Audiences: matching the message to the buyer stage

Imagine a clothing store.

Person A walks past the window and glances inside for a second. Person B walks in, looks at a jacket, checks the price tag. Person C tries on the jacket and asks about sizes.

A salesperson would talk to each of them differently. Person A does not know the specific products or prices. Person B is evaluating one product. Person C is close to a decision.

Online advertising follows the same logic. Every action someone takes — watching a video, visiting a page, adding to cart — tells you how much they already know and how close they are to buying.

On social media, you can track what people did with your ads and content. Social platforms record how long someone watched a video, whether they liked or commented, and what pages they visited. This makes it possible to sort people by interest level.

Low interest (just looked):

• Saw your ad but scrolled past
• Watched a few seconds of video
• Visited your site and left immediately

Medium interest (engaged):

• Watched more than half your video
• Visited your site and looked at multiple pages
• Liked your post

High interest (almost ready):

• Watched your entire video
• Commented on your post or asked a question
• Visited your pricing or product page
• Added something to their cart but did not buy

Highest interest (interrupted):

• Started checkout but did not finish
• Filled out a form but did not submit

The next section covers what to say to each group and how to set it up.

Showing the same ad to everyone — regardless of what they already know — tends to produce worse results because each group is at a different stage. A stranger has never heard of the product. An almost-buyer already knows the product but has a specific question about price or risk. One message cannot address both situations.

Here is what tends to work for each stage:

For strangers (low interest): They do not know you yet. A direct sales message has little context — the person has no reason to trust you or understand why the product matters. This group typically responds to content that explains what the product does and who it is for.

For curious people (medium interest): They know what you offer but have not decided. At this stage, the main barrier is uncertainty: will it actually work? This group typically responds to proof — reviews, case studies (detailed examples of how a real customer used the product and what happened), and results with numbers.

For almost-buyers (high interest): They showed strong interest but did not buy. Something specific is holding them back — usually price, risk, or comparison with alternatives. This group typically responds to direct answers: pricing breakdowns, guarantees, side-by-side comparisons.

For interrupted buyers (highest interest): They were about to buy and stopped — often for reasons unrelated to your product (got distracted, phone died, wanted to think about it). A simple reminder is often enough because the decision was mostly made.

How to set this up:

Social platforms let you create groups of people based on what they did. These groups are called audiences.

For example, you could create:

• Strangers: people who never saw your content. Show them a video or post that explains your product.
• Curious: people who watched more than 50% of your video or visited your site. Show them reviews or real results.
• Interested: people who visited your pricing page. Show them a clear offer with specific benefits.
• Almost bought: people who added to cart or started checkout. Show them a reminder.

Each audience sees a different ad. This requires more setup, but it tends to produce higher engagement and conversion rates because each person sees a message that addresses their actual situation instead of a generic one.

Reaching people who already showed interest tends to cost less and convert (lead to a purchase or sign-up) at higher rates. This connects to Lesson 1: when you show ads to people who already engaged, they interact more with the ad. The ad system registers this interaction, which improves your quality and engagement rankings (the scores the platform uses to decide how much to charge you). Higher rankings mean lower costs per result.

Rough conversion ranges (these vary widely by industry and product):

• Strangers: around 1-2%
• People who watched your video: around 5-10%
• People who visited your pricing page: around 10-20%
• People who added to cart: around 20-40%

The pattern is consistent even if the exact numbers differ: each stage filters out people who are not interested, leaving a smaller but more likely-to-buy group.

This approach has limits.

Small audiences

If only 50 people watched your video, that is not enough to run ads to. Ad platforms use algorithms that test which people in your audience are most likely to respond. With only 50 people, the algorithm does not have enough data to find patterns — it cannot tell who is a good match and who is not. You typically need at least a few hundred people in each audience for this to work. If your numbers are too small, combine stages (for example, group video watchers and site visitors together) or focus on reaching new people first.

Tracking problems

Apple devices now ask users to opt out of tracking. A significant portion of users do. This means you cannot see all the actions people take. Your audiences will be smaller than the real numbers. There is no complete fix for this — just be aware that your data is incomplete.

Short attention spans

Interest fades over time. Someone who watched your video last week is more likely to remember you than someone who watched it two months ago — by then, they may have forgotten your product entirely or solved their problem another way. Set time limits on your audiences — for example, only target people who took action in the last 7-14 days, not the last 90 days.

Annoying people

Showing the same ad too many times creates a negative experience. Limit how often one person sees your ad (frequency cap of 2-3 times per day is a common starting point). After 2-3 weeks without action, stop showing them ads or try a different creative (a new version of the ad with different visuals, text, or angle).