Have youย heard people talking about custom audiencesย on Facebook, and wondered what the heck it's all about?
Or have you got as far asย trying to create one…..but found your list or website traffic is too small to do it?
In this article, I want to explain what a custom audience is, and show you a neat Facebook feature you can easily use to build one – even if you're just getting started or have a tiny email list!
What is a Custom Audience?
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Here's how Facebook describes it:
“A Custom Audience from a customer list is a type of audience you can create made up of your existing customers. You can target ads to the audience you've created on Facebook, Instagram, and Audience Network.”
Theย most commonย ways of creating a custom audience are:
- From your email list: Youย upload your email list into your Ads Manager account. Facebook then matches theย people on your list to the people on Facebook. You can target ads to these people.
- From visitors to your website:ย this matches people who visit your website with people who are on ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Facebook. To create this audience, you need to have the Facebook pixel installed on your website. You can then target your Facebook ads to any group of visitors to your site.
The problem with these options, is that you may not have sufficient visitors to your site, or emails in your list, to create a custom audience. So then what?
Custom Engagement Audiences
Facebook recently rolled out a new feature that allows you to create custom audiences from people that engage with your content on Facebook.
You can now create anย audience from the people who have viewed every video you post on your Facebook business page!
What makes this exciting, is thatย Facebook loves video. It pushes it onto more newsfeeds than any other type of content.ย And, if you promote your video posts, you can quickly reach even more people for very little cost. For example, I recently promoted a Facebook Live, with each videoย view costing only ยฃ0.004. (Yes, you read that right!)ย
So you can very quickly reach a hugeย audience with your videos. And then create an audience from the people who watched it! Use that audience in your Facebook ads targeting, and you can pop an ad right into the newsfeed or mobile of anyone who watched your videos.
If you're not sure how to go about creating a Facebook ad, download my handy checklist to guide you through the essential steps.
So how do I set this all up?
In the video below, I walk you through all the steps to create a custom engagement audience. Just watch and follow along, and you'll be good to go.
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Next Steps
If you're already using Facebook Live and/or creating videos you can post straight into Facebook, then you're good to go. Just follow the video above, and when it comes to choosing the videos you want to include in your audience, tick the checkbox next to every oneย onย the list.ย
If you're new to video and haven't been using it on your Facebook page, then now's the time to get started! Create some simple ‘How to' videos, or do a Facebook Live broadcast where you talk about a topic that will be of interest to your target audience. Then promote your video posts by creating a ‘Post Engagement' ad within your Ads Manager. You'll build up your audience in no time – without emptying your wallet!
How have you used custom engagement audiences? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below.ย