WHO IS A TARGETOLOGIST AND HOW TO BECOME ONE?

The term “targeting” means goal or aim. A targetologist hits the target, meaning they reach the right audience by creating ad campaigns that meet the expectations of potential customers.

What will be discussed?

• What does a targetologist do?
• Targetologist’s responsibilities
• How to become a targetologist on your own?
• What tools do targetologists and SMM specialists use?
• Platforms for targeting
• How much does a targetologist earn?
• Grading targetologists by qualification level
• Conclusions

What does a targetologist do?

The essence of a targetologist’s work lies in keeping pace with the fast-evolving world of marketing, just as the conditions for promoting on social networks change. Therefore, a targetologist must continuously follow trends, learn, and apply new tools and methods. This specialist needs to be both a psychologist and a marketer, possessing analytical and strategic thinking skills, and be able to work with numbers and ad copy.

Targeting can successfully create demand for a new product or service. It’s where company promotion should start if the market hasn’t heard of it before because results can be achieved much faster than with SEO or content marketing. People often make unplanned purchases on social media. A good targetologist knows how to show ads at the right time and place, sparking the desire to immediately buy something they might have previously searched for on Google.

In recent years, the profession of a targetologist has become in demand. Business owners don’t have the time to delve into the specifics of setting up ads on social networks. Yet, this type of promotion is ideal for building a brand, increasing demand for promotional and seasonal goods, and stimulating impulse buys.

“The emergence of new online channels has increased the usefulness of targeted advertising as companies seek to minimize advertising waste through information technology” — “Targeted Advertising”, Wikipedia

The results of a targetologist’s work are noticeable almost immediately. With the correct launch of the advertising, the investment in the specialist’s salary and the advertising budget quickly pays off. Therefore, both small business owners and large corporation owners are interested in quality targeting advertising.

A targetologist filters out non-target users, thereby saving the advertising budget and promoting the brand among those who are genuinely interested.

“Facebook collects vast amounts of data about users. Such information as a user’s likes, browsing history, and geographical location is used for micro-targeting consumers with personalized products. Social media also create consumer profiles, and to find all interests and ‘likes’, you only need to look in one place — the user’s profile” — Wikipedia

For example, if a person is interested in marketing, education, looking for a new profession, they will see ads for web designer courses, analysts, marketers, etc., in their Instagram feed. The amount of text on images is limited, so there’s only space for a strong unique selling proposition (USP) or an effective call to action and a brief list of benefits.

After clicking on the “More Details” link, the user lands on a target page, which is often either a landing page or a social media profile. In some companies, the targetologist themselves may be responsible for creating such pages.

Targeting can be so detailed that during the segmentation of the target audience, i.e., sorting it by various characteristics, preferences like the favorite dress color (for an online clothing store) or desired salary (for employers) are considered.

During testing, it might turn out that the background color of an image or the pose of a model in a photo can increase the number of clicks on a link. Therefore, a targetologist needs to be attentive to details, patient, and persistent.

The Targetologist’s Responsibilities

Depending on the direction and scale of the company, the range of requirements for targetologists varies from one or two tasks to a whole set of services. Often, a specialist’s work includes editing advertising graphics and videos, setting up contextual advertising, and even arbitrage. Let’s look at the main duties of a targetologist.

• Analyzing the product, forming a unique selling proposition (USP) for advertising.
• Searching, sorting, and researching the target audience.
• Analyzing competitors’ creatives.
• Developing an effective lead generation strategy in social networks, including choosing placements.
• Creating ad creatives, including image design and writing texts.
• Planning the advertising budget and its further adjustment.
• Setting up campaigns in ad cabinets.
• Testing ads and increasing conversion.
• Launching and optimizing ads, their automation, and tracking conversions.
• Evaluating the relevance of creatives and the return on investment.
• Creating reports for management or clients.

A social media advertising specialist should have experience with Facebook and Instagram services, including Ad Manager, Business Manager, Audience Insights, Facebook Analytics, and Facebook Pixels.

Modern targetologists work with advertising on social networks, teaser advertising, contextual and banner advertising, mailings, push notifications, etc. Understanding the principles of chatbots, which automate communication with clients, may also be required.

In some companies, one specialist handles both SMM and targeting advertising. However, this is not entirely correct, as the specifics of the two professions differ. An SMM manager is responsible for promoting the brand on social networks, creating content plans, publishing posts, and interacting with subscribers.

In contrast, a targetologist performs tasks related specifically to paid advertising. They work with numbers and refine creatives to increase reach and clicks on links.

Writing texts and creating banners can also be part of a targetologist’s duties. Sometimes this improves campaign results, as someone who knows the characteristics of different potential customer categories can perfectly select the right offers and create visuals that interest various segments of the target audience.

One of the most important skills of a targetologist is the ability to manage the advertising budget correctly. A client is unlikely to return if their money was “wasted” on numerous tests or simply spent on the wrong audience. To plan a project’s budget, you need to calculate the average cost per lead and multiply that number by the desired number of leads.

For example, if a lead costs $5 and you need to obtain 100 leads, the budget will be $500.

“Besides setting up ad units, a strategist must be able to segment the target audience, create creatives, and analyze the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. During planning, they must understand which segment the advertisement will target, how much one user interaction with the banner will cost the company, and what budget will be needed to attract users to the site.” — «Jobs for Students: Pros and Cons of Being a Targeting Specialist», Anna Maria Richards

What do employers value in targetologist candidates?

• Experience managing paid media campaigns, working with Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics and Google Tag Manager.
• Proficiency in using Facebook Ads Manager.
• Understanding of the tools and mechanisms of LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter, and in some cases, also Quora and Reddit.
• Proficiency in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint or Keynote.
• An additional advantage is the ability to use image creation services and programs, such as Сanva.
• Google Ads certificate.
• Google Analytics certificate.
• A Facebook Blueprint certificate is a nice bonus.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to work in a multitasking mode.
• Adherence to strict deadlines.
• A significant plus is a bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, or communications.

The list of skills a targetologist needs may seem large, but in reality, the profession can be mastered in a few months. Of course, this requires the ability to quickly memorize new information and a keen interest in the field of social media. For a specialist who has worked in the marketing industry for a long time, it will be easier, as an understanding of the sales funnel, marketing terminology, and formulas is important.

How to become a targetologist on your own?

How long it takes to learn to be a targetologist depends on the course you choose. The ideal option is to go through several training programs by different authors and combine theory with practice.

“How To Run Facebook Ads” course by Foundr

The program includes 46 video lessons grouped into 6 modules. Students receive workbooks, additional bonuses (including spreadsheet calculators and proven scaling strategies in social networks), and 24/7 curator support. Besides the basics of creative development and ad cabinet settings, significant attention is paid to applying a step-by-step “Easy Advertising Formula” to create a viral effect for promoting a new product. Re-engaging customers through remarketing and launching ads for each stage of the sales funnel are also covered.

Free courses and Blueprint certification

Facebook Blueprint is a platform for online learning about advertising on Facebook and Instagram, including over 90 different courses. There are categories for beginners and intermediate users. It covers ad formats (story, collection, carousel), optimizing creatives for mobile devices, Multi-Touch attributions, split testing, and tracking results with Facebook Pixel.

Certified Facebook Marketing (Udemy)

Certified Facebook Marketing (Complete Masterclass) is a certified course on marketing and advertising on Facebook. The program is designed for entrepreneurs and those who want to promote their personal brand on social networks. Students receive a detailed plan for optimizing their Facebook page, culminating in a certificate.

The program consists of 9 sections (76 lectures) and includes 15 articles, 9 hours of video, and 47 various downloadable materials. Registered participants have unlimited access to all files.

Getting an education in the “targetologist” specialty at Ukrainian higher education institutions is not yet possible. The only correct solution is to independently acquire the skills of a specialist in paid social advertising through masterclasses, intensives, seminars, and courses. The requirements for targeted advertising are constantly increasing, the capabilities of social networks are being updated, and user preferences are changing. Therefore, one program is not enough. It’s important to regularly deepen your knowledge and follow the trends.

What tools do targetologists and SMM specialists use?

To become a targetologist from scratch, first get familiar with the main tools offered by Facebook.

• Business Manager: Here, you can manage various Facebook and Instagram accounts and bring page visitors back with retargeting. The automation of monitoring advertising campaign results is another advantage of the ad manager.
• Ad Reports: You can create and save report templates in Excel and schedule their regular dispatch.
• Audience Insights: A category in the “Analysis and Reports” section that allows you to better understand your target audience and show potential buyers only relevant ads. This tool enables user segmentation by demographic indicators, interests, age, online behavior, and more.
• Facebook’s Ad Library stores data on competitors’ advertising. This information can be used as a source of inspiration, adapting successful ideas for your business.
• Creative Hub: Here, you can test creatives for compliance with Facebook’s requirements, create layouts, and import them into the ad cabinet.

Understanding the principle of operation of basic Facebook and Instagram tools helps beginner targetologists save advertising budgets and promote products correctly. For example, ad library reports show the total amount of expenses and the calculations of specific advertisers’ invested funds.

Platforms for Targeting

Most agencies and freelancers offer targetologist services on Facebook and Instagram. These interconnected social networks truly rank among the favorites among modern users. The audience on these platforms is mostly active and has spending power.

After clicking on a link, the user lands on a target page where they can learn more about the product or service and place an order.

However, it’s important not to overlook other placements that, depending on the business direction, can yield better results.

What platforms are most popular for targeting?

• Facebook. This can include commerce ads or dynamic remarketing, photos, videos, galleries, and descriptions, ads for direct inquiries, subscriber ads, boosted posts, ads with a link to Direct messages, and video format ads.
• Instagram. Commerce ads and dynamic remarketing, Instagram Leads and Instagram Stories, slide shows and carousels, videos, and photos.
• Pinterest. Ads can be targeted to website page visitors, audience members with specific interests, by location, and more.
• LinkedIn. Sponsored Content (native ads in the news feed), Sponsored InMail (sending messages through LinkedIn Messenger), Text Ads (text ads with pay per click or impressions), Lead Gen Forms (calls to fill out a form in the news feed), or a combination of several advertising methods.
• YouTube. 15-second In-Stream ads that can be skipped or not, video recommendations in search results, video plays at the beginning, middle, or end of another video, Out-Stream ads for mobile devices, masthead native ads, TrueView ads based on product data from your account.
• Twitter. Automatically promoted tweets, tweets in the “Who to follow” block, trends in the “What’s happening” block, promoted videos or GIFs.
• Quora. An online community for questions and detailed professional answers. The platform shows ads where it identifies user questions on relevant topics. Targeting here can also be thematic, based on interests, and geodata.
• Reddit. The most visited website in the world. Advertising on this site includes targeting based on interests, devices, time, and subreddits (thematic forums).

Ads can be shown to Google users alongside content they are searching for. Ads can also be set up on thematic sites, so creatives will be seen by visitors of web resources related to the advertised product. This type of promotion is called contextual advertising. The essence of the settings also involves targeting, but the displays and clicks are significantly more expensive and have a number of features. Typically, Google advertising is managed by Ads specialists.

How much does a targetologist earn?

The salary of a targetologist primarily depends on two factors:

• The experience and qualifications of the specialist.
• The services the targetologist provides within a specific company.

According to salary.com the average Targeting Analyst salary is $74,252 as of May 28, 2024, but the salary range typically falls between $66,087 and $85,944.

According to glassdoor.com the average Targeting Specialist salary is $85K – $155K/yr.

Qualification Levels of Targetologists

There’s a certain classification of targetologists based on their qualification level.

1. Junior — A beginner who already has a few cases, can independently set up and adjust the display of creatives, but whose experience is not sufficient for a full analysis of the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
2. Middle — A specialist with a portfolio who, in addition to technical tasks, can independently perform marketing tasks, including developing and implementing campaign strategies for different business sectors.
3. Senior — An experienced targetologist who possesses many tools for paid advertising on social networks and can effectively set up creatives on various platforms.

The goal of a “senior” is to ensure maximum profit for the business from advertising while minimizing its costs. Beginners in targeting without work experience and cases often work under the guidance of a mentor. The earnings of such a specialist have no limits, as they can manage many large-scale projects, enlisting the help of assistants who will perform routine technical tasks.

Many targetologists work freelance. They themselves determine their earnings. However, for a decent income, it’s necessary to continually learn and independently seek clients. As for the rate per project, there are no restrictions — it can be as low as $300 per month per project or $2000–3000. The advertising budget is not included in this sum and is agreed upon individually with the client.

Conclusions

• The profession of a targetologist is a popular modern job focused on creating and launching advertisements on social networks and other online platforms. Online educational institutions do not offer the corresponding education, but it’s possible to become a targeting specialist independently by completing various courses, learning to manage media campaigns, and working with Facebook Ads Manager and other essential tools for targetologists. Understanding the mechanisms of Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, Quora, and Reddit is crucial for high-quality work.
• The profession is in demand in the market regardless of external circumstances, as businesses always need effective advertising. The work of a targetologist has many advantages, including a combination of creative tasks and analytics, the possibility to work from home, and development prospects.
• Of course, it’s not all simple, as a good targetologist needs to be both a psychologist and a marketer. It’s important to understand all business processes, sales funnels, and the specifics of niche business areas.
• The technical capabilities of advertising on social networks are the same for everyone. However, only through continuous testing can one reach different segments of the target audience, identify the best placements, and calculate the optimal advertising budget. Targeting allows filtering out users not interested in a specific product or service, thus increasing the conversion rate of advertising campaigns.
• A targetologist can earn from $66,087 to $155,000 per year. To achieve maximum compensation for their work, one should aim to reach the Senior level and not be afraid to experiment with platforms, tools, and creatives themselves.