Targeting
Marketing success depends on delivering the right message to the right people at the right time.
Local service businesses such as HVAC companies, roofers, dentists, landscapers, and pest
control services, rely on effective targeting to reach potential customers in their service areas.
Without precise audience targeting, they risk wasting ad spend and missing engagement
opportunities.
For Johns Hopkins University students, this phase focuses on helping a real local service
business define its audience and implement cost-effective targeting strategies like custom
audiences, lookalikes, and micro-targeting.
Why Targeting Matters for Local Service Businesses
Effective targeting allows businesses to:
✔ Identify & segment ideal customers (demographics, behaviors, service needs)
✔ Improve ad performance & reduce costs (focus on high-intent audiences)
✔ Use remarketing (re-engage potential customers who didn’t book)
✔ Leverage Facebook’s AI (find high-value prospects similar to best customers)
✔ Ensure hyper-local relevance (target people in specific service areas)
✔ Implement Bowtie Funnel Sequences (guide prospects through marketing & sales)
Step-by-Step Targeting Implementation for Students
- Define the Business’s Ideal Customer
● Homeowners vs. commercial clients, age, location, income, common service needs
● Identify pain points (e.g., high energy bills, pest infestations, legal issues) - Create Custom Audiences
● Import customer lists into Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Twitter as custom audiences
● Build website custom audiences (WCA) for remarketing
● Segment engagement-based audiences (video views, messages, CTA clicks) - Set Up Lookalike Audiences
● Create 1%, 3%, and 5% lookalikes of past customers
● Exclude existing customers to acquire new leads
● Build tiered lookalikes (website visitors, past customers, engagement groups) - Implement Bowtie Funnel Sequences
● Awareness: Educational content, top-of-funnel ads, social proof
● Engagement: Retarget video viewers & website visitors, offer lead magnets
● Conversion: Follow up with warm leads via retargeting & email sequences