How to Target Rich People in Facebook Ads

Targeting wealthy individuals on Facebook isn't about finding a secret rich people button in Ads Manager. You need a smarter approach that focuses on understanding their behaviors, mapping their lifestyles, and speaking their language. This guide provides actionable strategies you can use to build precise audiences, craft resonant ad creative, and genuinely connect with high-net-worth customers on the platform.

Stop Chasing "Income," Start Chasing Signals

Years ago, you could target users in the "Top 5% of US household income," but those options are long gone. This is a good thing - it forces advertisers to be more thoughtful. Instead of relying on a single, unreliable demographic data point, the new approach is to build a profile of your ideal affluent customer by combining multiple proxy signals. Think like a detective. Wealthy people don't go on Facebook and list "investing" or "luxury" as their primary interests, they show it through their actions, the brands they follow, the places they go, and the media they consume.

Your job isn't to look for people who say they're rich. It's to find people whose digital footprint strongly suggests they have significant disposable income. We do this by focusing on three key areas: where they live, what they like, and what they do.

Build Your High-Value Audience with Layered Targeting

The real power of Facebook Ads comes from layering different targeting criteria. A single interest, like "Porsche," is too broad. But when you combine it with the right location and behaviors, you start to build a highly qualified audience. The goal is to use "AND" logic to narrow your reach, ensuring that anyone who sees your ad meets multiple criteria for affluence.

1. Geographic & Location Targeting: Use Zip Codes and Pindrops

Location is one of the strongest indicators of wealth. This is the foundation of your targeting stack.

• Targeting by Zip Code: This is the most direct method. Research the most affluent zip codes in the geographic areas you serve. A quick Google search for "wealthiest zip codes in [your city/state]" will give you a list. In Ads Manager, you can target people living in specific postal codes. Instead of targeting an entire city, you can focus your budget solely on neighborhoods like Beverly Hills (90210), the Upper East Side in Manhattan (10021, 10028, 10065, 10075), or Atherton, California (94027).
• Radius Targeting (Pindropping): This is a more creative approach. Think about where your ideal customers physically spend their time. Drop a pin on exclusive locations and target a small (e.g., 1-3 mile) radius around them. This captures people who live or work there. Some ideas include:
  • Private golf courses and country clubs (Augusta National, Pebble Beach)
  • Yacht clubs and marinas
  • Luxury car dealerships (Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Bentley)
  • High-end shopping districts (Rodeo Drive, Worth Avenue)
  • Private airports or jet terminals

2. Detailed Targeting: Interests, Behaviors, and Demographics

Once you've set your location foundation, you layer on detailed targeting. This is where you connect with your audience based on their lifestyle. Mix and match from the categories below, but always think about specificity.

Interests That Signal Affluence

Your goal is to choose interests that are more exclusive and less mainstream.

• Luxury Brands: Don't just target "luxury fashion." Get specific.
  • Cars: Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls-Royce.
  • Fashion & Accessories: Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada.
  • Watches & Jewelry: Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Cartier, Tiffany & Co.
  • Real Estate: Sotheby's International Realty, Christie's International Real Estate.
• High-End Hobbies & Pastimes:
  • Golf: Don't just target "golf." Target interests like "Golf Digest," specific luxury brands like "Titleist" or "Callaway Golf," and world-renowned courses.
  • Equestrian Sports: Polo, Dressage, Show Jumping.
  • Travel: 'First Class Travel,' 'The Ritz-Carlton,' 'Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.'
  • Fine Arts & Culture: Interests like "Art Basel," "Sotheby's," "Christie's," or "The Opera."
  • Fine Dining & Wine: "Michelin Guide," "Fine wine," "Sommelier."
• Financial & Business Publications:
  • The Wall Street Journal
  • The Economist
  • Financial Times
  • Forbes
  • Bloomberg Businessweek

Behaviors That Point to Wealth

These are based on real user data compiled by Facebook and its partners.

• Travel: Use "Frequent international travelers." Business owners and high-income individuals often travel internationally for work and pleasure.
• Technology Users: Target individuals who are "Early adopters of technology." This can indicate a willingness to spend on new, expensive devices.
• Charitable Donations: People interested in or associated with "Charitable giving" are often in a financial position to do so.

Demographics (Where Still Available)

• Job Titles: Target high-earning professions. You can do this by searching for Job Titles under "Work" in Detailed Targeting.
  • C-Suite: CEO, Founder, Owner, President, CFO, CMO, etc.
  • Medical: Physician, Surgeon, Cardiologist.
  • Finance: Investment Banker, Venture Capitalist, Portfolio Manager.
  • Legal: Partner (Law Firm)
• Education: You can target alumni from prestigious universities like Ivy League schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton) or other top-tier institutions (Stanford, MIT). This is a strong, though not perfect, proxy for higher earning potential.

3. Put it all Together: The Power of Layering

The secret is to not use these in isolation. You want to combine them using the "Narrow Audience" function, which creates an "AND" condition. Each time you narrow, you're telling Facebook the user must meet the criteria in the first group AND the new group you just added.

Here's a practical example for a bespoke menswear brand:

1. First Layer (Location): Target people who live in the wealthiest zip codes of Boston (e.g., 02108, 02110, 02445, 02467).
2. Second Layer (Interests, AND): Click "Narrow Audience" and add a group of luxury interests. The target must also be interested in EITHER "Rolex" OR "Patek Philippe" OR "The Wall Street Journal".
3. Third Layer (Behavior, AND): Click "Narrow Audience" again. The person must also match the behavior "Frequent international traveler."

Look at the difference. You're no longer just targeting everyone in a wealthy zip code. You're targeting people within those zip codes who are interested in luxury watches or high-end business news and who travel internationally. The likelihood of this person having significant disposable income is dramatically higher.

Leverage Your Own Data with Custom & Lookalike Audiences

While interest and behavior layering is powerful for finding new customers, your absolute best targeting tools are built from your own data. This is where you can move from finding people who look like your customer to finding people who are almost identical to your existing high-value clients.

Custom Audiences

A Custom Audience is built from a source list of people who have already interacted with your business. The most valuable version of this is your customer list. You can export a CSV file of your existing customers - especially your top spenders - and upload it to Facebook. Facebook will match the email addresses and phone numbers to user profiles, creating a hyper-targeted audience you can run ads to. This is perfect for driving repeat business, promoting new collections, or announcing exclusive events to your VIPs.

The Ultimate Weapon: Value-Based Lookalike Audiences

This is the holy grail for profitable Facebook advertising. A Lookalike Audience is a group of new users that Facebook algorithmically builds to look like a source audience you provide.

Step 1: Create a HIGH-QUALITY source audience. Don't just upload all your customers. The better your source data, the better the Lookalike Audience will be. Create a list of only your best customers. This could be defined as:

• Customers with the highest lifetime value (LTV).
• Customers who have made multiple purchases.
• Customers who have purchased your most expensive products or services.

Step 2: Create a Value-Based Customer List. For even better results, create a customer list file with a 'value' column. Export your customer list including a column for how much each customer has spent. When creating your custom audience, you can tell Facebook this is a Value-Based List, which will help its algorithm understand who your most profitable customers are.

Step 3: Build the Lookalike Audience. Tell Facebook to build a Lookalike from that high-value customer list. Start with a "1% Lookalike." This means Facebook will find the top 1% of users in your target country who most closely resemble your best customers. A 1% audience is smaller but has the highest level of similarity. Once you prove that works, you can test expanding to 2% or 3%.

This single tactic is often more effective than all the interest and location layering combined because it leverages real purchase data and the full power of Facebook's AI.

Don't Waste Your Targeting on Bad Creative

Once you've done all this hard work to find the right people, don't scare them away with ads that don't speak their language. Targeting an affluent audience with creative that feels cheap is a guaranteed way to waste your money.

• Invest in High-Quality Visuals: Your images and videos must be professional, well-lit, and polished. Grainy phone photos won't cut it. Your creative needs to look just as premium as the product or service you're selling.
• Speak Their Language: Avoid overly salesy copy. Forget a loud "BUY NOW!" call-to-action or flashing discount stickers. The affluent value subtlety, exclusivity, and quality. Use words and phrases that communicate that such as "Bespoke," "Legacy," "Meticulously Crafted," or "For the Discerning Collector."
• Focus on Benefits, Not Just Specs: Don't just list features. Sell the feeling, the status, or the solution. Instead of "Our watches use sapphire crystal glass," try, "An heirloom built to be passed down through generations." Instead of "Learn how to save on taxes," a better angle is, "Protect and grow your legacy for the future."

Final Thoughts

Targeting affluent consumers on Facebook Ads today is more about psychology and data analysis than finding a simple demographic setting. It requires a thoughtful process of layering location, interest, and behavioral signals to create a comprehensive profile, while leveraging your own customer data through Lookalike Audiences to find your next best client.

All this ad targeting is vital, but growing a high-end brand also demands a consistent organic presence with polished content that reinforces your value. Crafting that professional imagery can become a full-time job. We ran into this challenge ourselves, getting stuck with old-school social media tools that were clumsy, unreliable, and just not built for the modern, video-first content that resonates today. That's why we built Postbase, we deliver a clean, simple way to plan our calendar visually and reliably schedule content across all platforms without the hassle, letting us focus on maintaining the premium brand image that high-value customers expect.