OK, now we’re getting down to the real meat of things. Targeting the correct audience is the only way to get YOUR offer into the RIGHT hands.

There are three different ways in which you can target users with birthdays on Facebook:

Demographics > Life Events > Birthday > Upcoming Birthday

Demographics > Life Events > Birthday > Birthday Month

Demographics > Life Events > Close friends of

All three options can be used in different ways to get in front of the right audiences at the right time.

So when should you use each option? 

1. Target Users with Upcoming Birthdays

2. Target Users with Birthdays in Specific Months of the Year

3. Target Close Friends of People with an Upcoming Birthday

I would recommend having an “always on” ad campaign using Option 1 (Upcoming Birthdays) that runs all the time.

Put a few different ad creatives in the Ad set to see which one works best over time.

Option 2 (Birthdays in [month]) works best when you are doing a specific campaign – for example a seasonal promotion.

And option 3 works great in e-commerce, especially gift based markets. It also works great for experience based businesses, beauty treatments, attractions, etc… anything that’s more often bought as a gift.

And don’t forget to also dial in your other targeting.

See targeting examples in examples below.