Leveraging Lookalike and Custom Audiences For Better Results In Your Paid Social Campaigns

Understanding custom audiences 

What are custom audiences? 

Custom audiences allow you to target your ads to people who have already interacted with your business. These are people who have visited your website, engaged with your social media posts, or are on your email list. By targeting this group, you can create highly relevant and personalised ads. 

How do you create custom audiences? 

1. Website traffic: use the Facebook Pixel or similar tools to track visitors to your website and create an audience based on their behaviour. You can target users who visited specific pages, spent a certain amount of time on your site, or completed actions such as making a purchase. 

2. Customer lists: upload your customer email list to the advertising platform you’re using. Make sure your list is clean and up-to-date for the best results 

3. App activity: if you have a mobile app, you can create audiences based on user activity within the app, such as installs, purchases, or specific in-app actions. 

4. Engagement: target users who have interacted with your content on social media, including video views, lead for completions or page likes. 

Benefits of custom audiences 

Here are just some of the benefits of utilising custom audiences in your paid social campaigns: 

• Relevance: You’re targeting people who are already aware of your brand, increasing the likelihood of conversions. 
• Personalisation: Tailor your ads to specific behaviours and interests, making them more compelling. 
• Efficiency: By focusing on a smaller, more relevant audience, you can make better user of your budget. 

Exploring lookalike audiences 

What are lookalike audiences? 

Lookalike audiences help you find new potential customers by targeting people who share characteristics with your existing customers or custom audiences. These audiences are generated using data such as demographics, interests, and behaviours. 

How to create lookalike audiences 

1. Choose a source audience: This can be a custom audience, a list of your best customers, or visitors who completed specific actions on your website. 

2. Choose the audience size: You can choose a percentage of the population to target. A smaller percentage means a more closely matched audience but a smaller reach, while a larger percentage increases reach but might be less precise. 

Benefits of lookalike audiences 

Here are just some of the benefits: 

• Scalability: easily expand your reach by finding new people who are likely to be interested in your products or services. 
• Cost-effective: since these audiences are similar to your best customers, they are more likely to convert, providing a better return on investment. 
• Automation: the platform does the heavy lifting, identifying and targeting users who match your desired profile. 

Best practices for using lookalike and custom audiences

Segment your audiences 

Don’t lump all your users into one audience. Segment them based on behaviour, demographics, or purchase history to create more targeted and effective campaigns. 

Test and optimise

Regularly test different audiences and ad creatives to see what performs best. Use A/B testing to compare the effectiveness of different strategies and continually refine your approach based on the results. 

Leverage retargeting 

Combine the custom and lookalike audiences with retargeting strategies to keep your brand top-of-mind. For example, show ads to users who abandoned their shopping cart or visited a product page without making a purchase. 

Monitor and adjust 

Keep a close eye on your campaign performance. Use the data to make informed adjustments, whether it’s tweaking your audience settings, changing ad creatives, or reallocating your budget to the best-performing ads. 

Key takeaways 

Leveraging lookalike and custom audiences can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your paid social campaigns, ensuring you get the most from your budget. By targeting the right people with relevant and personalised ads, you can drive better results and achieve your business goals. 

Whether you need assistance with audience creation, ad management or a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, our team of experts is ready to support you. 

Request a free digital marketing audit to find out how we can help you make the most of your social media advertising budget and drive sustainable growth for your business.