How Targeting Works When Publishing Ads

Written By Wilco

Last updated 6 months ago

Winning Ads makes it easy to generate and publish Facebook ads — but all targeting is still handled inside Meta Ads Manager (Facebook Ads Manager), not inside Winning Ads.

This article explains exactly how targeting works when using Winning Ads.

❌ Winning Ads Does Not Handle Targeting for You

Currently, Winning Ads:

  • Does not create audiences automatically

  • Does not suggest targeting options

  • Does not allow you to set targeting inside our platform

All audience targeting is managed in Meta Ads Manager when you create your campaign and ad sets.

🛠 Where to Set Your Targeting

When you create your campaign and ad sets in Meta Ads Manager, you can configure:

  • Location targeting (country, region, city, or radius — e.g., “20 miles around my city”)

  • Demographics (age, gender, language)

  • Interests and behaviors

  • Custom Audiences (e.g., website visitors, customer lists)

  • Lookalike Audiences

  • Broad targeting (no restrictions)

📌 Important: Set Targeting Before Publishing

When you publish an ad from Winning Ads:

  1. You choose an existing campaign and ad set from your Meta account.

  2. The ad inherits the targeting rules you’ve already set up in that ad set.

  3. You cannot edit targeting from within Winning Ads — it must be done in Meta Ads Manager.

If you haven’t created a campaign or ad set yet, go to business.facebook.com first and set them up with your targeting preferences.

🔄 Changing Targeting After Publishing

If you want to adjust targeting after an ad has been published from Winning Ads:

  • Go to Meta Ads Manager

  • Edit the ad set (not the ad itself) to update targeting

Changes made in Meta Ads Manager will immediately apply to any ads in that ad set, including those created through Winning Ads.