This lesson is short on purpose. Andromeda changed everything about targeting. The old way is dead. What replaced it is simpler — but you have to understand WHY, or you'll waste time on stuff that doesn't matter anymore.
Stop spending hours building complex audiences. Under Andromeda, the algorithm finds your buyers through your creatives, not your targeting settings. For local businesses: set the radius, go broad, let the creative do the work.
🖥️SHOW ON SCREEN: Open Ads Manager → Ad Set → Audience section. Show the interest targeting dropdown. Then explain why most of it doesn't matter anymore.
Before December 2024, media buyers spent hours on targeting. Interest stacking, lookalike audiences, custom combinations, exclusions — it was an art form. Then Meta launched Andromeda and made 90% of it irrelevant.
❌ OLD WAY (Pre-Andromeda)
5+ interest groups per ad set
Lookalike audiences 1%, 3%, 5%
Behavior + interest stacking
Exclude existing customers
Separate ad sets per audience
Hours of audience research
2-3 hours per client
And it barely mattered
VS
✅ NEW WAY (Andromeda)
Broad targeting (no interests)
Location radius only (for local biz)
Age range (if relevant — 25-65 is fine)
That's it. Seriously.
The algorithm finds buyers
Through your creative diversity
5 minutes per client
And it performs better
🧠 2. Why Broad Targeting Wins
This is the hardest thing for new media buyers to accept. It feels wrong to NOT target. But here's the math:
10,000x
More ad candidates Andromeda evaluates per auction
3.1B
Daily active users Meta can search through for your buyer
+22%
ROAS improvement with Advantage+ broad targeting
The Logic
When you add interest targeting, you're telling Meta: "Only show my ads to people who like [pizza]." But Meta already knows who likes pizza — and it knows a LOT more than the interest categories you can select.
By going broad, you're saying: "Here are 20 different ads with 20 different angles. Show them to whoever responds." The algorithm learns from every impression which PEOPLE respond to which CREATIVES — and it optimizes in real time.
Your creatives ARE the targeting. A pizza ad showing a family dinner targets families. The same pizza ad about late-night munchies targets college students. The algorithm figures this out automatically — faster and better than you ever could manually.
📍 3. The Only Targeting That Matters: Location
For local businesses, there's ONE targeting setting you actually need: location radius. A pizza shop in Miami doesn't need to reach people in New York. Everything else? Leave it broad.
🖥️SHOW ON SCREEN: In Ads Manager → Ad Set → Audience → Locations. Type the business address. Set the radius. Show the map with the circle. That's it — that's the whole targeting setup.
🎯 The Setup (Takes 2 Minutes)
1
Location → Drop pin or type address
Use the business address. Select "People living in or recently in this location."
2
Set radius
Use the guide below. Depends on the type of business.
3
Age range (optional)
Only if it makes sense. A bar = 21+. A retirement home = 55+. A pizza shop? Leave it 18-65+.
✓
Done. No interests. No behaviors. No lookalikes.
Let your 15-25 diverse creatives do the targeting for you.
📏 Radius Guide by Business Type
Business Type
Radius
Why
🍕 Restaurant / Café
5-10 miles
People won't drive 30 min for pizza
🦷 Dentist / Doctor
10-15 miles
Will travel further for healthcare
💪 Gym / Studio
5-8 miles
Must be on their commute or nearby
🏠 Real Estate
15-25 miles
People search across metro areas
🧹 Home Services
10-20 miles
Service area depends on drive time
🛒 E-commerce / Online
Entire country
No physical location = no radius needed
📋 Coaching / Services
Entire country
Virtual delivery = go nationwide
🔄 4. The One Exception: Retargeting
There's one place where custom audiences still matter: retargeting people who already know the business. These are warm audiences — they visited the website, watched a video, or are on the customer list. They're cheaper to convert because they already have context.
🟢 Worth Setting Up
Website visitors (last 30-90 days)
Video viewers (watched 50%+)
Customer email list (upload to Meta)
Instagram/FB engagers (last 30 days)
Lead form openers (didn't submit)
🔴 Don't Bother
Interest-based audiences
Lookalike audiences
Behavior stacking
Detailed targeting expansion
Saved audiences from 2023
For most local biz clients on Day 1: They won't have website traffic or an email list yet. That's fine — start with broad + location only. Build the retargeting audiences over time as traffic comes in. Week 1 = cold. Week 4+ = retargeting layer on top.
🔍 5. Research the Audience, Don't Target Them
Here's where Nexus still matters. You don't use AI to build targeting settings — you use it to understand the audience so your creatives speak to them. The research feeds your copy and creatives, not your Ads Manager settings.
🖥️SHOW ON SCREEN: Paste this prompt into Claude with "Tony's Pizza" as the example. Show the output. Point out how this feeds your AD COPY (lesson 3.8), not your targeting settings.
Nexus Audience Research Prompt
I'm running Facebook/Instagram ads for a local business. I need to deeply understand their target audience — NOT for targeting settings (I'm using broad targeting), but to write better ad copy and create better visuals.
BUSINESS: [Business name]
WHAT THEY SELL: [Product/service]
LOCATION: [City, state]
PRICE RANGE: [Average ticket]
Give me:
1. The top 10 REASONS someone would buy this (not features — emotional motivations)
2. The top 5 OBJECTIONS they'd have before buying
3. The top 5 MOMENTS when they'd think about this product (triggers)
4. What language/slang does this audience actually use?
5. Who are they comparing this business to? (competitors + alternatives)
6. What does their day look like? (daily routine relevant to the product)
Be specific. Use real examples. No generic marketing talk.
This research → your ad angles. Each "reason to buy" = an ad angle for Aurelius. Each "objection" = a BAB or PAS ad. Each "trigger moment" = a hook. You're not targeting pizza lovers — you're writing an ad that speaks to someone staring at an empty fridge at 7pm.
