Meta Marketing API now pairs each ad creative with an audience

Meta said on 19 October that partners using its Marketing API can now choose an audience for each ad creative. Inside one ad set, an advertiser can tell Meta which age range and gender each image or video suits best. The option went live for API partners on the day of the announcement.

Meta gives each creative its own age range and gender

Until now, audience settings sat on the ad set. With the new toggle, several ads can share one ad set while each piece of media carries its own audience. Meta’s developer blog post, written by Graham Mahon and Mohamed Khalil, lists only two settings: age range and gender.

Meta gives two examples. A financial services company could show retirement-planning videos to people aged 50 to 65 and savings account videos to all ages. A fashion retailer could show women’s sweater images to women and men’s sweater images to men.

Third-party tools reach the option through three API endpoints

The change touches the ad set, ad and ad creative endpoints of the Marketing API. Meta does not name an API version, supported ad formats or any effect on results. It also does not say whether the same choice will appear in Ads Manager. For now, advertisers get it through tools built by Meta’s API partners.

The update arrives as Meta sells more ads built around people. Its partnership ads with creators passed a $15bn run rate in the third quarter. Meta is also testing an Ads Manager assistant that changes budgets.

Banks and fashion shops gain, gift buyers may miss ads

Brands that already make separate versions for different age groups gain the most, such as the banks and clothing retailers in Meta’s examples. Social Media Today, which reported the change on 21 October, pointed to a risk before the holiday season. A shopper buying a gift for someone else may never see the creative that fits that gift.