It’s official: Meta announced that they are eliminating the ability to use detailed targeting exclusions. The phaseout process began on July 29th and will last up to two months.
But, does it matter? Let’s investigate…
Meta’s Tests
Many advertisers use this, but it’s also possible that it is an outdated feature. Based on Meta’s tests, you probably don’t need it.
Meta found that the median Cost per Conversion was 22.6% lower when not using detailed targeting exclusions compared to when using them.
Not convinced? Meta’s “statistical simulation framework gave a 100% statistical confidence that removing detailed targeting exclusions outperformed using detailed targeting exclusions for driving cost-effective conversions.”
A 100% statistical confidence? That’s pretty confident!
You Probably Don’t Need Them
You may think you need them, but you probably don’t. Detailed targeting is incomplete and inaccurate anyway, so excluding them rarely has the effect you’d expect.
But, there’s also a matter of how things work now. If you optimize for conversions, the algorithm will make adjustments based on who does and does not convert. Shrinking the audience only restricts the algorithm and drives up costs.
Excluding detailed targeting may be most relevant when optimizing for top of funnel actions like clicks and engagement. But, that type of optimization is already problematic. Using exclusions is simply a Band-AID on top of a problem.
In this world of algorithmic targeting and audience expansion, this type of exclusion is no longer relevant. My thoughts, at least.
