How to Create Custom Audiences for Facebook Ads

If you’ve ever run Facebook ads and struggled with low engagement, high cost per click, or poor conversion rates, there’s one powerful solution Custom Audiences.

Facebook Custom Audiences allow you to target people who already know your brand whether they visited your website, engaged with your posts, watched your videos, or signed up for your newsletter. This significantly increases relevance, engagement, and ROI of your ads.

In this guide, you’ll learn what custom audiences are, how to create them, and pro tips to use them effectively in 2025.

🧠 What is a Facebook Custom Audience?

A Custom Audience is a list of users on Facebook and Instagram who have interacted with your business in some way. You can create it using:

• Website traffic
• Customer email lists
• App users
• Social media engagement
• Video views
• Shopping behavior

Think of it as retargeting people who’ve already shown interest in your business.

✅ Why Use Custom Audiences?

Custom Audiences help you:

• 🎯 Retarget warm leads
• 💰 Reduce ad costs
• 🔁 Improve conversions
• 👥 Create Lookalike Audiences
• 📈 Increase return on ad spend (ROAS)

Rather than advertising to strangers, you show ads to people who already trust or know you.

🛠️ Prerequisites Before You Start

Before you create Custom Audiences, make sure:

1. Your Facebook Pixel is installed on your website
2. Your business has a Facebook Business Manager account
3. You have an ad account and access to Audience Manager
4. You’ve collected some kind of user data (email list, traffic, engagement, etc.)

Now let’s dive in.

🔧 How to Create Custom Audiences on Facebook

🔗 Step 1: Open Audience Manager

1. Go to Facebook Ads Manager
2. Click the menu (☰) in the top-left corner
3. Under Assets, click Audiences

🎯 Step 2: Click “Create Audience” → “Custom Audience”

You’ll see three audience types:

• Custom Audience
• Lookalike Audience
• Saved Audience

👉 Select Custom Audience

🔍 Step 3: Choose Your Source

Now you’ll see data source options to build your Custom Audience:

🖥️ 1. Website

Target people who visited your website.

💡 Requires Facebook Pixel installed.

You can filter by:

• All visitors
• Specific page visits (like “/thank-you” pages)
• Time spent on site (top 25%)
• Events (like Add to Cart, Purchase, etc.)

📧 2. Customer List (Email or Phone)

Upload a CSV of your customers, leads, or subscribers.

Make sure your data is clean and labeled properly.

📲 3. App Activity

If you have a mobile app connected to Facebook, you can target users based on actions inside the app.

📹 4. Video Views

Target users who’ve watched a percentage of your video ads or organic videos.

Example: Create a Custom Audience of people who watched 50% of your latest video.

💬 5. Facebook Page Engagement

Target people who interacted with your page:

• Liked a post
• Saved a post
• Sent a message
• Clicked on a CTA

🛒 6. Instagram Account

Same as above — but for Instagram engagement.

🛍️ 7. Shopping

Target people who:

• Viewed products in your Facebook/IG shop
• Added products to cart
• Purchased

📄 8. Lead Forms

Target users who:

• Opened a lead form
• Submitted a lead form

🧱 Step 4: Define Audience Conditions

After selecting the source, you’ll need to:

• Choose time frame (up to 180 days for most sources)
• Set conditions (ex: people who visited a specific page)
• Name your audience clearly (ex: “Product Page Visitors – 30 Days”)

📌 You can create multiple custom audiences based on different behaviors.

💾 Step 5: Save Your Audience

Click Create Audience and Facebook will start populating it. It may take a few minutes or hours, depending on the size.

You’ll see the audience status as “Populating” until it’s ready.

🧩 Pro Tips to Use Custom Audiences Effectively

1. 💥 Retarget Abandoned Carts

Create a custom audience of people who added to cart but didn’t buy. Show them ads with:

• Discounts
• Free shipping
• Urgency (“Only a few left!”)

2. 🎯 Segment by Page Views

Not all visitors are equal. Create separate audiences for:

• Homepage visitors
• Product page visitors
• Thank-you page visitors (buyers)

Target each segment with personalized ads.

3. 📹 Video View Funnel

• Audience 1: People who watched 25% of a video → show product demo
• Audience 2: People who watched 75% → show offer or testimonial

It’s like building a video sales funnel!

4. 🔁 Frequency Control

Avoid annoying your audience. Rotate creatives and exclude people who’ve already converted using a “Purchase” custom audience.

5. 👥 Build Lookalike Audiences

Once your Custom Audience has at least 1000 users, create a Lookalike Audience to target similar people.

Example: Create a Lookalike of your best customers → scale your ads faster.

🧠 Example Custom Audience Ideas by Business Type

📈 How to Track Performance

In Ads Manager:

• View the audience size and match rate
• Create an ad set targeting your Custom Audience
• Monitor CPM, CTR, CPC, and Conversions

If performance drops:

• Refresh your audience
• Try a new lookalike
• Change ad creative

🛑 Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Not excluding converted users → wasted budget
❌ Uploading unclean or outdated email lists
❌ Using audiences smaller than 100 users
❌ Forgetting to test multiple sources
❌ Ignoring video viewers and engagers

🛠️ Tools to Help Build & Manage Custom Audiences

🔁 How Often Should You Refresh Custom Audiences?

• Website Traffic: Every 30–90 days
• Email List Upload: Weekly or Monthly
• Video Views & Engagement: As new content goes live
• Purchase Events: Daily if connected via Pixel

This ensures your retargeting ads are always relevant.

💡 Final Thoughts

Custom Audiences are the secret weapon of Facebook Ads. They let you advertise smarter, not harder by reaching people who are already interested in what you offer.

Whether you’re running a small business or managing multiple campaigns, using Custom Audiences properly can:

• 🚀 Increase conversions
• 💸 Lower ad costs
• 📈 Improve overall ROI