With 1.47 billion daily agile users, Facebook offers a huge potential audience for advertisers. So huge, in fact, that information technology'southward of import to light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation-target your ads to make sure you reach the Facebook users who are most likely to exist interested in your business. This allows yous to minimize your advertizing spend and maximize ROI.

Facebook Custom Audiences offering some of the best targeting available. They are highly defined groups of people who already accept a human relationship with your business, such as past customers, people who have visited your website, or people who have installed your app.

Even better, Custom Audiences can exist used to create lookalike audiences—new potential fans, followers, and customers who share key characteristics with your existing customers and fans.

Bonus: Download a free guide that teaches y'all how to plow Facebook traffic into sales in 4 simple steps using Hootsuite.

Types of Custom Audiences

Custom Audiences from customer lists

Customer lists offer a way for yous to let Facebook know nigh existing relationships you lot have with customers that cannot be mapped through Facebook date or the Facebook pixel.

For example, you might have a list of newsletter subscribers or past customers. These are people who have clearly expressed an interest in your business organisation, only Facebook has no way to identify them unless you upload a list. When yous upload the information, Facebook uses a process chosen "hashing" to go along specific customer data private while however allowing it to find matches with Facebook user profiles.

Keep in listen that you can merely upload information from customers who have given you permission to market to them. You can't use a purchased customer listing, for case, or data you lot've gathered from other websites—and if someone opts out of your email listing, you need to remove them from your Custom Audience, too.

You should also know that customers tin can encounter which companies have uploaded customer lists that include their information. If you desire to check which advertisers have uploaded lists that include you, log into your Facebook account and click Settings. Then click Ads in the left cavalcade, and select Advertisers you've interacted with.

advertisers you've interacted with screen

Information technology'due south a good idea to check out Facebook's Custom Audiences terms of service to make sure you're following the current rules.

Custom Audiences from your website

Once you install the Facebook pixel on your website, Facebook tin can friction match your website visitors to their Facebook profiles.

You tin can use this information to create Custom Audiences that target all website visitors, or to remarket to people who have visited a specific product page or product category. You fix the timeframe for how far dorsum you desire to go, so you can choose to target only your most recent website visitors, or people who visited up to half dozen months ago.

If yous oasis't installed the Facebook pixel yet, you're missing out on this rich source of data. Cheque out our total guide to using the Facebook pixel to become it prepare on your site.

Custom Audiences from your mobile app

After you annals your app and set up up the SDK on the Facebook for Developers site, you can create a Custom Audition of people who have interacted with your app.

(If this sounds like Greek to you, talk to your developer and ask them to help you with these preliminary steps.)

This type of Custom Audition can be a great basis for app engagement campaigns, since you lot can target people who accept downloaded your app but may not be using it yet, people who take made in-app purchases, or people who accept accomplished a sure level in your game.

Engagement Custom Audiences

An date Custom Audience allows you to target people who have already interacted with your brand on Facebook or Instagram.

How to create Facebook Custom Audiences

For all Custom Audience types, you'll start by opening your Facebook audiences folio in Ads Manager and clicking Create a Custom Audience.

Custom Audience creation screen

From here, the procedure depends on what kind of Custom Audience you want to create.

How to create a customer list Custom Audience

1. Click Customer File and then choose whether to add customer information or import a list from MailChimp.

Importing from MailChimp menu
Since not everyone uses MailChimp, nosotros'll look here at how to import your own customer information. If you practice employ MailChimp, you'll enter your MailChimp login credentials and follow a few uncomplicated steps. For anybody else…

2. Before moving on, you'll need to have the Custom Audience terms of service. Essentially, you lot must acknowledge that you have permission from the people on your list to apply and share their data. Once you've read and understood the terms, click I Accept.

3. Prepare your customer list. Be certain to follow Facebook's data formatting all-time practices to get the nearly matches on your list. You should read the best practices in full to make sure you get the all-time matches, simply here are three key tips:

  • Include separate columns for first and last names
  • Always include the land code on phone numbers (fifty-fifty if all telephone numbers are from the aforementioned land). Don't include a leading zip in the country lawmaking. For example, if your customer are in the U.s. or Canada, the country code is 1.
  • Always include a land column (once more, fifty-fifty if all your customers are form the same country)

iv. Upload your customer data file in .CSV or .TXT format, or copy and paste it into the box provided. Give your audience a proper noun that clearly defines who appears on this list (for case, email subscribers), then click Next.

naming your audience screen

5. Await. Facebook will set your Custom Audience, which should be ready in near half an hour.

How to create a website visitors Custom Audience

Before y'all can utilize website visitors Custom Audiences, you need to install the Facebook Pixel. If you haven't already washed so, check out our full guide to using the Facebook Pixel on your website.

1. Click Website Traffic, then choose the pixel you want to utilize to build your audience.

Choose your pixel screen

2. Choose who to target: all website visitors, people who visited specific pages, or people who spent a specific amount of time on your site. Then set your want timeframe, from 30 to 180 days. Yous tin can further define your audience using rules, which allow you to specify the number of times someone has visited your website and the specific device that they apply.

3. Give your audition a proper noun yous will remember and click Create Audition.

iv. Wait. Facebook will prepare your Custom Audience, which should be ready in nigh one-half an hr.

How to create a mobile app Custom Audience

1. Click App Activeness and choose the events you want to target from the drop-downwardly card.

two. Choose the timeframe you want to target: from 30 to 180 days.

3. Further ascertain your audition using details like in-app purchases and which device people use.

4. Requite your audience a proper noun you will call up and click Create Audience. Yous tin use your audition correct away, but it may take upwards to an hour to be fully populated with by app users.

How to create an engagement Custom Audience

i. Click Appointment. A new pop-up volition open asking you to cull whether you want to create your engagement audition based on interactions with your videos, atomic number 82 forms, Facebook Page, Instagram business concern profile, or event, or people who take opened your drove or Canvas Facebook ad. Click on the selection you adopt.

2. Choose the appropriate options:

  • For video, choose how much of your video people accept watched: from a minimum of 3 seconds to at least 95% of the video.
  • For lead forms, choose whether you desire people to have submitted the form, or only opened it.
  • For your Facebook Page or Instagram profile, choose which kinds of interactions you want to target: visits, messaging, clicks, and so on.
  • For your issue, choose whether you lot want to target people who have indicated involvement, those who have actually purchased tickets, and and then on.

3. Choose the timeframe you want to target, upwards to 365 days.

4. Requite your audience a proper noun you will remember and click Create Audience.

Bonus: Download a free guide that teaches you how to turn Facebook traffic into sales in four simple steps using Hootsuite.

Get the free guide right now!

How to use your Custom Audition

One time you've set up i of more Custom Audiences, they're very easy to use.

1. Open Facebook Ads Manager and click Create Ad.

2. Follow the steps to set up your advert. If you're new to Facebook advertising, follow the steps in our complete guide to Facebook ads.

3. Prepare the ad to target your selected Custom Audience.

four. Refine your targeting options. For example, if yous're running a campaign to offer a discount to new customers, be sure to exclude existing customers from your Custom Audition targeting for that particular ad.

5. Prepare your budget and timing as usual and you're gear up to get.

Merely that's just the technical side of using Facebook Custom Audiences. You lot besides need to think about how to use Facebook Custom Audiences strategically. Hither are some ideas:

Use Facebook Custom Audiences for remarketing

Remarketing is an effective manner to remind people about products they're interested ins—or have even abased in a shopping carts—encouraging them to take the concluding step of making a purchase.

For example, Jolly, an fine art and writing supplies visitor from Republic of austria, used Custom Audiences to target ads to people who had recently visited its website. Combined with lookalike audiences (more on those below), this strategy allowed Jolly to increase website conversions past one.65 times, with a 1.7 times render on Facebook ad spend.

Apply Facebook Custom Audiences to attain your about likely repeat customers

Existing customers already know and trust your brand—then marketing to them tin produce much higher conversion rates than trying to achieve people who have not bought from you before. It's much easier to convince a satisfied customer to make a 2nd buy than it is to learn a new customer in the outset place.

This doesn't only apply to online purchases. Using a Custom Audience from a customer list, yous can invite past customers to return to your retail store, transport special offers for repeat clients, or let people know when you release a new version of a product they already ain.

For case, the tour operator TUI Belgium used a Custom Audience of people who had previously booked tours with the company as the target for a drove ad entrada promoting vacation packages.

Use Custom Audiences to increase app engagement

If yous're running an advert to increase app date, at that place's no point showing the ad to people who accept yet to download your app. With a Custom Audience of people who already have your app downloaded, you can target your ad effectively, helping you to get the maximum impact for your budget.

Use Custom Audiences to abound your Facebook following

People who are already interacting with your concern would make great Facebook Folio followers. Some of them are likely following your Page already, but many of them might non know you lot accept a Facebook Page, or simply might never take thought to seek you out on social media.

Apply a Facebook advert with a Custom Audition based on website visitors or a customer list to promote your Facebook Page to this highly targeted group. Just make certain to exclude people who have already liked your Page, and so you don't pay to reach existing Facebook fans.

Use lookalike audiences

You can apply lookalike audiences to target people who are similar to people who already interact with your business—meaning they are probable to be interested in the products and services you offer.

Fifty-fifty if you don't have a big enough list withal to create a Custom Audience from your customer list (you need a minimum of one,000 contacts), you can create lookalike audiences based on a Custom Audience of people who have visited your website or who already like your Facebook Page.

For case, Shopify used this strategy to reach a 2 times lower toll per pb when they used a lookalike audience of people based on a Custom Audition of website visitors. Paessler IG used a lookalike audience based on a Custom Audition of people who had previously completed lead forms to reach relevant Information technology professionals who were not aware of its products and achieved a 63 percent decrease in CPM, 51 pct decrease in price per lead, and 64 percent decrease in cost per click.

How to expand your Custom Audition

There's value in trying to aggrandize your Custom Audiences, since they put your advertizing in front of more targeted potential fans, followers, and customers.

Here are some ways to expand your list.

Apply Facebook Ad types effectively

When you're trying to build your Custom Audition, yous want to go your Facebook ads in front end of a large number of people, targeted appropriately. Use the Awareness campaign objectives to brand certain your ads accomplish a large number of people in your targeted group.

Increasing your advertising bid slightly can assistance achieve even more people and build your Custom Audience more quickly.

Test and tweak your ads for maximum conversion

In order to abound your Custom Audience, you need people to appoint with your ads. The more constructive your advertizing, the more quickly you lot will build your Custom Audience.

Nosotros've got a whole blog post on how to test and refine social media ads, merely here are some central advertizing elements to examination:

  • Headline
  • Ad text
  • Link preview text
  • Call to activity
  • Image or video
  • Ad format

Use Facebook Audience Insights

Facebook Audience Insights can give you valuable data virtually the demographics of any of your Custom Audiences. Y'all can then use that information to target ads to new potential Facebook connections. If whatever of those new people engage with your ads or your Facebook Page, they volition become part of your engagement Custom Audience.

Manage your Facebook presence alongside your other social media channels using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you lot can schedule posts, share video, engage your audience, and mensurate the impact of your efforts. Endeavor it free today.

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