Custom audience

In the world of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, a custom audience is a targeted group of individuals that have been selected by the advertiser to receive a specific advertisement or set of advertisements. This targeting is based on specific criteria, such as demographics, interests, behaviours, and other characteristics. Custom audiences allow advertisers to effectively reach their desired audience and optimise the performance of their campaigns.

How Custom Audiences Work

Custom audiences are created by uploading a list of customer or prospect data, such as email addresses or phone numbers, to the advertiser's advertising platform (e.g. Google Ads, Facebook Ads). The platform then matches this data with user accounts on its platform and adds these users to the advertiser's custom audience.

Once the custom audience has been established, the advertiser can create targeted campaigns that will only be served to users within the custom audience. This can be done through the use of audience targeting options within the advertising platform, such as “custom audience” or “lookalike audience.”

Benefits of Using Custom Audiences

There are several benefits to using custom audiences in PPC advertising:

• Increased relevance: By targeting specific individuals, advertisers can create more relevant and personalised advertisements for their audience. This can lead to higher engagement and conversion rates.
• Improved ROI: By targeting only those individuals who are most likely to be interested in the product or service being advertised, advertisers can improve the return on investment (ROI) of their campaigns.
• Greater efficiency: Custom audiences allow advertisers to use their ad spend more efficiently, as they are targeting a specific group of individuals rather than a broad, less defined audience.

Types of Custom Audiences

There are several types of custom audiences that advertisers can create, including:

• Customer lists: This type of custom audience is created by uploading a list of current customers or clients to the advertising platform. Advertisers can then target their campaigns to this group.
• Website visitors: Advertisers can create a custom audience of individuals who have visited their website by installing a tracking pixel on their site. This pixel will collect data on website visitors and allow the advertiser to target their campaigns to this group.
• App users: Advertisers can create a custom audience of individuals who have downloaded and used their mobile app. This can be done by integrating the advertising platform's SDK into the app.
• Offline events: Advertisers can create a custom audience of individuals who have attended a specific event, such as a trade show or conference, by collecting their contact information at the event and uploading it to the advertising platform.

Creating Custom Audiences

The process for creating a custom audience varies depending on the advertising platform being used. Here is a general overview of the steps involved:

1. Identify the criteria for your custom audience, such as demographics, interests, behaviours, etc.
2. Collect the necessary data, such as email addresses or phone numbers.
3. Upload the data to the advertising platform.
4. Create a custom audience within the platform using the uploaded data.
5. Create targeted campaigns that will be served to the custom audience.

Measuring the Success of Custom Audiences

To measure the success of custom audiences, advertisers can track the performance of their campaigns using metrics such as:

• Impressions: The number of times the advertisement was displayed to users.
• Clicks: The number of times the advertisement was clicked on by users.
• Conversions: The number of times the advertisement resulted in a desired action, such as a purchase or sign-up.
• Cost per conversion: The cost of the campaign divided by the number of conversions.
• Return on ad spend (ROAS): The revenue generated from the campaign divided by the cost of the campaign.

Tips for Creating Effective Custom Audiences

Here are some tips for creating effective custom audiences:

• Be specific: The more specific the criteria for your custom audience, the more targeted and relevant your campaigns will be.
• Use a combination of criteria: Using multiple criteria, such as demographics and behaviours, can help create a more comprehensive and effective custom audience.
• Test different segments: Try creating and targeting multiple custom audiences with different criteria to see which performs the best.
• Keep your data up to date: Make sure to regularly update your custom audience data to ensure that you are targeting the most accurate and relevant group of individuals.

FAQ

Can I create a custom audience on any advertising platform?

Most major advertising platforms, such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads, offer the ability to create custom audiences. However, the specific options and steps for creating a custom audience may vary from platform to platform.

Can I target a custom audience with any type of campaign?

Custom audiences can be targeted with most types of campaigns, including search, display, social media, and email campaigns.

Can I create a custom audience from multiple sources of data?

Yes, it is possible to create a custom audience from multiple sources of data. For example, you could create a custom audience from a list of email addresses and a list of phone numbers.

How do I prevent invalid traffic when using custom audiences?

Invalid traffic, also known as fraudulent traffic, can waste ad spend and negatively impact the performance of campaigns. To prevent invalid traffic, advertisers can use tools such as Lunio, which is a solution specifically designed to prevent wasted ad spend and improve conversions.