Facebook Ads: Should You Trust Advanced Audiences or Go Manual?
When setting up Facebook ads, there’s always the question: Do I let Facebook’s algorithm do the work, or do I manually dial in my targeting? Both approaches have their place, but depending on your budget, data, and goals, one might work better for you than the other.
My Experience with Facebook Ad Targeting
I’ve been running Facebook ad campaigns for Skid Steer Solutions and a few other brands, targeting blue-collar industries, contractors, landscapers, and equipment operators. One thing I’ve learned—Facebook’s AI is powerful, but it’s not always smarter than a well-planned manual audience.
I’ve tested both advanced audiences and manual targeting across different campaigns, from running seasonal sales to building dealer networks and even generating leads for equipment financing. What works best? It depends on the campaign.
Advanced Audiences (Broad Targeting) – Letting Facebook Decide
With Advanced Audiences, you’re basically letting Facebook’s AI find the right people for you based on engagement, conversion history, and platform behavior. Instead of selecting specific interests or demographics, you just set the campaign objective and let the algorithm optimize as it gathers data.
🔹 When it works best:
You have strong pixel data (purchase history, add-to-cart activity, previous engagement).
You’re spending at least $100/day per ad set so Facebook can optimize quickly.
You’re running a conversion-focused campaign (like sales or lead gen) where the algorithm has enough past data to find similar buyers.
⚠️ When it doesn’t work as well:
You’re starting fresh with no pixel data for Facebook to work with.
You’re in a niche industry where broad targeting could waste money on the wrong audience.
Your budget is too small for Facebook to gather enough learning data before burning through ad spend.
My Experience with Advanced Audiences:
I’ve had huge success with broad targeting when running retargeting ads for high-intent buyers. For example, when running ads to equipment operators who visited a product page but didn’t buy, broad targeting + lookalikes helped scale those conversions quickly.
But for a brand-new product launch? Broad targeting wasted a ton of money. Facebook pushed the ads to people who had no clue what the attachment was or why they needed it—which meant I had to shift back to manual targeting.
Manual Targeting
With manual targeting, you set specific demographics, interests, job titles, and behaviors. This gives you full control over who sees your ads instead of letting Facebook’s AI guess.
🔹 When it works best
You’re in a niche market (like skid steer attachments, landscaping, or heavy equipment) where broad targeting might not reach the right audience.
You don’t have enough pixel data yet, so you need to guide Facebook in the right direction.
You want to retarget warm audiences (website visitors, past buyers, or email lists) without letting Facebook expand beyond them.
⚠️ When it doesn’t work as well:
Your audience is too small, and your ads burn out quickly.
You’re trying to scale and need Facebook’s algorithm to find new buyers beyond your manually selected group.
You limit yourself too much and miss potential high-converting users Facebook could have found for you.
My Experience with Manual Targeting:
When running ads for dealer recruitment or industry-specific attachments, manual targeting always works better. For example, when targeting rural contractors who actually need heavy-duty skid steer attachments, interest-based targeting on Facebook lets me pinpoint the right buyers, rather than relying on the algorithm.
That said, I’ve also seen manual targeting hit a ceiling fast. You can only scale so much before you start serving ads to the same people over and over.
So, Which One Should You Use?
The best approach? Start with manual targeting, then scale with advanced audiences.
1️⃣ If you’re launching a new campaign or don’t have strong pixel data, manual targeting helps you narrow in on the right audience. 2️⃣ Once you have data on who’s converting, start testing broader audiences so Facebook’s AI can optimize and scale. 3️⃣ If your campaign is already working and you have a good budget, let Facebook’s Advanced Audiences take over and find even more buyers for you.
At the end of the day, manual targeting gives you control, but broad targeting gives you scale. The key is knowing when to use each one to get the most out of your ad spend.
