How to target your donors or email subscribers with Facebook ads

Get more out of Facebook ads with targeted content

This is the first of a two-part series. Also see:
Part 2: How to Install Facebook Power Editor

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, educators, Facebook Page administrators.

Imagine being able to reach lapsed donors on Facebook, or targeting Facebook page posts for a project funded by that donor segment! Facebook’s new ad feature, called custom audiences, allows you to find your offline supporters and donors among Facebook users.

Previously only available for Facebook’s biggest customers, this feature allows you to target users by email, phone number or Facebook ID. Watch the video below for more on how this works.

Reach donors and subscribers on Facebook in ways that are useful

The real benefit of this type of targeting is that it allows you to extend, support and deepen your donor and supporter relationships on Facebook.

Here are some possible scenarios where this is useful:

• Reach lapsed donors with messaging that recaptures their interest in your cause. These folks are notoriously hard to reach.
• Present different Facebook page content based on various different donor levels.
• Support an advocacy campaign with your most viral page posts about that issue. This allows you to touch people through their in-box and their newsfeed, essentially reinforcing both messages.
• Get your core supporters amped up with action-based messaging. These folks are much more receptive to direct appeals than your average Facebook fan who may get turned off by the same messaging.
• Acquire new Facebook fans by getting your top donors to talk about you more. It’s likely that their friends have similar values and would be more likely to support your organization than many of your current Facebook fans.
• Turn first-time SMS donors into Facebook Page fans. People who donate by SMS often do so because they see an ad on TV or in a magazine. The custom audience feature could invite them to like your Facebook Page.
• Target donor segments with project-specific content. For example, a donor who funds a new library for a middle school in Africa would see messaging for a computer lab for the same school.

Check out this video on targeting to learn more:

John Haydon delivers social web strategy solutions for “the quick, the smart, and the slightly manic.” Curious? Then visit the John Haydon blog, follow him on Twitter or leave a comment.