How to Use Social Media Ads to Target and Retarget the Right Customers

A lot of local businesses try social media ads, spend a few hundred dollars, and don’t see much happen. The problem usually isn’t the platform. It’s that the ad reached the wrong people.

Facebook and Instagram ads give local businesses in the Chicago suburbs the ability to reach very specific audiences at a relatively low cost. But that only works when you know how to set up your targeting correctly and how to follow up with people who showed interest but didn’t act.

What Is Social Media Ad Targeting?

Targeting means choosing exactly who sees your ad. Instead of placing a billboard that anyone driving by might notice, you’re showing your ad to a defined group of people based on location, age, interests, income level, or behavior.

Facebook has more than 3 billion monthly active users as of 2023, according to Meta. That reach is enormous, but it only helps you if the right slice of it sees your ad. Precise targeting is what separates a campaign that generates leads from one that drains your budget.

What Targeting Options Are Available to Local Businesses?

Facebook and Instagram ads (managed through Meta Ads Manager) offer several useful targeting types for local businesses.

For most local businesses, location targeting combined with one or two demographic filters is the right starting point. A Naperville landscaping company might target homeowners aged 35 to 65 within 15 miles of their service area. A Schaumburg fitness studio might target adults aged 25 to 50 who have shown interest in health and wellness.

How Do You Build a Good Target Audience?

Start with what you know about your best current customers. Think through the basics:

• How old are they and where do they live?
• What do they do for work or what are their interests?
• What other pages or businesses might they follow online?

Check your Google Analytics and your existing Facebook page insights. Both give you data on the age, gender, and location of people who are already engaging with your business. Use that data as your baseline.

Then test. Run two versions of an ad to slightly different audience segments and see which one performs better. According to Meta, advertisers who test multiple audiences regularly get lower costs per result over time.

What Is Retargeting and Why Does It Matter?

Most people who see your ad or visit your website don’t take action the first time. They get distracted, close the tab, or just aren’t ready yet. Retargeting lets you show follow-up ads specifically to those people.

According to WordStream, people who are retargeted with display ads are 70% more likely to convert than those who are seeing your brand for the first time. For local businesses, this means a potential customer who visited your website but didn’t call can see your ad again a few days later when they are ready to make a decision.

How Does Retargeting Work?

The most common method uses the Meta Pixel, a small piece of code you add to your website. Once it’s installed, it tracks visitors and lets you serve them ads on Facebook or Instagram after they leave.

Here’s a simple retargeting setup that works for most local businesses:

• Install the Meta Pixel on your website
• Create a Custom Audience of people who visited key pages (services, pricing, contact) in the last 30 days
• Run a retargeting ad with a direct offer or call to action, like a free estimate or a first-time customer discount
• Exclude people who already submitted a contact form so you don’t waste budget on existing leads

This approach works especially well for businesses in Aurora, Joliet, and the surrounding suburbs where competition for search placement is high and a second touchpoint can be the deciding factor.

How Much Should You Spend?

You don’t need a large budget to start testing social media ads. Many local businesses begin with $10 to $20 per day and adjust based on results. The key is to track which ads lead to actual calls, form fills, or website visits, not just clicks and impressions.

Set a clear goal before you launch. Your goal determines your campaign type, your ad copy, and how you measure success. Common goals include phone calls, website form fills, and email list sign-ups.

Without a defined goal, you have no real way to know whether the campaign worked. That’s one of the most common reasons local businesses give up on social media ads too early.