Nowadays, in the world of active development and digitalization, there are many methods of promoting your own business, brand on the Internet. Advertising, SEO optimization, targeting are popular and effective options for promoting stores, pages, and sites. In this article, we will consider in more detail, What is targeted advertising in simple words?, how to choose the optimal budget for an advertising campaign, advantages and disadvantages of this method.
Definition and relevance
Targeted advertising-is a new way of promoting business on the vastness of the World Wide Web, with the help of which you can create relevant advertising ads. Currently, to attract new active users, form a certain circle of audience in social networks, several parameters are used that actually characterize the client, among them: age, gender, interests, hobbies, region of residence, marital status, etc. At the initial stages of its activity, the advertiser selects goals that he combines with the characteristics of future customers, in accordance with the given information, the system displays advertising to the given elements.

Targeted advertising tasks
The main objectives of this promotion method are:
- target audience, select customers who will be interested in the products (need or already use similar services)
- encourages you to buy a product, submit an application, or subscribe to a social media page more quickly
- prompt dissemination of information among the population about the brand's features, available promotional offers or a bonus discount program (this is what encourages visitors to go to the site to obtain detailed information).
Working principle
When creating and registering accounts in various applications and social networks, people leave certain information about themselves: gender, date of birth, education, these items are used to select the desired category for which ads will be shown. Having selected the specified parameters, the system analyzes the activity and behavior of users, determines their location, monitors reactions to publications, posts and comments. After conducting a detailed analysis, the program draws some kind of conclusions and the need to show advertising to a specific person.

Purpose of use
Targeted advertising is a powerful promotion tool that has significant potential, thanks to which you can achieve the following important tasks:
- allows you to increase the number of visitors to Internet portals
- brand promotion
- increase in followers on social networks
- increase sales and demand for services. Let's take a closer look at where you can use targeted advertising:
1. Social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn)
2.Search engines: targeted advertising in Google Ads (keyword promotion)
3. Websites and blogs (use Google AdSense, based on interests, site content)
4.Email
5. Video hosting (for example, YouTube offers advertising based on preferences and social factors).
Types of targeting
A successful result of an advertising campaign is possible with a reasonable combination of different types and formats of this promotion method:

- Geographic (determines location, coverage radius)
- Social (selection by age, gender, interests, field of activity, etc.)
- Psychological (user reactions to publications, posts, clicking on links)
- View by preferences (taking into account people's tastes and values according to query analysis)
- According to time (thanks to this function, it is possible to show ads at the right time and on specific days).
Where is targeted advertising used?
This method of promotion is relevant for solving business issues, suitable for promoting and promoting stores, goods and services. It is used to attract a target audience in a specific direction, allows you to hold sales, promotions, informing the population about it. The most common is targeted advertising on Instagram,
targeted advertising on TikTok These networks have a large number of users, can run advertising in different regions at the same time, and each will be given special settings using various layouts. They set up the advertising process for online stores in such social networks. with goods of various uses: clothing, shoes, stationery, accessories, etc. Target has also proven itself in the promotion of seminars, coaches, public organizations, beauty salons, various types of powerful tools are used by famous leaders, bloggers to promote their personal accounts. Less effect is given to goods from the B2B segment and products of narrow specialization.
How to find customers using targeted advertising
Before creating a product or service, it is necessary to study and understand the potential needs of customers, how much your product will be needed by them. To do this, a preliminary portrait of the consumer is drawn up, which includes social, demographic and behavioral factors (salary level, family status, age category). Social surveys, questionnaires, interviews, business trainings can help collect such a volume of necessary information. By drawing up such an image, you can satisfy the needs of potential customers, increase demand and profit of companies. Properly configured advertising will allow you to get a larger number of buyers.

What targeting tools exist?
One of the powerful tools for targeted advertising is social networks such as Facebook Ads and Instagram Promotion. The main element of this method is studying the target audience.
Facebook Ads (determined by interests, active actions, geolocation, create advertising notifications that will attract people's attention).
Instagram Promotion (visual content attracts more users). Also, qualified specialists use special professional tools for promotion, including Adroll, Hootsuite, Qwaya, such programs will increase the number of orders and sales rating.
Tips for effective use of targeted advertising
When using this method of business promotion, it is necessary to take into account some factors that affect a successful result:

- narrowing the target audience and detailed study of guiding parameters
- You should not combine new and regular customers; each category should have its own advertising alerts, according to its needs and goals.
- Before launching an ad, you need to define goals and queries.
- it is worth starting with minimal investments, gradually increasing them in the workflow while clarifying important factors
- Don't be afraid to experiment with ads until you find your successful method.
Many business page owners or manufacturers of certain goods or services are interested in an important question how to measure the effectiveness of targeted advertising, get basic information about the success of the project. For example, you can see the number of views and likes in your personal social network account, among such indicators you can highlight:
- number of publication views
- coverage statistics
- audience growth over a certain period of time
- percentage of leads that were used for advertising
The success rate can be determined by:
- conversion (interest)
- click-through rate (ratio of clicks to impressions)
- CPA (cost per action or sale according to goal)
- ROI (return on investment in an advertising project)
It is possible and necessary to perform an effectiveness analysis, because this will allow you to better understand what to change, what to add, how to more precisely adjust specific factors of potential customers. In addition, targeted advertising must be adjusted and adjusted from time to time for optimal results and a rational budget.
Errors when setting up targeting
Among the most common mistakes in setting up a promotion method, the following can be distinguished:

- Incorrect definition of the advantages and disadvantages of the product (you need to clearly define what is special about your company)
- unsegmented audience
- a large amount of information (when describing products and promotions, you need to briefly and accurately interest people and design a visual that will attract attention)
- launch without testing (special programs allow you to evaluate and check the design, headings and compliance with customer parameters)
- lack of retargeting (re-appeal to customers)
- lack of UTM markup (the ability to track additional factors to better assess consumer needs)
- incorrect monetary distribution (will lead to low conversion)
- wrong choice of places to place notifications
- use of prohibited content
Carefully following the rules and conducting preliminary testing will help avoid problems and successfully set up the advertising process.
Costs
An important issue in the promotion process that interests many beginners is the optimal budget for an advertising campaign, this term is the amount that the company has allocated to promote its services or goods. Despite many factors, you can calculate the approximate cost. The budget includes average sales revenue, conversion and click-through rate. A sign of the target is the ability to personally set the price and limits per day, for example, on Facebook and Instagram the daily rate is approximately 1$, the higher the investment, the more likes and impressions. After the start of a full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine, competition in the promotion system has decreased (reduction of personnel, disruption of logistics routes, destruction of enterprises, reduction of advertising costs), for small and medium-sized businesses this is a good moment to show yourself and reach a new number of users, for minimal investment you can get high results. By launching a promotional tool, you will not only increase the flow of customers, but also join in supporting the Ukrainian economy.

Advantages
- the activity is carried out with a specific audience
- Individual notifications can be created for each customer group
- fast optimization
- viewing and analyzing statistics in your personal account
- the ability to promote products without having a website (clicking on a link that takes you to the brand page, where the client leaves their data)
- tools for the advertising process (look alike, retargeting, etc.).
Disadvantages
- compliance with the requirements of each advertising platform in accordance with the legislation or rules of the community itself
- audience burnout (to maintain interest, you need to constantly change and improve something)
- difficulty in setting up for beginners
- awareness of each ad publishing platform
Targeted advertising is a good way to establish a communicative connection between an organization and a potential client, an opportunity to attract new customers. This method of promotion is suitable for almost any business, following the advice you can try to launch a target yourself or contact specialists who will individually select profitable strategies and offers.