A Custom Audience is a targeting feature that enables advertisers to reach a specific group of individuals who have previously interacted with their business. This audience can include people who have visited your website, engaged with your Facebook or Instagram page, or interacted with your lead forms and other ad content. By using Custom Audiences, you can re-engage these users with tailored ad campaigns, enhancing the relevance and effectiveness of your advertising efforts. In this article, we will dive into creating Custom Audiences and utilizing them during the campaign creation process in Ad Manager.

Getting Started

To get started, go to the Ad Manager section within Marketing and click on the Settings option.

Next, navigate to the Audiences tab and click the “+ Create New Audience” button. 

From the available options, select Custom Audience to proceed.

Alternatively, you can create a custom audience during the campaign creation process. In the Budget and Audience step, navigate to the Retargeting tab within the Audience Controls section. From there, click the dropdown menu under "Create new" or select "Retargeting Audience," where "Create a Custom Audience" will be the first option.

Creating a Custom Audience involves two main steps:

Select a Source

Clicking Create a Custom Audience opens a modal dialog to choose a source for the custom audience. Options include: Website, Facebook Page, and Lead Form.

Configure Details

Next, you will configure the specifics of the custom audience based on the chosen source.

Website Custom Audience

• Pixel: Select from available pixels.
• Events: Choose from "All website visitors" or "Visitors by time spent" and set a percentile for the latter. 
  You have two options for targeting website visitors:
  • All Website Visitors: Includes all individuals who have visited or interacted with your website.
  • Visitors by Time Spent: Targets those who have spent the most time on your website, with the option to narrow down further by selecting a specific percentile.

• Audience Retention: Define the number of days users remain in the audience, up to 30 days.
• Audience Name: Add a name to the audience to identify it easily.

Configure the remaining fields according to your preferences to tailor the Custom Audience to your specific targeting needs.

📌 Note: You can add up to four additional clauses similar to the ones described. These clauses can be included or excluded by using the Include more people and Exclude people options, respectively.

Facebook Page Custom Audience

By selecting Facebook Page as the custom audience source in the initial dialog, you can create an audience of individuals who follow or have interacted with your page. In the subsequent step, you can define the specifics of this audience.

• Page: Select from integrated pages.
• Events: Choose from 7 event options related to page interactions.
• Audience Retention: Define the number of days users remain in the audience, up to 365 days.
• Audience Name: Add a name to the audience to identify it easily.

Configure the remaining fields according to your preferences to tailor the Custom Audience to your specific targeting needs.

📌 Note: You can add up to four additional clauses similar to the ones described. These clauses can be included or excluded by using the Include more people and Exclude people options, respectively.

Lead Form Custom Audience

By selecting Lead Form as the custom audience source in the initial dialog, you can create an audience of individuals who have opened or completed a form from one of your lead generation ads on Facebook or Instagram. Define the specifics of this audience in the next step.

• Events: Choose the event that will serve as the basis for your audience creation. You can select from:
  • Users who opened and submitted form
  • Users who opened but didn’t submit form
  • Anyone who opened the form
• Page: Select from integrated pages.
• Lead Form: Choose from forms associated with the selected page.
• Audience Retention: Define the number of days users remain in the audience, up to 90 days.
• Audience Name: Add a name to the audience to identify it easily.

📌 Note: You can add up to four additional clauses similar to the ones described. These clauses can be included or excluded by using the Include more people and Exclude people options, respectively.

Finalizing Your Custom Audience

Once you have completed all the required fields, click the "Create Audience" button to save your Custom Audience. It will be available for campaign targeting once its status is marked as ready.

By following these steps, you can effectively create and utilize Custom Audiences to enhance your Ad Manager campaigns.