Review audience targeting settings before launching

• 6 minutes

Audience targeting can be applied to components of the Viva Connections experience. Audience targeting filters content by Microsoft Entra groups set up by your administrators. Often Microsoft Entra groups are set up for distinct roles and regions, and it's likely an individual will belong to several Microsoft Entra groups.

Example of an audience targeting field:

Audience targeting settings are applied in the flow of creating the Dashboard, preparing content for the Feed, and setting up Resources in SharePoint global navigation. Settings can be applied and edited at any time. Audience targeting settings will apply to both the desktop and mobile experiences.

Summary of where audience targeting can be applied for each component:

Dashboard cards	SharePoint news posts	Links in Resources
Each card on the Dashboard can be targeted to a specific audience by selecting Edit and then adding one or more audiences to the Audience targeting field.	SharePoint news posts can be targeted to specific audiences to filter news posts that are displayed in the Feed. Learn more about targeting news posts. To influence the hierarchy of SharePoint news posts in the Feed, use the News Boost feature.	Navigational links that get set up in SharePoint global navigation that display as Resources in the Viva Connections experience can be targeted. From the home site, select Settings, and then Global navigation. Turn on Audience targeting and then Edit labels and links. Add one or more audiences in the Audience targeting field and select Save.

Learn how Lamna Healthcare applies audience targeting

At Lamna Healthcare, it's common to see employees belong to multiple Microsoft Entra groups. Let’s see how each Microsoft Entra group affects what Lamna employee affect see in each component Viva Connections.

Lamna Healthcare - audience targeting for Dashboard cards

Cards on the Dashboard are filtered to specific Microsoft Entra groups using audience targeting. As a result, certain groups will see different content. Let’s see how Lamna Healthcare employees’ Microsoft Entra group settings impact what cards they see in Dashboard.

Nicoletta, a member of Lamna’s janitorial staff working at Region D, is an hourly paid employee. Nicoletta works over 30 hours a week and is eligible for healthcare and vacation benefits. Nicoletta belongs to the Microsoft Entra groups of: Hourly paid, Region D, and Benefits eligible. In the Viva Connections Dashboard, Nicoletta sees the Shifts card, the Benefits self-service card and other cards that are available for all Lamna employees.

Kendall is a part time nurse working 20 hours a week at Region C of Lamna Healthcare. Kendall is paid hourly, but not eligible for benefits since they work less than 20 hours a week. Kendall belongs to the Azure AD groups of: Medical professional, Hourly paid, and Region C. In the Viva Connections Dashboard, Kendall sees the Shifts card, and other cards that are available for all Lamna employees.

Amber is a full-time people manager working at Lamna Healthcare Region A. So, Amber belongs to the Microsoft Entra groups of: FTE (Full Time Employee), Benefits eligible, People manager, and Region A. In the Viva Connections Dashboard, Amber sees the Submit time off card, the Approval for purchase card, the Benefits self-service card, and other cards that are available for all Lamna employees.

Lamna Healthcare - audience targeting for Feed

Content in the Feed automatically gets aggregated into one central location based on the SharePoint sites and Yammer communities that they follow. Content in the Feed will be unique for each viewer. Some content in the Feed can be targeted by ensuring certain Microsoft Entra groups have visitor permissions to organizational news sites and Yammer communities at Lamna Healthcare. Let’s see how Lamna Healthcare employees’ Microsoft Entra settings for organizational news and announcements impact what they see in their Feed:

Since Nicoletta works at Region D, in the Feed, Nicoletta gets news for all Lamna Healthcare units, and local news for the Region D hospital.

Kendall works at Region C. Therefore, in the Feed, Kendall gets news for all Lamna Healthcare units, and local news for the Region C hospital. As a part time nurse, Kendall also gets news specifically for medical professionals, which are for both nurses and physicians.

Amber works in Region A, so in the Feed, Amber gets news for all Lamna Healthcare units, and local news for Region A. In addition, Amber gets news specifically for people managers.

Lamna Healthcare audience targeting for Resources

Navigational links that get set up in SharePoint global navigation will display as Resources in the Viva Connections experience. These navigational links can be filtered to specific audiences using Microsoft Entra groups for audience targeting. Finally, let’s see how Lamna Healthcare employees’ Microsoft Entra settings affect what they see in their Resources:

As full time employees, both Nicoletta and Amber are eligible for benefits, so they both has access to the links to Lamna Healthcare Benefits related pages and forms from their Viva Connections Resources tab.

As a part time employee, Kendall doesn't belong to the Benefits Eligible Microsoft Entra group. Therefore, Kendall doesn't see the links to Lamna Healthcare Benefits related pages and forms from the Viva Connections Resources. As a nurse, Kendall can see links to resources for medical professionals.

In addition to links to benefits related resources, as a people manager, Amber can access resources and forms for people managers and some finance forms.