But, taking it a step further by layering an affinity audience can yield even better results.But what exactly does layering an affinity audience mean?

In this article, we'll go into the details of this advanced targeting technique. We'll explore the benefits it can bring to your advertising efforts and provide practical tips on using it to your advantage.

Understanding Affinity Audiences

Understanding affinity audiences is a fundamental aspect of successful audience targeting in advertising. Affinity audiences talk about groups of people who share common interests or behaviors that advertisers can target with their campaigns. This type of targeting enables advertisers to reach a more relevant audience, increasing the chances of getting clicks and conversions.



Here's an example to help your understanding; Let's say you're a company that sells athletic shoes. Your plan to create an advertising campaign to promote your new line of running shoes. You could target everyone interested in shoes or sports, but that would be too broad and may result in few clicks or conversions.

Instead, you can use affinity audiences to narrow down your targeting. For instance, you could target an affinity audience interested in running, fitness, or sports-related activities. These people are more likely to be interested in your product and, therefore, more likely to click on your ads and convert. That sinks, right?

Advertisers can use various types of affinity audiences in their campaigns for various purposes, and each type offers different benefits. Below are the types of affinity audiences you can use;

1. In-market audiences

In-market audiences are a type of affinity audience composed of people searching for a particular product or service. These audiences are valuable for advertisers who want to reach people already in the market for their products. This is because they are more likely to buy.

The benefit of targeting in-market audiences is that it allows you to reach people who are already interested in your products.This can increase the chances of your ads being seen by people more likely to buy, improving your return on investment (ROI).

Moreover, in-market audiences are very targeted so that you can be more specific with your ad messaging. For instance, if you sell home gym equipment. You can target an in-market audience of people who have recently searched for terms like "home gym equipment," "treadmills," or "dumbbells." These audiences are more likely to be interested in purchasing gym equipment and, so, more likely to engage with your ads.

2. Custom affinity audiences

Custom affinity audiences are another type of affinity audience. Unlike in-market audiences that comprise people searching for a particular product, custom affinity audiences are created based on interests and behaviors relevant to the advertiser's brand or product.

For instance, you run a travel company specializing in adventure tours. By creating a custom affinity audience, you can target people who have an interest in adventure travel. This can include people who have visited adventure travel websites, subscribed to adventure travel magazines, or engaged with adventure travel content on social media.

The good thing about targeting custom affinity audiences is that it allows you to reach people who are interested in your offerings, even if they are not searching for them. This can increase the chances of seeing your ads by people more likely to convert into customers.

3. Life event audiences

Life event audiences are unique affinity audiences that you can use to target people going through significant life events. These events include getting married, having a baby, moving to a new city, and more.

A good example is a wedding planner creating a life event audience to target recently engaged people. Doing this will help the planner reach people who are planning their weddings and are in the market for wedding-related services.

A Realtor company can create a life event audience to target people recently moving toa new city. This can be effective in reaching people who may be looking for a new home or apartment.This type of audience is based on the fact that people often have new needs when they go through significant life events. Hence, advertisers can take advantage of this.



Layering Affinity Audiences

Layering affinity audiences is an advanced targeting technique combining many affinity audiences.

This is useful in creating a more precise target group. This technique is particularly useful when an advertiser wants to reach a specific audience that may be difficult to target using only one affinity audience.Let's consider, for instance, an advertiser who sells luxury watches. If the advertiser targets only "watch enthusiasts," they may still reach people who are not interested in luxury watches. Or reach an audience that may not have the budget to buy one, although they're interested.

But, if the advertiser layers the "watch enthusiasts" affinity audience with an affinity audience of "high-income individuals," they can reach a more specific target group of people likely to buy a luxury watch.

For instance, an advertiser who sells luxury watches can layer an affinity audience of"watch enthusiasts" with an affinity audience of "high-income individuals" to reach amore specific target group. This technique is useful as it helps advertisers reduce irrelevant clicks and impressions, resulting in more efficient advertising spending.



Creating Video Ads with Layered Affinity Audiences



Creating video ads with layered affinity audiences involves following specific steps to ensure a successful campaign. These include;

1. To create video ads with layered affinity, the first step is to define the target audience.

You can do this by creating an affinity audience list.

2. Identify the interests and behaviors of the target group to create a precise affinity

audience list.

3. Create a video ad that is informative, engaging, and relevant to the target group's interests.

4. Ensure that the video ad appeals to the emotions and needs of the target group.

5. Set up the campaign by selecting the right platform, setting the budget, and targeting the right audience.

6. Choose the platform that aligns with the target group's interests and behaviors.

7. Set the budget based on the expected reach and cost per click or impression.

8. Target the right audience by selecting the layered affinity audiences that fit.

Targeting with Affinity Audiences on Different Platforms

Affinity audience targeting is available on different platforms. It is available on GoogleAds, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.



1. Layering affinity audience on Google Ads

When advertising on Google Ads, layering affinity audiences can be a good tool to help businesses reach their target audience more. Here are the steps to layer affinity audiences on Google Ads;

Identify the primary audience: The first step is to identify the primary audience for your campaign. This could be based on demographics, interests, or behaviors.



Create a custom affinity audience

Once you have identified your primary audience, create a custom affinity audience based on their interests and behaviors. This audience will serve as the foundation for your layered audience.



Layer the affinity audiences

Next, layer other affinity audiences on top of your primary audience. These could include in-market audiences as well as life event audiences. Other custom affinity audiences relevant to your campaign could be layered as you deem fit.



Set bid adjustments

After layering the affinity audiences, set bid adjustments to make sure your ads are shown to the most relevant audiences. This will help increase the likelihood of click sand conversions.



Monitor and optimize

Finally, regularly track and optimize your campaign to ensure it perform swell. This could include adjusting bid adjustments, testing the different ad creatives, or even re-layering your target audiences.



2. Laying affinity audience on Facebook and Insta

 Facebook, as well as Instagram, offer similar targeting options, including custom and lookalike audiences.



Create a Facebook Business Manager account

If you don't have one already, create a Facebook Business Manager account. Takes only less than 5 minutes. This will allow you to manage your Facebook and all your Instagram ads in one place.



Define your target audience

Before you can layer affinity audiences, you must define your target audience. Consider their interests, behaviors, demographics, and any other relevant factors.



Browse available targeting options

Look at the available targeting options in the Facebook Ads Manager to determine the best ones for your campaign.



Understand the logic of OR and AND

When layering affinity audiences on Facebook or Instagram, it's important to understand the logic of OR and AND, as these operators play a crucial role in determining who sees your ads.

Use OR when your goal is to target people who belong to one or more affinity audiences. For instance, if your goal is to reach people who are either "sports enthusiasts" OR "travel enthusiasts," Facebook will display your ad to people who belong to either of these audiences. OR is useful to broaden your audience and reach more people.

Use AND when you desire to target people who belong to many affinity audiences. For instance, if you wish to target "sports enthusiasts" AND "high-income earners,"Facebook will only show your ad to people who belong to both of these audiences. ANDis useful when you plan to narrow your audience and reach a more specific group.

Use Lookalike Audiences

Lookalike Audiences on Facebook or Instagram are powerful tools for finding new potential customers with similar interests and behaviors.

To create a Lookalike Audience, the first thing to do is to create a root audience. This is created based on a current customer file you upload or retargeting your website list.

This source audience comprises individuals who have already engaged with your branding some way. This may include making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or visiting your website.

To create a Lookalike Audience, you must first create a root audience from your already existing customer base. Facebook will run an analysis on your source audience's behavior, develop a persona, and then match and select users that behave similarly on the platforms.

Once you have your source audience, Facebook will run an analysis of their behavior and demographics and create a persona for them. Facebook will then identify other platform users with similar characteristics and behaviors to your source audience, creating a Lookalike Audience. The Lookalike Audience will be based on a certain percentage of your target country's population.

For instance, if your target audience are residents of the United States, the smallest group of Lookalike Audience that can be created is an audience of about 2.1 million users. In addition to this, you can layer on extra targeting.

Layer on additional targeting

You can layer on extra targeting, such as demographics and geotargeting, to ensure your ad is the most effective.It's also important to note that the steps for layering affinity audiences on Instagram are almost identical to those on Facebook. It's easy to know why-both platforms useFacebook Business Manager.



3. Layering affinity audience on LinkedIn

To maximize your advertising efforts on LinkedIn, it's important to understand how to layer affinity audiences to target the right users. Here are three helpful steps to get you started:

Determine Your Target Audience Size

LinkedIn utilizes a cap to prevent users from being overwhelmed with ads. So, if you wish to see results with your ads, you must focus on your target audience size.

Targeting to bring your ad before many LinkedIn users is usually best as it ensures you’re reaching the optimum number of professionals. But, choose a smaller audience size for more targeted campaigns to hone in on your ideal customers.

Keep CPCs Low

One of the biggest drawbacks of LinkedIn advertising is the too high cost per click(CPC). While video ads only charge you when a user clicks, you inevitably need a planto keep CPC low. One strategy is first to keep your audience sizes large and then bid the lowest price possible.

Opt for manual bidding in your campaign and set it to the minimum amount allowed byLinkedIn, taking into consideration your desired targeting options. Doing so can increase the chances of obtaining lower CPCs for ad campaign and reach a broader audience.



Layer Your Affinity Audience

You can layer in affinity audiences to create a more targeted audience for your video ads. Start by targeting relevant Groups on LinkedIn that align with your content or product.

Join these groups and determine which members will most likely be interested in your ad. Based on this information, Layer an affinity audience based on jobs that align with your ideal target audience.

For instance, suppose you're promoting a B2B product targeting marketing decision-makers. In that case, you could join marketing groups on LinkedIn and analyze the group members' engagement levels and job titles. Members with job titles such asMarketing Director, Chief Marketing Officer, or Vice President of Marketing are most engaged and likely interested in your product.

Once you've identified these members, you can target them by layering them in job seniority criteria. For instance, you may only want to target those with job roles as MD,Director, and above.

In summary

Layering an affinity audience is a powerful technique to help you reach your ideal target audience on LinkedIn. You can refine your targeting by leveraging the data and insights available on the platform. This ensures your ads are shown to the right people at the right time and context.

Advertisers can reduce irrelevant clicks and impressions by layering many affinity audiences. This results in more efficient advertising spending.

Whether you're looking to build brand awareness or generate leads and sales, layering an affinity audience can help you.

If you wish to learn more about layering affinity audience targeting to optimize your ad campaigns, we encourage you to explore the platform's resources and experiment with different strategies. You can better understand your audience and improve ROI by testing and refining your approach.

If you are still wondering on how to grow an audience, reach us out.