1. Choose the “Engagement” campaign objective—every time. Meta’s ad delivery is goal-based. If you choose “Reach” or “Traffic,” your ad will show up more, but not necessarily get interactions. The Engagement objective optimizes for likes, comments, saves, shares—actual interaction. That’s what trains the algorithm to boost your content further.

2. Start with “engagement winners” Don’t promote just any post. Go into your Insights > sort by saves, shares, comments—not just likes. Pick posts that already sparked interaction. When you put ad budget behind them, Meta sees them as high-value and pushes them further.

3. Layer in warm audiences first Want fast engagement?

Target people who already know you. Create custom audiences of:

• Profile engagers (last 30 days)

• Website visitors

• Video viewers (25%+)

These folks already have context—they’re much more likely to interact.

4. Use Detailed Targeting Expansion smartly In cold campaigns, use interest + behavior targeting (niche down: job titles, competitors, communities). BUT—turn on “Detailed Targeting Expansion. ”Meta will auto-optimize to reach people who look like your ideal audience based on engagement behavior, not just interests.

5. Stack social a single engagement ad for a few days → collect likes & comments → turn that post into a Page Post ID ad across ad sets. This keeps all your engagement in one place (instead of splitting across different versions), which makes the post look more trustworthy.

6. Hook them in the first 2 seconds. Engagement ads show up like organic posts—so they need to feel native. Use a strong visual (meme, bold headline, human face) and write a thumb-stopping hook in the first line. Avoid “ad-looking” design. Raw > polished.

7. Add a low-friction CTA. Don’t go straight for “Buy now.” That’s not the goal here.

Use prompts like:

• “Agree or disagree?”

• “Tag someone who needs this”

• “Comment with 💯 if this hits”

These small asks create big interaction boosts.

8. Use exclusions to avoid ad fatigueExclude:

• People who already engaged with that post

• Recent customers

• Past 7-day engagers

Why? You want new eyes and fresh reactions to keep the post alive.

9. Test placements like a media buyerEngagement behaves differently across placements:

• Stories → more replies and polls

• Reels → more shares and saves

• Feed → more comments

Duplicate ad sets and isolate placements to see what’s driving actual interaction—not just impressions.

10. Track saves, profile visits, and shares in Events ManagerDon’t just look at likes. Set up Custom Events or use UTMs + Meta reporting to track:

• Profile taps

• Story replies

• Post saves

These are invisible wins that show intent—and fuel retargeting later.

💡 Bottom line:If your content is great but engagement is low, your audience targeting needs a lift.These strategies help Meta find the right people—the ones who’ll actually care and respond.

Start small. Even ₹500-₹1,000/day, applied right, can turn a “dead” post into a conversation starter.

If you want help structuring this or reviewing your setup, hit reply.

Always happy to jam on this with you.

– Saurav

Saurav Does Marketing