Device Level Targeting

Reach people on specific mobile device models

App developers have seen a lot of success with Facebook's Mobile App Ads, largely because of Facebook's precise targeting abilities for mobile app ads. In order to get high quality installs or engagement within an app, it is very important to reach the right people with the most relevant message. As a result, we are enhancing our mobile targeting for developers. Available in the next few days, you will be able to reach people using specific mobile devices, such as a Samsung Galaxy S5, iPhone 5s, or an HTC One. For example, you can deliver ads to people specifically using a Google Nexus 10 with a minimum OS version of 3.0, who are on Wi-Fi. Previously you could only target iOS or Android, minimum OS version and Wi-Fi only users.

Benefits of device targeting for your mobile app ads:

• Greater return on investment: You will be able to reach the most relevant users and optimize your bids by bidding separately per device.
• App Insights at the device level: You can identify which devices are working best for your app with App Insights and target those devices. For example, one travel company determined that a significant amount of their mobile revenue is coming from an iPhone 5s and can now target engagement ads at people with iPhone 5s specifically.
• Eliminate wasted spend: You can reach devices optimal for your app and filter out devices that are no longer compatible. This reduces development time as you only need to build to devices best suited for your app.

Use Custom Audiences and lookalikes to reach new people and engage existing users

In addition to using device level targeting, you can reach the most relevant people by creating Custom Audiences consisting of your mobile app users. For example, if you were a developer with multiple apps, you could cross-promote your portfolio of apps to the people you know that love your apps. In addition, you could also create a separate lookalike audience based on the attributes of your existing users to reach a larger set of people.

With Custom Audiences, you can also reach people who already use your app to increase engagement and conversions. For example, a travel app can reach its existing users with relevant flight deals in an ad with a call to action to “Book Now” for a flight.

Another benefit of Custom Audiences is the ability to easily reach your “most active” or “highest value users." For example, a top commerce app was able to identify the top 25% of people that contribute to 56% of their app's value. As a result the app was able to deliver specific ads to this audience, prompting them to make a purchase and drive revenue.

This combination of mobile device targeting, Custom Audiences and lookalikes gives you the power to acquire high quality users and increase engagement among your existing users.

Basic tips to using mobile device targeting for mobile app ads:

• Don't go too narrow with your audience: If there is no clear reason to have a different campaign for people on different devices, then bundle the groups. We recommend having an estimated audience size of at least 500,000 users for each ad.
• Customize your ad to resonate with your audience: For example, use images of an iPad when reaching people on an iPad or mention the mobile device or app store in your text.
• Optimize your bid for each campaign: Create different ads with optimized bids for each device or groups of devices as competition may vary by device. By doing so, you will be able to reach the most people at the most effective price.
• Layer on complimentary targeting features: Use Custom Audiences and lookalikes to reach a large and relevant set of people.

Get started by running mobile app ads today through our ads interfaces, Create Flow or Power Editor. Also visit our Ads API targeting documents for additional information on setting up your targeting specs. You can also learn more about running mobile app ads, bidding options, how to measure app ads and setting the right targeting.