Targeting pet owners on Facebook ads can be a great way to reach potential customers for pet products and services. With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook offers a huge potential audience for pet-related businesses. The key is learning how to create targeted ads that will reach the right pet owner demographics on Facebook.
Some tips for targeting pet owners on Facebook include identifying relevant interests like dog ownership or cat ownership, targeting by demographic factors like age and location, using detailed targeting options like household size and homeownership, and optimizing ads for mobile to reach pet owners on the go.
This guide will provide tips and strategies to help you effectively target pet owners and animal lovers on Facebook. We’ll cover how to:
- Research your target pet owner audience
- Use Facebook’s detailed targeting options
- Create pet-themed creatives
- Test and optimize your pet owner ads
Following this Facebook ads strategy will help you connect with more of your ideal customers in the lucrative pet care market.
Research Your Target Pet Owner Audience
The first step in targeting pet owners on Facebook is understanding your target customer and their demographics. Important factors to research include:
Pet ownership rates
Look at overall pet ownership rates, especially for the type of pet your products or services cater to. For example, 68% of U.S. households own a pet with 63.4 million households owning a dog and 42.7 million owning a cat. Other popular pets like freshwater fish, birds, and horses have ownership rates of 12.5%, 5.7%, and 2.6% of households, respectively. Make sure to focus your ads on the most popular pet types.
Pet owner demographics
Analyze pet ownership by age, gender, location, income level, and other demographic factors. For instance, millennials have the highest rate of pet ownership at 74% compared to baby boomers at 50%. Women are also more likely to own pets at 79% versus 71% for men. Understanding the demographics of your ideal pet owner will allow you to target ads accurately.
Pet spending and habits
Research the amount pet owners spend on pets annually, their purchasing habits, where they buy pet products, and what’s important to them when choosing pet items. This info helps craft messaging that aligns with your audience’s values and preferred shopping behaviors.
Pet-related interests
Look at interests and online behaviors of pet owners like following pet brands on social media, searching for pet care articles, or watching pet videos. Use these insights to select relevant interests to target your ads towards on Facebook.
Use Facebook’s Detailed Targeting Options
Facebook offers powerful ad targeting capabilities to reach very specific demographics and interests. Make sure to use these detailed options when targeting your pet owner audience:
Interests
Target users who are interested in pet-related topics like:
- Dogs
- Cats
- Pet care
- Dog breeding
- Veterinary medicine
- Pet training
You can even target by breed like golden retriever, Siamese cat or other specifics.
Behaviors
Select behaviors like pet medicine searches, visiting a pet store online or offline, or engaging with pet brands on Facebook. This reaches those actively looking for pet products.
Demographics
Target by location, age, gender, relationship status, education level, homeownership, and other demographic factors relevant to your audience. For example, target women 25-35 years old who are married and own a home.
Detailed Targeting
Use options like household size, home type, homeownership, home value, household income, and number of children to zero in on likely pet owners. For instance, target households with 2+ people and a home value over $200k.
Custom Audiences
Create custom audiences of your existing users or customers who have purchased pet products already. Retarget them with ads for repeat business.
Lookalike Audiences
Make lookalike audiences modeled after your custom audiences or website visitors. This finds new people with similar characteristics to current pet owner customers.
Create Pet-Themed Creatives
Your ad creative is just as important as your targeting. Follow these tips for highly relevant, eye-catching pet owner ads:
Use pet imagery
Include cute, high-quality photos or videos of dogs, cats, and other pets in your ads. This grabs attention while signaling relevance. Just ensure you have rights to use the visuals.
Focus on pet benefits
Emphasize benefits that matter to pet owners rather than just product features. Talk about safety, health, happiness, convenience, savings, etc. for their beloved animal.
Highlight quality
Assure pet owners they’re getting a high-quality, durable product from a reputable brand. They look for the best when buying for their pets.
Appeal to emotions
Craft an emotional appeal talking about the love between pets and owners. Use phrases like “Show them you care” or “Unconditional love.” Connecting with feelings drives actions.
Use relevant language
Incorporate words and phrases pet owners use like fur baby, dog mom/dad, spoiled rotten, pawrents, doggone, and more. This resonates with how they speak about pets.
Test and Optimize Your Pet Owner Ads
Like any marketing effort, you need to continually test and optimize your pet owner ads on Facebook. Here are some tips:
A/B test ad creative
Create multiple ad variations testing different images, captions, and calls to action. See what imagery and messaging performs best.
Test placement
Try running ads on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network to see ideal placement.
Iterate targeting
Adjust your targeting over time, removing underperforming options and adding new interests. Stay on top of trends in the pet market.
Analyze metrics
Look beyond impressions and clicks to find what drives conversions. Focus on lower-funnel events like purchases or lead forms.
Monitor costs
Calculate your CPA, ROAS and other cost metrics. Drop unprofitable targeting and improve cost-effective options.
Use retargeting
Retarget people who have engaged with your brand for repeat sales. Consider lookalike audiences too.
Conclusion
Targeting pet owners on Facebook can be highly effective if you follow proven strategies. Do thorough audience research, utilize precise ad targeting capabilities, create customized pet-themed ads, and continually test and optimize efforts. This results in engaging, relevant advertising driving more conversions from pet owner demographics. With 63 million dog owners and 43 million cat owners in the U.S. alone, the opportunity is massive for pet brands using Facebook ads.
| Targeting Option | Examples |
|---|---|
| Interests | Dog owner, Cat lover, Dog breeds, Veterinary medicine |
| Behaviors | Pet store visits, Pet medicine searches |
| Demographics | Women 25-35, College graduates |
| Detailed Targeting | Household size, Home type, Income |
| Custom Audiences | Previous pet product buyers |
| Lookalike Audiences | Similar to pet blog visitors |
| Ad Creative Tips | Examples |
|---|---|
| Pet imagery | Cute dog pictures |
| Pet benefits | Better health for your cat |
| Quality | Durable chew toys |
| Emotional appeal | Unconditional love |
| Relevant language | Fur babies, dog mom |
| Optimization Tips | Details |
|---|---|
| A/B test creatives | Test images, captions, CTAs |
| Test placement | Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network |
| Iterate targeting | Remove poor options, add new interests |
| Analyze metrics | Focus on conversions |
| Monitor costs | Improve ROAS |
| Retargeting | Previous engagers, lookalikes |