Create and use a custom audience

Custom audiences are targeting options that let you find people on Facebook who are already familiar with your business. Custom audiences can be included or excluded along with the rest of a campaign’s defined audience during campaign creation.

Audiences are associated and available to use with specific ad accounts, and are imported automatically from Facebook. Custom audiences can't be copied between ad accounts. Custom audiences are found in the Asset Manager.

To create and use a custom audience, your ad account needs to accept the following Facebook Custom Audience Terms of Service: Tools Terms and Custom Audience Terms. Check these links to make sure the ad account you're using has accepted these terms. The terms must be accepted while being signed into Facebook as the same Facebook user who imported the ad account.

Custom audiences can be created from one of the following:

• Traffic to your website (requires a pixel installed in your website)
• Engagement with your Facebook Page
• Engagement with one of your videos
• A CSV file upload of data you already have
• A lookalike audience
• User lists from a CRM

And then loaded during campaign creation to include or exclude with the rest of your target.

The maximum number of custom audiences that can be created per account varies by audience type.

Create a custom audience

Create a custom audience in Legacy Hootsuite Ads that retargets users who have visited a specific or any page on your website, who have shown interest in your Facebook Page's video content, or who have visited or engaged with your Page.

1. Click Tools on the main navigation bar, and then click Asset Manager.
2. Select the correct ad account folder and subfolder from the list on the left.
3. Click New Asset in the top-right corner, and then select Custom Audience.
   
4. Click Custom Audience, select a source for your custom audience, and then click Next.
   
5. Enter a name for the custom audience, complete the rest of the configuration fields, and then click Create.

The maximum number of website custom audiences that can be created per account is 10,000.

Create a custom audience from a CSV data file

Upload a CSV file (Google Sheets and Excel support .csv format) of either customer email addresses or phone numbers. Format each file with a single column list, one email/phone number per row, and without a heading. Ensure there is no leading or ending space, and that all characters are lowercase. For phone numbers, ensure there are no symbols, letters, or leading zeros. E.g. 15559876543

1. Click Tools on the main navigation bar, and then select Asset Manager.
2. Select the correct ad account folder and subfolder from the list on the left.
3. Click New Asset in the top-right corner, and then select Custom Audience.
4. Click Custom Audience, select From Data File, and then click Next.
5. Enter a name and description for the audience, and then select the Data origin and Type.
6. Click Choose a file, select your .csv file from your computer, and then click Open.
7. Click Create.

There is no limit to the number of users in a custom audience, but only 10,000 can be uploaded in a single file. Continue adding to your audience with multiple uploads.
The maximum number of email or phone number audiences that can be created per account is 500.

Create a lookalike audience

Lookalike audiences are people identified by Facebook who are like an existing source audience based on commonalities like demographics or interests. Create a lookalike audience that’s like the people who have liked your Facebook Page, or that's like any of your existing custom audiences. Sources must contain at least 100 people from the same country to be used to create a lookalike audience.

1. Click Tools on the main navigation bar, and then select Asset Manager.
2. Select the correct ad account folder and subfolder from the list on the left.
3. Click New Asset in the top-right corner, and then select Custom Audience.
4. Click Lookalike Audience, select From Page Likes or From Existing Audience, and then click Next.
5. From Existing Audience: Click Search an existing custom audience, enter the name of an existing audience, and then select it from the list.
6. Enter a name for the lookalike audience, complete the remaining configuration fields, and then click Create.

You can also create a lookalike from any custom audience in your Asset Manager list by clicking Actions , and then Create Lookalike.

It can take some time for your lookalike audience to be created and ready to use in a new campaign. The maximum number of lookalike audiences that can be created per account is 500.

Use a custom audience in a campaign

Include a custom audience as part of the whole audience targeted with a campaign. Custom audiences can’t be used in campaign targeting until they contain at least 1000 users.

1. On the Audience step (3), scroll down to the Custom Audiences section.
2. Search for the name of a custom audience associated with the ad account you’re using to create the campaign.
3. You can choose to Include or Exclude multiple custom audiences from your campaign’s target audience.