Interest-Based Targeting
Targeting users based on their stated interests, behaviors, and page likes.
1 min readLast updated Apr 2026
Quick Reference
CategoryMarketing & Paid Advertising
Related Terms2
Targeting users based on their stated interests, behaviors, and page likes.
Why It Matters
Interest-based targeting lets you reach people who've signaled affinity for topics relevant to your product. It's a logical starting point for prospecting before you have enough data for lookalikes. For niche products, interest targeting often outperforms broader approaches.
Practical Example
Scenario
A specialty coffee brand targets interests like 'specialty coffee,' 'home brewing,' 'barista,' and 'coffee equipment' vs a broad coffee-related audience.
Result
Narrow specialty interests deliver 3x higher CTR and 40% lower CPA than broader 'coffee lovers' targeting.
Pro Tips
- 1Use interest targeting for niche products where broad targeting casts too wide a net
- 2Layer interests with exclusions to sharpen targeting (interested in X but not Y)
- 3Treat interests as hypotheses to test, not certainties—validate with performance data
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Choosing interests that are too broad (e.g., 'shopping' reaches everyone who's ever shopped online)
Stacking too many interests in one ad set, making it impossible to know what's working