| Say, you are the owner of a coaching institute which conducts classes on Science subjects. You have customers/students who fit a particular bill…either by particular age group, location or a specific interest, in this case science subjects. Now, if these students are on Facebook (which is most likely they are), there is a very high possibility that their Facebook profiles will also reflect their interests. They will have liked Facebook pages related to science, post status messages related to a science subject etc. |
How does Lookalike Audience work?
| 1 | Like you can see in the image below, you have a set of email IDs of your existing customers. |
| 2 | You upload them into Facebook as a CSV or TXT file. |
| 3 | Facebook encrypts this data and matches against the data that it already has. Facebook has the data because most people log into Facebook with their personal IDs. |
| 4 | The matched set of people become your ‘Custom Audience’. |
| 5 | When you create a Lookalike Audience (explained in detail later), you create a ‘clone’ of the custom audience list. This way you find similar people on Facebook with the same interests as your custom audience. Lookalike Audience helps you enhance your reach. |
How to create Lookalike Audience on Facebook?
Creating lookalike audience is really easy.
Step 1: You have to have an existing Custom Audience database. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you create a Custom audience on Facebook.
Step 2: Once your custom audience list has been updated, click on the tab that you want to make a lookalike audience for. Like, in the image shown below I want to create a lookalike audience for my ‘Free DVD Ads’ custom audience, hence I have selected it.
Step 3: Once you click on the ‘Create Similar Audience’ button, you will be able to view this window that you see below.
**You can select the list from only one country. Like in the image shown below, I have selected the list from India.**
Step 4: Choose the country where you want to find a similar set of people (lookalike audience) and select whether you want to optimize for similarity or greater reach. What is this? I will explain it to you.
Similarity – Your lookalike audience will include the top 1% of people in your selected country who are most similar to your custom audience. Yes, the reach of this audience will be smaller, but very precise. This option is good for marketers who want to target a very specific group or have a limited budget.
Greater Reach – Your lookalike audience will include the top 5% of people in your selected country that are similar to your custom audience. But, it will have a less precise match. This option is good for marketers who want to get their message in front of more people who are likely to be interested in their business.
Step 5: Once you have made your selection, click ‘Create’ to get your lookalike audience. Finally, once you are done, you will be able to see this window which will show your lookalike audience. Be patient, for this may take up to 24 hours to create (once it is updated, it will show ‘Ready’).
How Marketers can benefit from Facebook’s Lookalike Audience?
| Reach the ‘right’ kind of people | Since the set of people you are targeting here is almost like a ‘clone’ of the set of people in your custom audience, their tastes and interests are also very similar. This way, your target group is very relevant to your ad. You reach larger number of people with accuracy. |
| Increased ROI | Since the ads using custom or lookalike audience is highly targeted, chances are that most people will like your ad, or even purchase and become customers. |
| Increased Fan Base | Since Facebook lookalike audience is build off of custom audience, your ad is served to more people. And since they are people who are more likely to become your ‘fans’, it automatically increases your fan base. |
Reach the right people with the right message. Try your own Lookalike Audience on Facebook. Drop me a comment and let me know what results you are seeing.
Add custom tabs on your Facebook pages that link to LeadSquared’s landing pages here.
