The fastest way to waste an ad budget is to target 'people interested in stocks.' That audience is huge, mostly irrelevant, and full of people looking for a quick trade. A junior mining company needs someone who follows copper and the sector, and might still be interested next month.
Who you're actually looking for
People who follow your industry, people in your region, and people who already engaged with your IR page, webcast, or investor deck. Start with what your company does, not with who has a brokerage account.
Who we deliberately don't chase
Momentum traders. Someone hunting for a news spike isn't the shareholder you want, and campaigns built around them can start to look like an attempt to move the stock. We'd rather build awareness steadily among people who understand what you do.
What platforms allow
Financial ads often come with targeting limits that vary by platform and country. Sector interests, content engagement, and broad geography usually work better than very narrow demographic slicing. Plan around what's allowed rather than trying to work around it.
Measuring it honestly
An ad campaign can't tell you how many new shareholders it created, and it shouldn't promise a volume or price move. What you can measure includes reach and frequency within target sectors, IR page visits and time on page, release reads, deck downloads, webcast views, and newsletter or news-alert signups.
Start narrow
Pick one or two sectors that clearly fit your story and one disclosure worth amplifying. Run it, look at who engaged, and widen from there. It's cheaper than guessing, and what you learn from the first campaign shapes every one after it.