A Facebook custom audience is a targeted group of Facebook users created by a business or organization based on specific criteria relevant to their goals. Custom audiences allow advertisers to show ads selectively to people who are more likely to be interested in their products, services or cause.
How do Facebook custom audiences work?
Facebook custom audiences work by enabling businesses to create specific segments of users to target with ads. They do this by uploading lists of customer information like emails, phone numbers or other identifiers. Facebook then matches this data to user accounts and creates a custom audience for targeting.
For example, an online retailer could upload a list of email addresses of past customers who purchased certain products. Facebook would then find matching accounts and build an audience group made up of those specific users. When the retailer runs ads, they could choose to only show those ads to the custom audience of previous buyers.
Types of Facebook custom audiences
There are several methods for creating different types of custom audiences:
- Customer list – Upload a list of customer information like emails or phone numbers to target your existing customers.
- Engagement – Target people who have already engaged with your Facebook page or ads.
- Website traffic – Reach people who have visited your website by integrating Facebook pixel data.
- App activity – Target users who have already installed or engaged with your Facebook app.
- Video – Reach viewers who have watched a certain percentage of your video ads or organic videos.
- Lookalike – Have Facebook identify new potential customers who are similar to your existing audience.
Benefits of Facebook custom audiences
Some key benefits of using Facebook custom audiences include:
- Targeting relevancy – You can reach the people most likely to be interested in your product/service/cause based on data.
- Lower cost – You can achieve better results for less spend compared to broad targeting.
- High engagement – Custom audiences generate higher engagement rates on ads since you are targeting existing fans or customers.
- Remarketing – You can reconnect with people who have already visited your website or used your app to drive them back.
- Scaling reach – Using lookalike audiences, you can expand your reach to new potential customers with similar traits.
How to create a Facebook custom audience
Follow these key steps to create a Facebook custom audience for your ad campaigns:
- Select audience source – Choose what criteria you want to base your audience on, like an email list, website visitors, engagement, etc.
- Add user data – If using a customer list, upload your list of emails, phone numbers or other identifiers.
- Verify data – Facebook will match and verify the data to determine audience size.
- Name audience – Give your custom audience a descriptive name to identify it later.
- Review audience details – Facebook provides info on the matching user count, how it will expand over time, etc.
- Use for targeting – You can now select your audience when setting up Facebook ad campaigns.
It’s also possible to create similar audiences to expand your reach and combine multiple custom audiences together for targeting. Detailed targeting options are available within Facebook Ads Manager.
Tips for effective Facebook custom audiences
Here are some tips to make sure your Facebook custom audiences are set up for success:
- Start with high-intent audiences like recent customers or website visitors to maximize relevancy.
- Test different audience time windows like 30 days, 90 days or longer.
- Try lookalike audiences to extend your reach to new potential customers.
- Combine custom audiences with interests, behaviors and demographics for layered targeting.
- Monitor performance and optimize audiences over time based on ad results.
- Keep custom audiences updated by re-uploading list data periodically.
- Follow Facebook’s policies and only upload customer data you have permission to use.
Facebook custom audience size limits
Facebook places certain limits on the minimum and maximum size of custom audiences:
- Minimum size – 100 users
- Maximum size –
- Customer list audiences – no max limit
- Engagement, app activity, video audiences – 1 million users
- Website traffic audiences – 300,000 users
If your custom audience is smaller than 100 users, Facebook will not activate it since it is considered too narrow for effective ad targeting. For larger audiences that exceed the maximums, you may need to narrow your audience time frame or criteria.
Custom audience data and privacy
Facebook’s policies prohibit uploading certain types of sensitive personal data to create custom audiences. You should only upload customer contact data you have permission to use for marketing purposes.
Here are some key custom audience data privacy guidelines on Facebook:
- Obtain user consent to use data for ads
- Don’t include sensitive info like health or financial data
- Use appropriate security protections when storing and transmitting data
- Custom audiences are only visible to your business, not shared publicly
- Users can opt-out of targeting through Facebook’s ad preferences
Following these best practices ensures your custom audience approach respects user privacy according to Facebook’s requirements.
Considerations when using custom audiences
While custom audiences can provide highly targeted advertising, there are a few factors to keep in mind:
- Audience match rates may be lower than your list size, based on how many users match between your data and Facebook.
- Very specific audiences may limit audience size and require broader targeting methods too.
- Custom audiences can suffer from decay over time as users change email addresses or phone numbers.
- You still need compelling ad creative tailored to your custom audience.
- List uploads and audience creation can take time, so plan ahead.
Testing different audience criteria and continuously optimizing your approach is key to overcoming these potential downsides.
Facebook custom audience FAQs
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about Facebook custom audiences:
How much does it cost to create a custom audience?
Creating and using Facebook custom audiences is free, you only pay for the ads you run targeting your audience.
How long does it take to create a custom audience?
It typically takes 24-72 hours after uploading your customer data for Facebook to fully process and create the audience. Expect faster processing for smaller lists under 50,000 users.
Can you target multiple custom audiences?
Yes, Facebook lets you combine multiple custom audiences together to target with your ads. You can also layer custom audiences with other targeting like interests and demographics.
Do custom audiences expire?
Facebook custom audiences expire and become inactive after 12 months if not used. However, you can extend the expiration date by using or updating the audience.
What’s the difference between website custom audiences and Facebook pixel?
Website custom audiences rely on a list of website visitor data you upload, while the Facebook pixel tracks all website visitors automatically for audience creation.
| Audience type | Website custom | Facebook pixel |
|---|---|---|
| User data source | Uploaded list of users | Pixel code tracks all visitors |
| Audience size | Up to 300,000 users | No limit |
| Creation time | 24-72 hours | Automated and continuous |
Conclusion
Facebook custom audiences provide a powerful way to target your existing customers and website visitors to increase engagement and drive conversions. By uploading relevant user data and intelligently combining audiences, you can cost-effectively reach the people most likely to respond. While making sure to follow Facebook’s policies and best practices, testing and optimizing custom audiences should be a key part of your Facebook ad strategy.