---
title: "How do I target a specific audience? | PickFu Help Center"
description: "Tips for choosing your target audience for a PickFu survey."
---

# How targeting works

Audience targeting lets you control who responds to your poll by filtering for specific demographic, behavioral, or psychographic traits. Instead of polling a random cross-section of the PickFu Panel, you can focus on the people who match your target customer — like women aged 25–34, Amazon Prime members, or mobile gamers.

When you create a poll, you can select up to **four targeting trait categories**. PickFu offers 115+ categories to choose from, spanning demographics, shopping habits, technology use, entertainment preferences, and more. [View the full list of available traits](https://www.pickfu.com/audiences).

Within each category, you can select **multiple options**. For example, if you choose "racial or ethnic identity" as one of your four categories, you can select both "White" and "Asian" within that single category — it still counts as one trait.

All selected categories use **AND logic**: respondents must match every category you've chosen. For example, if you select "Gender: Female" and "Amazon Prime member: Yes," only female Amazon Prime members will see your poll.

# How to add targeting in the poll builder

1.  In the **Audience** section of the poll builder, select **Custom audience** (instead of Random audience).
    
2.  Browse the available trait categories or use the **Search** field to find what you're looking for.
    
3.  Select up to four trait categories and choose the options you want within each.
    
4.  Review your selections before proceeding to checkout.
    

**Important:** If you toggle between Custom audience and Random audience after choosing traits, you may lose your saved selections. Make sure you've finalized your choices before moving on.

# Tips for effective targeting

**Start broad, then narrow down.** If you're not sure exactly who your audience is, begin with a random audience or just one targeting trait. You can run follow-up polls with tighter targeting once you see initial results.

**Don't over-specify.** A common mistake is stacking traits when a simpler selection would work just as well. For example, if you want feedback from parents, selecting "Parents: Yes" is usually enough — you don't need to also filter by multiple children's age ranges unless that distinction genuinely matters for your research.

**Fewer traits = faster results.** Each trait category you add shrinks the available respondent pool. A poll with one targeting trait might complete in under an hour; a poll with four narrow traits could take a day or more. If turnaround time matters, be selective about which traits are truly essential.

**Think about what you actually need to know.** Ask yourself: does this trait change how someone would answer my poll? If not, you probably don't need to target by it. You can always add [demographic questions](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/7046116-what-are-demographic-questions-and-when-should-i-use-them) instead to learn about respondents without narrowing who sees your poll.

[Learn more about choosing the right number of traits](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/14500590-how-many-targeting-traits-should-i-choose).

# Random vs. targeted: when to use each

| Scenario | Recommendation |
| --- | --- |
| You're not sure who your target customer is | Start with a random audience and add demographic questions to discover patterns |
| You want broad, general-population feedback | Random audience |
| You know exactly who your customer is (e.g., pet owners, coffee drinkers) | Targeted audience with 1–2 relevant traits |
| You're testing for a very specific niche | Targeted audience — but keep it to the traits that truly matter, and expect longer completion times |
| You want fast results on a tight deadline | Random audience or minimal targeting (1 trait) |

# FAQs

## Can I change my targeting after I've launched a poll?

No. Once a poll is published, you can't modify the targeting. If you need different targeting, stop the poll (you'll receive credit for unfulfilled responses) and create a new one with updated selections.

## What happens if my targeting is too narrow?

If there aren't enough respondents matching all your criteria, your poll may take much longer to complete or could time out. You'll receive automatic credit for any unfulfilled responses. To avoid this, try removing a trait category or selecting broader options within your categories.

## Do targeted respondents know they were selected for specific traits?

No. Respondents see your poll question and options — they don't see your targeting criteria, results, or any identifying information about you.

## Is targeting available for international panels?

Yes, but the available respondent pool for international panels is smaller than the U.S. panel. Combining international panels with multiple targeting traits can significantly extend completion time. [Learn more about international panels](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/7967687).

* * *

Related Articles

[

How to choose your audience in PickFu

](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/2011986-how-to-choose-your-audience-in-pickfu)[

What's the difference between audience targeting and demographic questions?

](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/2393235-what-s-the-difference-between-audience-targeting-and-demographic-questions)[

What are demographic questions and when should I use them?

](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/7046116-what-are-demographic-questions-and-when-should-i-use-them)[

What countries can I target with PickFu?

](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/7967687-what-countries-can-i-target-with-pickfu)[

How do I poll my own audience instead of PickFu's panel?

](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/10149684-how-do-i-poll-my-own-audience-instead-of-pickfu-s-panel)