Can You Target Professions On Facebook Ads? A 2024 Update

Can You Target Professions On Facebookis a question that many newbie advertisers still ask till today. With numerous Facebook ad targeting options, it’s understandable that people may get confused and overloaded. If you are one of them, this post is for you. Here’s the latest and detailed answer to Facebook’s professional targeting feature in 2024.

Can You Target Professions On Facebook Ads? A 2024 Update
Can You Target Professions On Facebook Ads? A 2024 Update

Can You Target Professions On Facebook Ads in 2024?

Yes, you can still target professions on Facebook ads. Here’s how.

Advantage + audience > Detailed targeting
Advantage + audience > Detailed targeting > Browse
Demographics > Work
Demographics > Work
Work Targeting segment
Work Targeting segment

Here’s the full breakdown of the Work Targeting segment in Facebook ads in 2024.

  • Employers
  • Industries
Industry Targeting Option Audience Size
1 Large business-to-business enterprise employees (500+ employees) 94,708,774 – 111,377,519
2 Administrative Services 14,012,526 – 16,478,731
3 Architecture and Engineering 4,954,965 – 5,827,040
4 Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Media 7,525,083 – 8,849,498
5 Business Decision Makers 36,329 – 42,723
6 Business and Finance 5,998,572 – 7,054,321
7 Business decision maker titles and interests (Size:36,282 – 42,668
8 Cleaning and Maintenance Services 2,066,671 – 2,430,406
9 Community and Social Services 6,339,883 – 7,455,703
10 Companies founded before 2000 880,193 – 1,035,108
11 Companies founded between 2000 and 2009 592,745 – 697,069
12 Companies founded between 2010 and now 848,739 – 998,118
13 Company revenue: $1M to $10M 579,238 – 681,185
14 Company revenue: less than $1M 284,450 – 334,514
15 Company revenue: more than $10M 637,623 – 749,845
16 Company size: 1-10 employees 546,483 – 642,665
17 Company size: 101-500 employees 487,883 – 573,751
18 Company size: 11-100 employees 887,212 – 1,043,362
19 Company size: more than 500 employees 575,746 – 677,078
20 Computation and Mathematics 5,130,269 – 6,033,197
21 Construction and Extraction 3,150,863 – 3,705,415
22 Education and Libraries 8,430,618 – 9,914,407
23 Farming, Fishing and Forestry 3,072,681 – 3,613,473
24 Food and Restaurants 3,266,129 – 3,840,968
25 Government Employees (Global) 649,633 – 763,969
26 Healthcare and Medical Services 7,846,043 – 9,226,947
27 IT Decision Makers 10,089 – 11,865
28 IT and Technical Services 5,133,232 – 6,036,682
29 Installation and Repair Services 5,043,256 – 5,930,870
30 Legal Services 736,625 – 866,271
31 Life, Physical and Social Sciences 3,861,039 – 4,540,582
32 Management 13,247,199 – 15,578,707
33 Medium business-to-business enterprise employees (200 – 500 employees) 36,425,191 – 42,836,025
34 Military (Global) 764,545 – 899,105
35 Production 8,623,579 – 10,141,329
36 Protective Services 2,143,676 – 2,520,963
37 Sales 10,819,147 – 12,723,318
38 Small business-to-business enterprise employees (10-200 employees) 93,179,461 – 109,579,047
39 Transportation and Moving 4,738,830 – 5,572,865
40 Veterans (US) 1,131,829 – 1,331,031
  • Job titles

How To Target Professions On Facebook Ad?

To be specific, there are 3 main approaches in targeting working professionals. 

Targeting Employers

Demographics > Work > Employers

Here, you can search the name of a specific company to reach people who work there. Facebook will offer some choices related to your input.

Search employers
Search employers

For example, when you search ‘CNN’ as an employer, Facebook will show 2 suggestions: CNN (size: 54,963 – 64,637) and CNN International (Size: 12,157 – 14,297).

Search employers result
Result when you search employers

Targeting Industries

Demographics > Work > Industries

In this sub-category, you can tick the boxes to target people based on the industry they are working in or the company size.

Industries sub-category
Industries sub-category

You can target specific industries relevant to your business. For example, if you are advertising a point of sale system, you may target industries like ‘Food and Restaurants’ and ‘Sales’.

Target ‘Food and Restaurants’ and ‘Sales’
Target ‘Food and Restaurants’ and ‘Sales’

Also, you can target your ads based on the size of the company. For instance, if your POS system fits small and medium-sized businesses, you shouldn’t waste money running ads to large companies. 

Targeting Job titles

Demographics > Work > Job Titles

For Job title targeting, you can insert a job title to target people based on the job title they listed in their Facebook profile. Similar to Employer targeting, Facebook will show related options.

Search job titles
Search job titles

Take an example, when you type ‘designer’, you will see various choices such as ‘Designer’, ‘Architectural designer’, ‘Costume designer’, ‘Garden designer’, ‘Lighting designer’, ect.

Result when you search job title 'designer'
Result when you search job title ‘designer’

You may also want to read: Facebook Ad Targeting Methods: Core Techniques For You To Learn

Targeting Professions On Facebook Ads: Important Notes To Keep In Mind

While targeting professions seems to be a wonderful tool for your ad campaigns, there are some important notes you should keep in mind.

Professional information on Facebook is not always accurate

Professional information on Facebook is self-reported by users. Therefore, it’s not always accurate or updated, because not all users will share their personal information or update it frequently. 

Not everyone in a company is a potential customer

Even when you target the right companies, remember that there are different positions in a company, and not all of them will need your product. 

For example, you are advertising a video editing software, and your ideal customers are video editors working at news and media companies. With Employer targeting, you can reach people at some media companies like BBC, CNN, CBS, etc. 

However, an accountant at BBC is less likely to need your product. So you may combine it with job titles to refine your audience, like in the photo below.

Combine Employer targeting and Job title targeting
Combine Employer targeting and Job title targeting

You may need to go more specific with Job title targeting

You can use more specific job titles to narrow down your audience more effectively. 

For example, instead of searching for a general job title like ‘Designer’, you may search for ‘Graphic Designer’.

Go more specific with Job title targeting
Go more specific with Job title targeting

But don’t go too specific

If your selected audience is too specific, you will get a warning from Facebook saying that your ad campaign may get no conversion.

Don't target too specific audience
Don’t target too specific audience

In this case, you may need to expand your audience by removing some selected detailed targeting options. 

So, how much should you expand? Well, it depends on many factors, but you can refer to some general guidelines as below:

  • Brand awareness campaigns: minimum 500,000 to 1 million people.
  • Traffic and engagement campaigns: 100,000 – 500,000 people.
  • Conversion campaigns: 10,000 – 50,000 people is okay.

Bonus Tips For Professional Targeting On Facebook Ads

Not only Work Demographics can help you target professions. You can use Facebook Behavioral Targeting or Field of Study Targeting to reach professional audiences.

For example, you can find people who manage shops on Facebook or Instagram under Detailed targeting > Behaviors targeting > Digital Activities > Shop admins.

Behavioral Targeting
Behavioral Targeting

Or go to Detailed targeting > Demographics > Education > Fields of Study to target people based on their field of study, which may indicate their scope of work.

For example, to target graphic designers, you can search for people who listed their field of study as Graphic design in their profile.

Field of Study targeting
Field of Study targeting

Conclusion

Now, you’ve known the answer to ‘Can you target professions on Facebook?’ as well as how to target likely customers based on professions effectively. By combining multiple ad targeting methods, businesses can reach their desired professional audience and make the most of their ad campaigns.

It’s crucial to stay updated on Facebook’s evolving advertising policies. Follow SpeedX Agency for the latest information about Facebook ads.

Author

  • Phung Thai Hoc

    Phung Thai Hoc is a digital marketing expert (content marketing; social marketing; ppc;...) with more than 10 years of experience and founder of SpeedX Agency. He has successfully implemented hundreds of projects, each project bringing in 2 to 3 times more revenue than normal. In addition, he is also trying to share his knowledge with everyone to optimize marketing campaigns

RELATED NEWS

10+ Best Sample Facebook Lead Ads To Get Inspired In 2024

Facebook lead ads are like a squeeze page built in Facebook and are a popular choice of marketers, including your...

How Do I Accept Facebook Lead Generation Terms Of Service [2024]

Why can’t I run lead ads on Facebook? How Do I Accept Facebook Lead Generation Terms Of Service for my pages?...

4 Quick Steps To Fix A Facebook Page Restricted From Advertising

Are you no longer able to create and run ads to reach your potential customers from your business page, and...

7 Expert Steps To Fix Facebook Ad Account Restricted Issue In 2024

Waking up to a Facebook ad account restricted warning can feel like a punch to the gut. But don’t despair!...

Your Advertising Access Is Restricted Facebook How To Fix [2024’s Guide]

‘Your advertising access is restricted Facebook how to fix?’ If this is the thing you are wondering about, this article...