Should I use interest targeting or go broad? Everyone says different things.

Q: Should I use interest targeting or go broad? Everyone says different things.

In 2026: go broad, let the creative do the targeting. This is the current consensus among operators who are consistently profitable, and there's a structural reason for it. Interest targeting worked well when Meta's algorithm was less sophisticated. The algorithm is now better at finding buyers within a broad audience than you are at predicting which interests buyers have. When you stack 6 interests, you're telling Meta to ignore all the buyers who don't match those interests — many of whom would have bought if shown your ad. How broad targeting actually works: Your creative IS your targeting. A hook that opens with "if you have chronic lower back pain..." self-selects the right audience. The people who stop scrolling are your buyers. The creative filters better than interest targeting. When interests might help: Very niche products with hard-to-find audiences (very specific hobbies, professional tools) where broad targeting would reach too many unqualified people. Even then, test broad first — you may be surprised. The practical test: Run a broad adset and an interest-targeted adset with the same creative for 7 days at the same spend. Most operators find broad matches or beats interests within 2–3 weeks. The data should guide your decision, not community debates.

One of the top structural debates in paid ads — answer has shifted dramatically since 2022

In 2026: go broad, let the creative do the targeting. This is the current consensus among operators who are consistently profitable, and there's a structural reason for it.

Interest targeting worked well when Meta's algorithm was less sophisticated. The algorithm is now better at finding buyers within a broad audience than you are at predicting which interests buyers have. When you stack 6 interests, you're telling Meta to ignore all the buyers who don't match those interests — many of whom would have bought if shown your ad.

How broad targeting actually works: Your creative IS your targeting. A hook that opens with "if you have chronic lower back pain..." self-selects the right audience. The people who stop scrolling are your buyers. The creative filters better than interest targeting.
When interests might help: Very niche products with hard-to-find audiences (very specific hobbies, professional tools) where broad targeting would reach too many unqualified people. Even then, test broad first — you may be surprised.
The practical test: Run a broad adset and an interest-targeted adset with the same creative for 7 days at the same spend. Most operators find broad matches or beats interests within 2–3 weeks. The data should guide your decision, not community debates.

See this in practice: Pick Your Ad Angles →

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