7 Audiences To Target For Lead Generation (And Some to Avoid)

In this post:

• What do we mean by B2B and B2C?
• First, install your Facebook pixel
• 7 audiences to target for lead generation
• Add these audiences to your exclusion lists

What do we mean by B2B and B2C?

While some aspects of B2B lead generation are similar to its B2C cousin, there are enough differences to make it worthwhile to adjust some aspects of how you go about things. You likely have already set up your site's shopping cart to only show prices to logged-in users, allowed for credit-based accounts as well as immediate payment, and more. Now, it's time to adjust your digital marketing to better target potential B2C and B2B leads.

Just like with your shopping cart and general operations, you'll find that there is some overlap between B2B and B2C marketing. After all, people are still people, whether they're buying for themselves or their companies. However, the B2C buyer has other motivations and concerns along with their personal tastes.

This post will give you a clearer idea of now just who to reach but how to generate quality leads with digital ads. 

First, Install Your Facebook Pixel

The Facebook pixel allows interactions with your site to be tracked. It's the key to knowing which ads are pulling in traffic and what that traffic does once it arrives. It'll also let the system track which ads are not working, so you can change or pull them and avoid wasting money.

On many shopping platforms, all you need to do is insert your Facebook advertiser ID number. These include Shopify, Magento, Squarespace, and Wix. If your site doesn't support this function, you'll need to go into your page's code and paste in the pixel code snippet.

Now that you have your site's tracking is set up, it's time to get started on choosing your target audiences.

7 Audiences to Target for Lead Generation

The custom audience is one of the most powerful targeting tools offered by Facebook. When you set them up, you choose who gets to see your ads based on the criteria you select. Here are some of the best audiences you can set up for B2B/B2C lead generation:

1. Subscribers

With Facebook ads, you can upload your existing email lists to target. With this feature, you can make Custom Audiences based on your existing customers, prospects, or other groups whose email addresses you already have. Use it to target those who have expressed interest in your product or service, or to upsell or cross-sell to those who have already purchased something else from you.

Those who are shown your ads based on these criteria won't know how Facebook knew to target them, but you will get to remind them of how awesome your product is! Facebook also hashes the email addresses before storing them, so humans don't get to see the information on your list and it stays safe and secure. 

This group is always a prime target for personalized email drip campaigns and SMS blasts tailored to convert your contacts into paying customers.

2. Previous Visitors to Your Site

It is common in both B2B and B2C to target people who have come to a website at a prior time. This keeps your site or business name in mind and makes it super-easy for someone to come right back. While some people are annoyed when ads "follow them around the net," this type of advertising is highly effective.

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It makes your site or business name stand out over the clutter of other online advertising, competing sites, and other distractions. Sometimes, simply making sure that people remember who you are and what you sell is enough to convert prior visitors into customers.

3. Cart Abandoners

Cart abandonment prospects have come to your site, added one or more items to their carts, and then gone away before completing the purchase. There are several reasons people do this, such as getting distracted, losing their internet connections, or deciding to shop around. In many cases, they are quite receptive to advertising meant to get them to come back.

This type of advertising works best for businesses that sell tangible items or products that can fit into a typical expense account budget. Buyers of small-ticket products and services often have no bureaucratic process to go through for purchase approval, and in fact, may have been ordered to "buy [x] amount of [x] item" with no further direction. Therefore, if you can get them to come back, you'll likely have a sale right away.

4. IT Decision Makers

Many companies rely on SaaS software for their customer management, accounting, and other functions. Often, IT professionals decide which software to go with, so it makes sense to target them for B2B SaaS products. You may want to add high-level managers and C-suite personnel to this list, since they have been known to make these decisions, as well.

5. High-Level Managers and C-Suite Executives

These people often make buying decisions for substantial purchases. If your goal is B2B lead generation rather than immediate sales, especially to large companies, these are the people you need to reach. Lower-level managers may have purchasing authority for less-expensive items and services, so if your industry falls into that category, you might want to add them to your targeting list, too.

6. Entrepreneurs

While the size of an entrepreneur's company may not support any high-level managers or any C-suite at all, these businesses have the benefit of a very streamlined decision-making process. If you can convince an entrepreneur to buy, you have convinced the only boss that company has – and you'll have the sale completed in short order. The lack of bureaucracy at a small business is great when you need to get more cash flow in a hurry.

7. Demographic and Interest-Based 

If you know that certain types of people are interested in buying your type of product or service, you can set up ads according to their specifications. For example, you can target those who are known to be in a certain industry, have particular job positions, are in specific locations, and more. Since you can select several criteria, you can truly fine-tune your targeting.

Add These Audiences to Your Exclusion Lists

While these are the opposite of audiences that you want to target, they are crucial to the success of your campaigns. Excluding specific audiences from your campaigns will do much to stop your click money from being wasted on people who won't convert. It's a good idea to exclude these people from seeing your ads:

• People who just bought your items or services. They almost surely won't run back and buy another one within a few days.
• People who have already responded to one of your current B2B lead generation efforts.
• Your competitors. 
• People who are logging on from outside of your service area.
• Employees who aren't in decision-making roles
• Companies that are the wrong size for your product or service
• Marketing company personnel. These are more likely to try to sell you their B2B advertising services than to buy what you're trying to sell.

Depending on your product or service, you may want to exclude others from your campaigns, as well. Tailor your exclusion list to meet your situation.

These are just seven of the many possibilities for successful lead generation audiences. Be sure to do some brainstorming; you'll definitely come up with even more. Also, don't hesitate to tweak audiences or ad campaigns to make them more efficient, eliminate non-performers, and otherwise maximize the effectiveness of your advertising.

Here at EmberTribe, we are always ready to help you get the most from your ad campaigns. Clients report that we have doubled the conversion rate from Facebook campaigns and other marketing efforts.

Book a call today to add rocket fuel to your own campaigns!