Broad vs detailed targeting on Facebook in 2025: where each still wins
The setup: E-com dropship offer, $250/day. The eternal debate: trust the algo with broad, or hand-pick interests?
The move: Two ad sets, identical creative and budget. One fully broad (age/GEO only), one with a 3-interest stack we'd researched.
The numbers (illustrative): Week 1: detailed won, +18% vs broad's -4% — the interest stack gave the algo a head start while the pixel was cold. Week 2-3: broad caught up and passed it, +26% vs detailed's +14%, as the pixel matured and broad found pockets we'd never have targeted manually.
The lesson: Detailed targeting is training wheels for a cold pixel. Broad is the endgame once you have conversion data. The mistake is picking a side religiously — they win at different points in the campaign's life.
What I'd do differently: I used to be a broad-only purist and lit money on fire during cold starts. Now I open with detailed to feed the pixel, then test broad around day 7 once there's signal. Switch tactics as the data matures instead of marrying one.
Arb Files
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