So you want know the Best Countries to target Facebook Ads! Facebook Ads are messages placed by businesses to inform about their products and services in the media. A few question often arise as follows: Among these questions, today I choose to discuss the best countries to target while launching Facebook ads campaigns. Because campaigns are a responsibility, you must be precise when launching a marketing campaign with a product or service that can sell globally. In that case, you need to be more accurate, so you don’t lose your money.
The best countries targeted through Facebook ads are the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Apart from that, India is a fast growing economy where increased digital excellence is being seen each day. If you sell courses or virtual services in these countries, it will surely bring you profits.
All of this is alright, but not everybody has a budget like big brands for which strategic marketing of products are necessary. It helps in maximizing our investment by the top 4 global counties but it may cost you very much. So strategic ad placement is essential.
Table of Contents
Can you target Facebook ads by country?
As of 2024, you can currently target users using Facebook advertising based on their nation, state and locality. Facebook analyzes various signals to pinpoint (or, more accurately, estimate) a user’s location. The platform may use an user’s IP address, smartphone information, profile data (such as the city indicated in their profile) and occasionally a mix of these. They can also take advantage of information about their Facebook users’ friends. This targeting option is helpful if your business is local and you want to focus on users in a particular city, like Yonkers, instead of distributing your material throughout the entire state of New York.
Facebook has extensive targeting options, such as the “Worldwide” targeting choice. Additionally, you can focus on a Free Trade Area or a wide geographic area like Asia. There is a list of choices here. There are restrictions on what Facebook will include if you use bigger target groups.
Which countries use Facebook the most?
In the latest research, marketers found that India (340 million daily users) leads in using Facebook followed by USA (200 million active users), Brazil (130 million active users), Indonesia (130 million active users) and Mexico (98 million active users). Here I will share an image where you can see the number of active users from each country.
Source: backlinko
Best Countries to target Facebook Ads:
In the table, you will see the best countries you can target—their number of active users and average CPM.
| Country | Active User | Average CPM |
| Unita States of America | 200 Million | $14.40 |
| United Kingdom | 42 Million | $3.15 |
| Canada | 19 Million | $5.57 |
| Australia | 11.56 Million | $9.6 |
| India | 340 Million | $0.12 |
| New Zealand | 3.05 Million | $9.17 |
Which Countries Should you target with Facebook ads?
Most marketers make the mistake of selecting the same four top-tier countries (USA, Canada, UK & Australia). They think that these countries will generate most of the revenue, but that is not the case now. Even every online “GURU” will tell or teach that but we should think logically. These may have been the best in the past, but the digital world is developing fast. As of 2022, India is growing and developing very fast economically. So don’t think that only those four will generate revenue.
India has the lowest cost in reach and has one of the best online payment options in the world. So marketing there will also generate sales and revenue. I am saying this with experience. I have run ads for many brands in India and also generated sales. Not only sales, but I have also collected thousands of quality leads that were converted into revenue. So before choosing countries, research the potential market and then move on with your campaign as nobody wants to lose when it comes to their business.
Can you target all countries on Facebook?
On Facebook, you can now target and run ads worldwide. So if you have a product that can sell worldwide, then Facebook will make it easy for you. But it would be best if you were smart while running ads worldwide because worldwide ads cost more than a specific location. Moreover, Facebook will take much time to optimize your ads, which means your ads will be in the “Learning phase” for a longer time.
Most marketers choose 2-3 countries to run ads as it will help them optimize faster and generate results sooner. Also, it will allow marketers to analyze the ads quickly and scale them faster.
In my opinion, you should not run ads on worldwide settings as it will be hard to determine which countries are performing and which are not. You don’t want to spend your money on countries that are not bringing any sales. A smart strategy would be selecting 2-4 countries and creating different ad sets targeting those countries. Later determine which countries are performing best and then scale on that and pause the ads in the countries which are not performing.
How many countries can you target on Facebook?
If you think you can target as many counties as you want on Facebook. Then you have a wrong idea about how Facebook works. As Facebook only allows you to add 25 countries in each ad set which means you can only target 25 counties in 1 ad set. But for cities, you can add up to 250 different cities in one group.
Facebook has an extensive list of Global targeting options, divided into a few categories and country groups. There are eight county groups, six free trade areas & five other areas.
Let me share with you the eight-county groups Because you will use them the most:
Country Group 1: AFRICA
Mozambique, Réunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome, and Principe, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Western Sahara, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Helena, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, and Mayotte.
Country Group 2: ASIA
India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, State of Palestine, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China, China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, Macao Special Administrative Region, Japan, Mongolia and Republic of Korea (South Korea).
Country Group 3: CARIBBEAN
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin (French part), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saint-Barthélemy, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks, and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part).
Country Group 4: CENTRAL AMERICA
Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Belize, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.
Country Group 5: EUROPE
Åland Islands, Channel Islands, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Guernsey, Iceland, Greenland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sark, Svalbard, and Jan Mayen Islands, Sweden, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Gibraltar, Greece, Holy See, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovakia, Ukraine (excluding Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine, and Sevastopol, Ukraine), The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Austria, and Belgium.
Country Group 6: NORTH AMERICA
United States of America, Canada, Saint Pierre, Bermuda, and Miquelon.
Country Group 7: OCEANIA
Australia, New Zealand, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (The Federated States of), Niue, Pitcairn, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Wallis, Norfolk Island, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and Futuna Islands.
Country Group 8: SOUTH AMERICA
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, French Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Colombia, Ecuador, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Guyana, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic).
Conclusion
In conclusion, targeting Facebook ads by country is a powerful strategy that allows businesses to tailor their marketing campaigns to specific demographics, increasing the likelihood of higher engagement and conversion rates. While traditional markets like the US, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom are popular and often yield significant results, expanding into a fast-growing digital economy like India can offer cost-effective opportunities and substantial returns on investment.
Strategically selecting a mix of countries based on factors such as number of active users, average CPM and economic growth can optimize ad performance and budget utilization. It is essential to avoid the temptation to run ads arbitrarily worldwide; Instead, focus on a few select markets to ensure better optimization and faster results. Using Facebook’s extensive targeting options, businesses can refine their campaigns by analyzing performance data and scaling up to high-performing areas by pausing ads in less responsive areas.
