I beg you, before you even think about advertising your product or service, take some time to figure out exactly who you're advertising to!

If you don't take this preliminary step, Facebook's plethora of targeting options is going to absolutely overwhelm you. Choosing targeting options on the fly, without a sense as to who your ideal customer is, just isn't going to work.

When asked the question, 'Who is your customer?' Business owners often have the same answer: "Everyone!" And while, of course, any business owner would be more than happy to have "everyone" as their customer or client, it's just not going to happen. And advertising to "everyone" is like throwing money into the wind.

Not only is it not cost-effective to do one-size-fits-all marketing, it's simply not effective, period. Don't be afraid to narrow it down! This will naturally mean excluding certain people, or groups of people, and that's OK.

This can be really scary, especially if you're just starting out. But, targeting your marketing efforts to a particular, narrow segment of people means better business decisions, lower marketing costs, better pricing, and increased advertising success. And that sounds good to me!

Using Market Segmentation

Looking at how a large pool of potential consumers can be broken up into smaller, more focused groups is the foundation of any good marketing strategy. Using market segmentation allows businesses to predict how certain groups of consumers will

respond to what you're promoting, how they are unique from other groups, and what the common needs are within the group.

Market Segmentation consists of 4 categories:

Geographic: Where consumers live (city, state, country, etc.), climate, population, density.

Demographic: Martial status, kids/no kids, age, gender, education level, religion, income, family size.

Psychographic: Values, lifestyle, hobbies, opinions, interests.

Behavioral: How different people approach buying products - Loyalty levels, price points, readiness to buy, benefits sought, etc.

Considering Motivations

Why do people buy? Why do your customers buy? What are the fundamental reasons they would consider buying what you're selling? These are important questions to consider before you hit the 'create ad' button!

Needs: This is the most basic of motivations. We need products that will ensure our survival, such as food, clothing and shelter.

Wants: These are the products we would like to have, but (generally speaking) know we don't need. These are generally attainable, if one has the financial ability to buy them.

Fears: Avoiding negative outcomes is a big motivator. Reassure people that your product will help them avoid negative consequences and you've won half the battle.

Desires: Similar to wants, but can be thought of more as dreams. These may not be as attainable as wants. Do you want to be thinner? Stronger? More beautiful? These are desires that may or may not be realistic, but will definitely tend to motivate people to buy.

Considering which of these motivations your product or service satisfies is key to determining how you'll market it to them.

Finally, don't forget to consider what type of customer YOU want! Just because a particular segment of the market gravitates towards what you're offering, doesn't mean you have to sell to them. Do you prefer the more one-on-one, personal approach when working with clients? Advertise to small business owners and solo-preneurs. Like a more steady and predictable work pace? Advertise your services to larger corporations.