As publishers and media companies shift toward more data-driven advertising models, mastering the mechanics of ad targeting becomes essential. Whether you're in ad operations (AdOps) or media sales, understanding how to set up effective targeting without overpromising or underdelivering is key to campaign success.

This guide walks through the foundational concepts of ad targeting, with practical examples and cautionary advice to help you build campaigns that deliver—both in reach and results.

When setting up a campaign, one of the first considerations is how to define your audience. At its core, targeting involves creating rules or filters that determine who will see an ad. These filters fall into two broad categories: inclusive ("or") and exclusive ("and") targeting.

This approach broadens the reach of your campaign. For instance, if you're targeting car owners OR homeowners, your ad can be shown to users who meet either criterion. This typically results in a higher delivery volume, since more users qualify.

Example:

This method narrows the audience. Here, a user must meet all the criteria you've set. If you're targeting car owners AND homeowners, only those who are both will see the ad. This significantly limits reach.

Example:

There's also the possibility of adding a negative condition (e.g., homeowners but NOT apartment dwellers), which narrows the audience further.

Understanding these logic types is vital. Adding too many exclusive filters can create delivery issues, especially if the audience becomes too small to serve the campaign effectively.

Each targeting rule you apply acts like a filter, excluding users who don’t meet the condition. The more filters you add, the smaller your audience becomes. This is often misunderstood, especially during the sales process, where there's a temptation to offer very precise targeting.

Let’s break down the mechanics:

The interaction of these filters is additive—each one reduces the final pool. For example, if you restrict a campaign to:

...you've already narrowed your audience significantly. Add one more filter, and you risk a campaign that can’t be delivered at all.

Every filter you add must be justified by a clear value proposition to the advertiser—and tested against actual reach.

One of the biggest risks in campaign setup is overpromising. In a competitive sales environment, it can be tempting to guarantee specific audience combinations without verifying if they are deliverable.

Avoid falling into the trap of promising “hyper-targeting” that the system cannot fulfill. For example:

“Your ad will only be shown to homeowners, aged 35–50, who live in Stockholm, browse on mobile, and are interested in premium cars.”

This may sound attractive—but the overlap of all those segments may only contain a few hundred users, not nearly enough to deliver the campaign’s volume target.

Instead, aim for what we call "elastic targeting"—broad enough to ensure delivery, yet specific enough to deliver value. In sales meetings, be transparent:

It's better to underpromise and overdeliver than to oversell and underperform.

Successful targeting is a team sport. The sales team and AdOps must work hand in hand from the beginning. Salespeople must understand how filters affect reach, and AdOps must understand the commercial intent behind each campaign.

Here’s how to create better collaboration:

This cross-functional alignment ensures that campaigns are set up with both business goals and technical feasibility in mind.

When setting up a campaign, follow these practical rules:

To keep reach high and flexibility strong, use inclusive logic where possible.

Start with 1–2 filters. If necessary, add more—but test the impact at each step.

Excluding audiences ("not apartment dwellers") can be powerful but risky. It adds complexity and limits reach.

Make sure the agreed targeting criteria are clearly written in campaign briefs and insertion orders. Avoid vague or overly ambitious descriptions.

If a campaign under delivers, re-evaluate the targeting immediately. Be ready to remove or relax filters.

Let’s say a car brand wants to target potential buyers in Malmö. They ask for the following:

This is a classic case of overly tight targeting. In AdOps, you forecast the volume and find it’s too low. Here’s how to respond:

By adjusting just a few parameters, you can increase the reach significantly while still keeping relevance high.

Ad targeting is both an art and a science. The goal is not to find a needle in a haystack—but to create a reasonable segment that matches the advertiser’s intent and ensures deliverability.

As publishers and media houses take more ownership of their first-party data and audience platforms, the ability to execute smart, scalable, and sustainable targeting becomes a strategic advantage.

Remember:

With these principles in place, your campaigns will perform better, deliver on promises, and build long-term trust with advertisers.