If you have been on the social media marketing scene for a while, you’ve probably heard people mention lookalike audiences and related terms. But, what are lookalike audiences all about? More importantly, how do you create a lookalike audience on Facebook?

Keep reading to find out!

Over the years, Facebook has become one of the most popular advertising and marketing platforms on the internet.

Why?

The social media giant has the largest user base you’ll find on the web today. Not just that, Facebook also offers some of the most effective tools for productive digital marketing.

One of such tools is lookalike audience marketing, which allows you to specifically target people who have interacted with your eCommerce business before.

In other words, potential customers (or existing customers) who already know about you and are likely interested in your stuff.

But is that all there is to know about lookalike audiences on Facebook, and how do you create one? 

The following few paragraphs will answer your questions.

What is a Facebook Lookalike Audience?

In simple terms, Facebook Lookalike Audience is a simple ad targeting option that creates a new audience based on the characteristics of your current audience.

In this case, your existing audience, who will be the blueprint for the new one, will include people who previously interacted with your business.

Here’s the idea. 

Facebook helps you figure out potential customers who are more likely to take actions on your ads by examining factors such as:

• Interactions (Likes, Shares, Comments)
• Interests
• Previous ad actions.

This way, you can skip the hassle of having to come up with a new audience list manually.

With this strategy, you have a better idea about who’s viewing your ads. So, you can do your ad campaign targeting with laser-like precision.

Of course, this can significantly boost your conversion rates and marketing ROI.

Benefits of Facebook Lookalike Audiences for eCommerce

Now that you know what lookalike audiences are, you’re likely wondering if your eCommerce needs one (or three).

Well, here are some of the top advantages Facebook lookalike audiences offer your social media marketing efforts:

Improve Your Ad Targeting

When you run an eCommerce business, you need to make sure that you advertise to the right target audience.

By using the details from Facebook Lookalike, you can help your brand develop targeted promotional efforts that are sent to the best possible prospects. 

Lesser Cost On Ad Targeting

With lookalike audience ads on Facebook, you don’t need to waste your advertising budget.

Why?

You know the exact set of people you’re trying to reach with your marketing efforts. In other words, you don’t have to waste money casting a large net randomly and hoping something swims into it.

Improve Your ROI

The specific ad targeting that lookalike audiences offer you means people that see your ads are likely already interested in the products or services you offers.

So, chances are your conversion rates will likely improve, and you’d enjoy better returns on your ad investment. 

Regularly Monitor Performance

The lookalike audience advertising on Facebook does not only come with better targeting options for your marketing efforts.

But, it also ensures that you can follow up and monitor how your ads are doing in real-time.

Reach People Outside Your List of Regular Customers

Expanding your marketing reach is almost always a good move, especially when you make an informed decision.

Fortunately, when you create a lookalike audience on Facebook, you expand your reach to people who have not seen your ads before and are likely to buy from you.

Facebook Lookalike Audience: Essential Points to Note

Before we walk you through how to create a lookalike audience on Facebook, here is some vital information you need to know:

• You must have an existing source audience before you can create a lookalike audience for Facebook.
• A single source audience will produce as many as 500 lookalike audiences.
• Your source audiences must contain at least 100 people from a single country.
• Lookalike audiences are based on your location and will only display your ads to people in those locations.
• The lookalike expansion feature allows you to show something to people outside your lookalike audience.
• Members of your source audience will not appear in your lookalike audience.
• You can use more than one lookalike audience for the same ad campaign. In this case, Facebook will send your ads to recipients in any of your lookalike audiences.

That said, let’s jump into our guide on creating lookalike Facebook audiences.

How to Create a Lookalike Audience on Facebook for eCommerce

Facebook has made the process relatively straightforward. However, the number of options can make things a bit overwhelming.

Not to worry, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know.

• Log into your Facebook Ads Manager account.
• Next, locate the ‘Create Audience’ dropdown menu. You’ll find it in the top left-hand corner of your screen.
• From the list of options, choose ‘Lookalike Audience.’
• The next step is to select a source for your lookalike audience. You may choose to use Pixel or app date or a custom audience you’ve compiled from your customer info.
• Once you’ve selected your source, you’ll get a prompt to choose a region for your Facebook lookalike audience. Choose an audience location for the people or region you want to target.
• Then, you have to decide on your audience size. Facebook offers this option on a scale of 1 to 10. Your lookalike audience will have more similarities with smaller numbers, while larger numbers will increase your reach. Depending on the number you decide on, Facebook will give you an estimate on the reach.

Pro Tip: Creating your lookalike audience on Facebook may take six to 24 hours. But, you can still proceed to the ad creation step.

• To check if your lookalike audience is ready, click on Tools in your Adverts Manager. Then, select Audiences. If it’s ready, the lookalike audience will show up here. You can then go on to create your advert.

Wrap Up

If you’re looking to create your first lookalike audience on Facebook, it can understandably seem like an overwhelming process.

Well, now you can see it’s really not. We hope this guide helps you on your way to better ad targeting and improved marketing ROIs with Facebook lookalike audiences.