So what are Custom and Lookalike Audiences? The Custom Audience feature allows you to upload your existing customer or prospect database, and then have your ads delivered to those people on Facebook. Lookalike Audiences let you reach new people on Facebook who are similar to those within a Custom Audience you have created.

After listening to feedback from our customers, receiving anecdotal advice from various sources within Facebook Australia, and recently meeting with Facebook’s Global VP of Sales & Operations Grady Burnett, I have compiled three reasons for using Custom and Lookalike Audiences.

1. Improve Fan Base Quality

In the early days of email mass adoption, you would often hear marketers bragging about the size of their email database, something we often hear now with reference to the size of their Facebook fan base.

With regard to email, we have all now learnt that greatest returns are achieved from a database of qualified members of your target audience.

Custom and Lookalike Audiences allow you to target and connect with your existing or those similar to your existing customers or prospects on Facebook, thus improving the quality of your fan base and consequently your likelihood of driving maximum engagement, direct response and overall Facebook ROI.

2. Grow ROI

Increasingly we’re seeing and hearing that Custom and Lookalike Audiences are delivering fan acquisition and engagement at a higher rate, and businesses are experiencing CTR’s that outperform when using Custom Audiences as opposed to general targeting.

And for some inside word, a source from within Facebook recently told me they are seeing up to 25X greater ROI from Custom Audience brand advertisements over brand advertisements using general targeting.

3. Achieve Scale

A concern we hear a lot is, ‘The size of my email database coupled with the response rates I expect, means the impact of Custom Audiences for me is limited’. 

Lookalike Audiences let you reach new people on Facebook that are just like you existing customers or prospects. When creating your Lookalike Audience ad, there are options for optimising for accuracy or reach.

You can select to optimise for ‘Similarity’ and then reach up to the top 1per cent of people in your selected country who look like the Custom Audience with precision. Alternately you can optimise for ‘Greater Reach’ and therefore reach up to the top 5 per cent of people in the selected country, with less precision.

The introduction of Lookalike Audiences means that value you can create from your Custom Audiences is primarily limited by your budget.

More information on Custom and Lookalike Audiences is available at facebook.com/help.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Hibberd has over 15 years digital marketing experience and is currently Co-founder & CEO of Tiger Pistol. Steve has a passion for Social Marketing, and works closely with key industry stakeholders in both Australia and the U.S. on developing product to make success on social easier to achieve for small business owners and marketers across the world.

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