Are you planning to run Facebook Ads? Maybe you want to drive awareness, generate more leads or increase your sales, Facebook Ads can definitely help you achieve your business goals.

Facebook Ads are also called Meta Ads but I will simply refer to them as Facebook Ads in this article.

If you plan to run Facebook Ads, then understanding these three types of audiences on Facebook is crucial to make your ads profitable.

Are you ready? 

Let’s dive in to explore these audience types!

New Audience on Facebook

New Audience on Facebook refers to the audience that you have never used before. Advertisers usually use this type of audience when they advertise for the first time. 

Suppose you have recently opened a coffee shop and want to create awareness in the local area. In that case, you can run ads targeting coffee lovers in that region using the New Audience type.

It is essential to have a clear understanding of the demographics, interests, and behaviours of your target audience when targeting a new audience on Facebook.

This type of audience is the most challenging to target because you don’t have any existing data or insights on which to base your targeting. 

To reach a new audience, you need to create ads that appeal to their interests and needs.

Facebook offers a range of targeting options that allow you to reach specific audiences based on factors such as age, gender, location, interests, and behaviours. 

You can also use Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences feature to create an audience that is similar to your existing customers. We will explore more on this later.

To target a new audience effectively, it is essential to test and optimize your ads continuously. 

Start with a small budget and experiment with different ad formats, images, and copy to see what resonates with your target audience. 

Use Facebook’s Ad Manager to track your ad performance and adjust your targeting and ad creatives accordingly.

Using a new audience on Facebook, you can create brand awareness and reach potential customers who are likely to be interested in your product or service. 

With the right targeting and ad creatives, you can generate leads, drive website traffic, and increase sales for your business.

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Now, let’s talk about Custome Audience.

Custom Audience on Facebook

A Custom Audience on Facebook is a powerful targeting option that allows you to reach people who are already familiar with your brand or have previously interacted with your business. 

To create a custom audience, you need to have an existing customer list. This could be email addresses or phone numbers. 

Facebook will then match this customer list with its user database. This enables you to create a targeted audience for your ads.

There are several benefits to using a custom audience for your Facebook ads. 

Firstly, you can use this audience to re-engage with your existing customers and promote new products or services to them. This is what it’s called retargeting. I’m sure you must have heard that word before.

By offering exclusive deals or discounts, you can incentivise them to make repeat purchases and increase your customer lifetime value (CLV).

Additionally, you can use a custom audience to create lookalike audiences. This is what we’ll look at in the last session of this article.

Lastly, a custom audience allows you to retarget people who have previously visited your website or interacted with your Facebook or Instagram page. 

To do this, you will need to install Facebook or Meta Pixel on your website. By installing a Facebook Pixel on your website, you can track visitors’ behaviour and create a custom audience based on their interactions. 

This audience is highly targeted and can help you promote specific products or services to people who have already shown an interest in them.

To create a custom audience, you need to upload your customer list to Facebook Ads Manager and select the matching criteria. You can then use this audience for your ad campaigns and track their performance using Facebook’s reporting tools. 

Now, let’s look at Lookalike Audience.

Lookalike Audience on Facebook

On the other side, a Lookalike audience on Facebook is a type of custom audience that allows you to reach new potential customers who share similar characteristics with your existing customers. 

You can expand your reach and target people who are likely to be interested in your product or service by using the lookalike audience.

Remember the custom audience we discussed above? You will need a custom audience to create a Lookalike audience.

Facebook would then analyzes this audience and identifies common characteristics, such as demographics, interests, behaviours, and buying patterns. 

It then uses this information to create a new audience that is similar to your existing audience.

Creating a Lookalike audience is a cost-effective way to reach new potential customers who are likely to be interested in your business. 

With Facebook’s powerful targeting options, you can ensure that your ads are shown to people who are most likely to convert. This can help you increase your return on investment (ROI) and expand your customer base.

When creating a Lookalike audience, it is important to select the right source audience. 

You should choose a custom audience that represents your ideal customer, such as high-value customers or frequent purchasers. 

This will ensure that Facebook generates a new audience that shares similar characteristics to your most valuable customers.

Another thing to note is to select the right audience size when creating a lookalike audience. An audience that is too small may not provide enough data for Facebook to generate a relevant audience, while an audience that is too large may dilute your targeting and reduce the effectiveness of your ads. 

Facebook recommends selecting an audience size between 1% to 10% of the total population of the country you are targeting. 

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, understanding the different types of audiences on Facebook can help you create more effective and profitable ad campaigns. 

The three audience types we’ve discussed in this article are New Audience, Custom Audience, and Lookalike Audience. 

New Audience refers to people who haven’t interacted with your business before, while Custom Audience includes people who have engaged with your business before, such as existing customers or website visitors. 

Lookalike Audience, on the other hand, allows you to reach new potential customers who share similar characteristics to your existing customers. 

By using these audience types, you can create more targeted and relevant ad campaigns, increase your ROI, and grow your business. 

It’s important to select the right audience type and size and to continually test and optimize your ad campaigns for maximum effectiveness.

Over to you.

What is your experience with using Facebook’s different audience types for your ad campaigns? Which audience type has been most effective for your business and why?

I look forward to reading from you in the comments section.