Solved: Facebook Ads Targeting for Accessible Travel

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

I've had a look at your situation and I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts. It's a really common and frustrating problem now that Meta has removed so many detailed targeting options, especially in sensitive areas like health. The good news is you're not stuck, you just have to completly shift how you think about targeting. The direct approach is gone, but an indirect one can work even better if you do it right.

Let's get into it.

The Hard Truth: Your Ideal Targeting Option Doesn't Exist Anymore

Right, first thing's first. You're not going crazy, and you haven't missed a hidden button. The ability to target users based on health conditions, mobility issues, or disabilities was removed by Meta quite some time ago. They did this to prevent discriminatory advertising, and while the intention was good, it left businesses with legitimate, helpful services like yours in a tough spot. You are actively paying the world's most powerful advertising machine to find you an audience, but it's deliberately hiding the very people you need to help.

So, the old way of thinking—typing "wheelchair users" into the interest field and letting the algorithm do the work—is dead. Trying to find it is a waste of time. This is actually a blessing in disguise. It forces you to be a much smarter advertiser. From now on, your motto must be: "My creative is my targeting." You can't rely on the platform to find the perfect person anymore. You have to make your ad so obviously for them that they can't help but stop and look. The ad itself has to do the filtering for you.

We'll need to look at Proxy Targeting...

Since we can't target the condition directly, we have to target the things associated with it. We need to build an audience profile based on behaviours, interests, and affiliations that are strongly correlated with your ideal customer or their carers and family members. This is what we call 'proxy targeting'. You're not targeting the person; you're targeting their world.

You need to become an expert on their pain. Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) isn't a demographic; it's a problem state. The nightmare isn't just 'needing a car'. It's the dread of arriving at a holiday destination and finding the "accessible" vehicle you booked is just a slightly larger hatchback. It's the sheer exhaustion of the logistics involved in planning any trip. Your ads need to target that feeling.

So, what interests does this person, or their family, have?

• -> Charities and Associations: Think about organisations they might follow for support or information. Spinal Injuries Association, MS Society, National Autistic Society, Scope, etc. Targeting followers of these pages is a strong signal.
• -> Equipment Brands: People with mobility needs use specific equipment. Target interests in brands like Invacare, Quickie Wheelchairs, Sunrise Medical, or even local mobility scooter shops if the targeting is available.
• -> Publications and Media: Are there magazines or blogs dedicated to accessible living? In the UK, you have things like 'Enable Magazine' or 'Able Magazine'. Find the European equivalents.
• -> Influencers and Advocates: There are many powerful voices in the disability community on social media. Targeting people who follow prominent advocates can be very effective.
• -> General Accessible Interests: Meta still has some broader interests like "Accessible travel". This should definately be one of your starting points, but it can be quite broad, so you'll want to layer it or use it as a starting point before testing more niche interests.

The goal is to test these interest groups in different ad sets to see which ones deliver. Don't just lump them all together. You might find that targeting followers of a specific wheelchair brand gives you much better results than a general disability charity. You need to be methodical.

I'd say your Ad Creative is Your Most Powerful Weapon

Since your audience targeting will be broader and less precise, your ads have to do the hard work of grabbing the right person's attention and making the wrong person scroll right past. If someone who doesn't need your service sees your ad, you want them to ignore it. A click from them is a waste of money.

This is where you deploy the Problem-Agitate-Solve framework.

• Problem: Hit them with the core frustration immediately. "Planning a trip with a wheelchair is a nightmare."
• Agitate: Twist the knife. Remind them of past bad experiences. "Tired of 'accessible' rentals that don't fit? Worried about hidden fees or last-minute surprises?"
• Solve: Present your service as the clear, obvious solution. "We guarantee our WAVs are exactly as advertised. See our fleet, book online in minutes, and travel with confidence."

Your visuals are even more important. Stop using generic stock photos of happy families next to a car. Your ads MUST feature:

• -> Clear shots of wheelchair users comfortably using your vehicles.
• -> Videos demonstrating the ramps and accessibility features in action.
• -> People enjoying their holiday, where the accessible vehicle is the facilitator of that joy, not the focus of it.

When someone with a mobility need, or their son or daughter who does all the travel planning, is scrolling through their feed, this imagery will stop them dead. It speaks directly to them and says, "This is for you." It's a signal that cuts through the noise. This is how you get a low-quality, broad audience to pre-qualify themselves before they even click. Its a strategy we've seen work time and time again.

You probably should be on Google Ads Yesterday

Here's the most important piece of advice I can give you: while Meta is a place to create demand, Google Search is where you go to capture it. Your customer isn't just scrolling Facebook hoping for a solution to pop up. They are actively going to Google and typing in "wheelchair accessible car hire Spain" or "WAV rental Italy".

This is the difference between a cold and a hot lead. On Facebook, you're interrupting them. On Google, they are literally raising their hand and asking for your help. For a service business solving an urgent and specific need, search ads are not optional; they are the foundation of your entire marketing effort.

Your job here is to do thorough keyword research. Think of every possible phrase someone would use.

• -> Service + Location: "WAV hire [Country/City]", "accessible car rental [Country/City]".
• -> Problem-based: "car rental for wheelchair user", "how to travel with mobility scooter".
• -> Vehicle Specific: "rent a [specific WAV model]".

With search ads, you are showing your solution at the exact moment of need. The conversion rates will be higher, the lead quality will be better, and your return on investment will almost certainly be greater than on social media. I've worked with numerous service businesses, from HVAC companies to childcare services, and search ads consistently outperform social for generating actual, qualified leads. For one of my clients, a home cleaning company, we were getting leads for £5 a piece purely from search.

You'll need a Coherent Funnel Strategy

Neither Meta nor Google works in a vacuum. The best results come from using them together in a proper funnel. You're not just running ads; you're guiding a potential customer through a journey.

• Top of Funnel (ToFu): This is Meta's job. You run your video ads and image ads to your cold 'proxy' audiences. The goal here isn't necessarily to get a booking straight away. The goal is awareness and traffic. You want to get people who have the problem to click through to your website and become aware that a great solution like yours exists.
• Middle of Funnel (MoFu): This is where Google Search sits, capturing people who are already problem-aware and solution-aware. It's also where your retargeting campaigns live. Anyone who has visited your website from a Meta or Google ad but didn't book should be put into a retargeting audience. You show them different ads: testimonials, specific vehicle tours, special offers for their destination country. You stay top of mind.
• Bottom of Funnel (BoFu): This is also Google Search territory, but with more specific, "buying" keywords (e.g., "book WAV hire Barcelona airport"). It's also for retargeting people who got as far as your booking page but didn't finish. You might hit them with an ad that says, "Having trouble? Call us to complete your booking."

This multi-channel approach is how you build a robust, predictable system for getting new customers, rather than just gambling on one platform and hoping for the best.

To pull this all together, here is what I would propose as a starting point. This is the main advice I have for you:

Navigating this new landscape of digital advertising isn't easy, especially in a niche that requires a thoughtful and clever approach. It's not about finding a secret setting; it's about building a comprehensive strategy based on a deep understanding of your customer's journey. Getting it right can be the difference between burning through cash and building a predictable engine for growth.

If you'd like to go over this in more detail and see how a strategy like this could be implemented for your specific countries and services, we offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation. We can take a look at your website and put together a more concrete plan of action.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh