Mashable posted Facebook’s newest advertising change this morning, revealing the new ability to target users by zip code:

Advertisers wishing to target Facebook members in specific zip codes can now do so. The social network has made the new targeting option available to advertisers via Facebook’s Power Editor and Ads Manager self-service tools.

Facebook has confirmed that zip code targeting, which was spotted by Politico, is now available in the U.S.

“The zip code targeting launched yesterday and this change was made due to requests for such a change,” a Facebook spokesperson tells Mashable.

Advertisers, previously able to target members by country, state or province, can now direct ads and sponsored stories to users in more localized areas.

“Over the past few months Facebook has been showing sidebar modules asking users to confirm which of several zip codes they are closest to or live within,” Inside Facebookreports.

Now that advertisers have the potential to reach hyper-local audiences, what types of ads should Facebook users expect? Local merchants and small businesses are the most likely candidates to promote products and services by zip codes. Politico also theorizes that the addition of zip code targeting will factor into upcoming elections.

“In an election cycle when social networking is expected to play such a big role, Facebook’s new program signals its intention to be a major player in the sprawling, and lucrative, market of local campaigns,” the site contends.

Why we’re excited:

• Several of our clients are local merchants and small businesses. This new ability to hyper-target people in their area will be greatly beneficial in any upcoming Facebook Ad campaigns. Better targeting = More relevance to the consumer. Hoorah!

Helpful tools:

• We immediately searched for a thorough and legitimate way to search for zip codes. USPS has several ways to search from them. Check it out here: http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/

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