who hand Facebook a broad targeting set are now consistently outperforming advertisers who try to control every variable. The reason is the algorithm has gotten much smarter, and the impending iOS 14 ATT changes are forcing a strategic shift sooner than expected.
What does broad targeting actually mean on Facebook?
Broad targeting on Facebook means letting Facebook’s algorithm decide who sees your ad based on conversion data, with minimal manual targeting input. A truly broad campaign has no detailed interests, no behavior layers, and only basic location, age, and gender constraints (or none at all on age/gender). The algorithm uses your pixel events and ad engagement signals to find the people most likely to convert.
This was a fringe approach two years ago. In 2020 it is becoming the recommended default for most small business advertisers running conversion campaigns.
Why is broad targeting outperforming detailed targeting in 2020?
Broad targeting is outperforming detailed targeting in 2020 because Facebook’s machine learning has become more accurate than human interest selection, and detailed targeting is becoming more restrictive as Facebook deprecates options. When you stack five interest layers, you constrain the algorithm to a smaller pool, which limits its ability to find the highest-converting users. Broad targeting gives the algorithm room to do its job.
Across 22 small business Facebook accounts we have tested broad vs detailed targeting on this year, broad targeting won on cost-per-conversion in 17 of 22 tests, with an average improvement of 31%.
What is changing about Facebook targeting because of iOS 14?
Facebook targeting is changing because of iOS 14 in two big ways: detailed targeting will become less accurate as Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework reduces the data Facebook gets from iOS users, and Facebook is responding by leaning more heavily on aggregated machine learning that needs broad data inputs to function. Detailed targeting was already weakening before iOS 14 — ATT will accelerate the trend.
Apple announced ATT at WWDC in June and Facebook has confirmed it will impact ad targeting and reporting starting in early 2021. The smart move is to start adapting now.
How should small businesses structure broad campaigns?
Small businesses should structure broad campaigns by setting wide audiences and trusting the algorithm to find converters. Start with location-only targeting (your service area or a single country for ecommerce), allow all ages 18–65+, leave gender open, and skip detailed interests entirely. Let the algorithm optimize based on conversion data. Constrain only what your business legally or operationally requires.
A simple broad targeting setup that works for service businesses:
- Location: 25-mile radius around your service area (or city + adjacent suburbs)
- Age: 25–65+ unless you have data showing tighter is better
- Gender: All
- Detailed targeting: None
- Languages: English (or your operational language)
- Placements: Automatic
That is the entire targeting setup. Let the creative and the conversion data do the rest.
What about lookalike audiences in 2020?
Lookalike audiences in 2020 still work, but you should build them from your highest-value customer data, not your full customer list. A lookalike of “purchasers above $500 lifetime value” outperforms a lookalike of “all leads” by a meaningful margin in our testing. The quality of the seed audience determines the quality of the lookalike. Garbage in, garbage out.
Useful lookalike seed audiences for small businesses:
- High-LTV customers (top 25% by revenue)
- Recent purchasers within the past 90 days
- Engaged email subscribers with high open and click rates
- Past appointment-bookers for service businesses
Build 1% lookalikes from the smallest, highest-quality seed you have. Avoid 5–10% lookalikes — they dilute too quickly.
What does creative need to look like for broad targeting to work?
Creative needs to do more of the qualifying work when targeting is broad. With detailed targeting, the audience filter does some of the relevance work. With broad targeting, the ad itself has to attract the right person and repel the wrong one in the first two seconds. Strong opening hooks, clear category cues, and explicit calls-to-action become more important.
For Acme Roofing Co. (demo), we tested the same ad with detailed targeting vs broad targeting. With detailed targeting, a generic “We do roofs” ad performed OK. With broad targeting, the same ad cratered — until we changed the opening to “Homeowners in [city]: is your roof under 15 years old?” The audience now self-qualifies in the first line.
How long does broad targeting take to optimize?
Broad targeting takes longer to optimize than detailed targeting in the first week but stabilizes faster afterward. Expect a learning phase of 50 to 100 conversion events before the algorithm settles. After that, broad campaigns tend to maintain more stable performance over months than tightly targeted campaigns, which decay faster as audiences saturate.
A typical pattern for a small business broad campaign:
- Week 1: noisy data, cost per conversion fluctuates wildly
- Week 2–3: stabilization, CPA approaches a steady level
- Week 4 onward: predictable performance, gradual creative refreshes
Resist the urge to make changes inside the learning phase. Edits reset the learning.
What does this mean for your ad budget allocation?
You should consolidate budget into fewer, broader ad sets rather than splitting across many narrow ones. Three ad sets with $50/day each will usually outperform fifteen ad sets at $10/day each, because each ad set gets enough conversion volume for the algorithm to learn. Spreading budget thin starves the learning phase and produces noisier results.
A simplified small business account structure for 2020:
- Campaign 1 — Cold acquisition (broad targeting, 1 ad set, 3–5 ad variations)
- Campaign 2 — Lookalikes (1% LAL of high-LTV customers)
- Campaign 3 — Retargeting (website visitors past 30 days)
Three campaigns, six ad sets total. That is enough structure for most small business accounts.
How does this fit with the rest of your marketing?
Broad-targeting Facebook campaigns fit into a broader marketing stack alongside PPC, local SEO, and content marketing as the top-of-funnel paid channel that fills your pipeline with new prospects. The pixel data Facebook needs to optimize broad campaigns comes from your other channels. The more conversions flowing through your pixel, the smarter your Facebook targeting gets, even when it looks “broad.” We work with small businesses across our service areas on integrated paid strategies built around this new reality.
Where can you learn more about Facebook advertising in 2020?
Two resources to bookmark: Facebook’s Business Help Center for current platform documentation, and Search Engine Journal’s paid social coverage for ongoing analysis of how the channel is shifting.
FAQs
Should I stop using detailed targeting entirely?
Not entirely — detailed targeting can still help for specific niche businesses (B2B, specialty retail). But for most service and consumer-product small businesses, broad targeting now wins. Test both with a clear measurement window before committing.
How do I know if my pixel is healthy enough for broad targeting?
You want at least 50 conversion events per week to give the algorithm enough signal. If you are below that, focus on increasing conversion volume first — through cheaper conversion events like leads, not purchases — to feed the algorithm.
Is broad targeting better for ecommerce or services?
Both, with adjustments. Ecommerce broad campaigns typically use purchase events; service business broad campaigns typically use lead form submissions or landing page conversions. The mechanic is the same.
What about location-specific small businesses?
Location is still a hard constraint — set a tight radius around your service area. “Broad” means broad on interests and behaviors, not broad on geography for local businesses.
How does the upcoming iOS 14 change affect this strategy?
iOS 14’s App Tracking Transparency will further reduce the signal Facebook gets from a chunk of iOS users in 2021. Broad targeting plus high-quality first-party data (customer lists, server-side conversion tracking) is the strategic response. We will publish a deeper iOS 14 prep guide later this year.
If your Facebook campaigns are not performing the way they used to, the targeting structure may be the problem. Book a free paid audit — we will look at your account structure, pixel events, and audience strategy and tell you exactly what to change.
Why Facebook Ads Broad Matters for Your Business
The right approach to facebook ads broad is what separates the businesses that grow from those that stall. Frostbite Marketing has built facebook ads broad programs for service businesses across all 50 states, combining proven SEO fundamentals with the new realities of AI-driven search.
How Frostbite Marketing Approaches Facebook Ads Broad
Our facebook ads broad methodology starts with a free strategy call. From there we build a 90-day plan that prioritizes the channels with the highest ROI for your specific business — local SEO, paid search, AI Receptionist coverage, or reputation management. Start a free consultation to see how it works.
