Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Custom Audiences on Facebook
Facebook Custom Audiences are a powerful tool that enables businesses to reach people who have already interacted with their brand—whether by visiting a website, engaging with content, or subscribing to an email list. Using Custom Audiences allows you to target these users directly, increasing your chances of conversions and boosting your return on investment (ROI) for ad campaigns.
In this guide, we'll walk you through the process of setting up Custom Audiences in Facebook Ads Manager, helping you make the most out of your marketing efforts.
Step 1: Access Facebook Ads Manager
To get started, you'll need access to Facebook Ads Manager. This is Facebook's platform for managing advertising campaigns, and it's where you'll create, manage, and track your Custom Audiences.
Log into your Facebook Business account.
Navigate to Ads Manager by clicking the dropdown menu in the top-right corner and selecting “Ads Manager.”
If you haven’t used Ads Manager before, you may need to set up a Business Manager account first, which you can do from the same dropdown menu.
Step 2: Create a Custom Audience
Once you're in Ads Manager, you're ready to create your Custom Audience.
Click on the three horizontal lines (hamburger icon) in the top-left corner to open the main menu.
Select “Audiences” under the “Assets” column.
In the Audiences dashboard, click the “Create Audience” button and choose “Custom Audience” from the dropdown menu.
Facebook will now give you several options for the source of your Custom Audience. You can create a Custom Audience from website traffic, customer lists, app activity, video views, and more.
Step 3: Choose Your Custom Audience Source
Facebook allows you to build Custom Audiences from various data sources. Let's explore the most common ones and how to set them up:
1. Website Traffic (Pixel-Based Retargeting)
This option allows you to retarget visitors who have interacted with your website. It requires that you have the Facebook Pixel installed on your site (the Pixel tracks user behavior and feeds the data back to Facebook).
To create a Custom Audience from website traffic:
Select “Website Traffic” as your source.
Choose the specific segment of website visitors you want to target, such as:
All website visitors
People who visited specific pages (e.g., product pages or blog posts)
Visitors based on time spent (e.g., top 25% of time spent on your site)
Set the retention period for the audience (how far back you want to track website visitors). The default is 30 days, but you can customize this up to 180 days.
Name your audience and click “Create Audience.”
Once you’ve created this Custom Audience, Facebook will start collecting data from the Pixel to build your retargeting list.
2. Customer List (Email List Retargeting)
You can upload a list of customer emails, phone numbers, or other contact information to Facebook, which will then match this data with user profiles to create a Custom Audience.
To set up an audience based on a customer list:
Choose “Customer List” as your source.
Prepare your customer data in CSV or TXT format (Facebook provides a template you can download to format your list correctly).
Upload your customer file. You can also include additional identifiers, such as name, phone number, or ZIP code, to improve matching accuracy.
Map the columns of your file to the correct data fields (e.g., "Email" or "Phone Number").
Name your audience and click “Next” to create the Custom Audience.
3. App Activity
If you have a mobile app connected to Facebook's SDK, you can create a Custom Audience based on in-app activity. For example, you can target people who recently installed your app or those who completed certain actions within the app (like making a purchase).
To create a Custom Audience from app activity:
Select “App Activity” as your source.
Choose the app you want to track.
Specify the action you want to target (e.g., “installed app” or “purchased product”).
Set your retention period and name the audience.
4. Engagement on Facebook or Instagram
This source allows you to target users who have engaged with your content on Facebook or Instagram—whether they liked a post, commented on an ad, or clicked on a link.
To create an audience from engagement:
Choose “Engagement” as your source.
Select the type of engagement to target, such as:
Video views: People who have watched a percentage of your videos.
Lead forms: People who have opened or submitted forms on your lead generation ads.
Instagram business profile: People who have interacted with your Instagram content.
Set the engagement time frame (e.g., target users who engaged with your posts in the last 30 days).
Name your audience and click “Create Audience.”
5. Video Views
If you regularly share video content on Facebook, you can create Custom Audiences based on the percentage of the video watched (e.g., people who viewed 50% or more). This is highly useful for retargeting people who showed significant interest in your video content.
To create a Custom Audience from video views:
Select “Video” as your source.
Choose which videos you want to track.
Select the percentage of the video watched (e.g., 25%, 50%, or 75%).
Set the retention period and name your audience.
6. Instagram Business Profile Engagement
For businesses that rely on Instagram as part of their marketing strategy, you can create a Custom Audience based on users who have interacted with your Instagram profile, posts, or ads.
To create an Instagram engagement audience:
Select “Instagram Business Profile” as your source.
Choose the type of interaction to target:
Everyone who engaged with your profile
People who sent you a message
People who saved your posts
Set the retention period and name the audience.
Step 4: Refine Your Audience with Filters
Once you've chosen your Custom Audience source, you can refine it with additional filters to ensure you're targeting the right people. For example:
Frequency of visits (e.g., people who visited your website more than once).
Location (e.g., users from a specific country or city).
Device type (e.g., mobile vs. desktop users).
The more specific you can be with your audience segmentation, the more effective your retargeting campaigns will be.
Step 5: Save and Use Your Audience in Campaigns
After creating your Custom Audience, it's now saved in Ads Manager and can be used across different ad campaigns. To use it:
When creating an ad campaign in Ads Manager, navigate to the Ad Set section.
In the Audience section, choose “Use a Saved Audience” and select your Custom Audience from the list.
Set up your ad and run your campaign as usual, targeting the custom segment you've just created.
Step 6: Build Lookalike Audiences (Optional)
Once you have a Custom Audience, you can take things a step further by creating a Lookalike Audience. This helps you find new users who share similar characteristics and behaviors with your existing customers.
To create a Lookalike Audience:
In the Audiences section of Ads Manager, click “Create Audience” and select “Lookalike Audience.”
Choose the Custom Audience you want to base it on.
Select the location and audience size (1% to 10% of the population in a selected region—the lower the percentage, the more closely the Lookalike Audience will match your source audience).
Name the Lookalike Audience and click “Create Audience.”
Step 7: Monitor and Adjust Your Audiences
Once your Custom Audiences are set up, it's important to regularly review their performance. Monitor metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and return on ad spend (ROAS) to see how well your Custom Audiences are performing. You can adjust the parameters of your audiences as needed to improve your results.
Conclusion
Setting up Custom Audiences in Facebook Ads Manager is an essential strategy for retargeting users who have already interacted with your brand. Whether you're targeting website visitors, email subscribers, or people who have engaged with your social media content, Custom Audiences allow you to create personalized, high-converting campaigns that are more likely to drive sales and engagement.
By following this step-by-step guide, you'll be well on your way to building effective Custom Audiences that boost the impact of your Facebook ad campaigns. Happy targeting!
