Facebook advertising. Even traditional marketers salivate at the idea of being able to target their ad dollars so specifically. But now Facebook is upping the ante and has added a new feature that my team at Evoke is super excited about – Facebook’s new Custom Audience feature! Suddenly your finely articulated advertisements are reaching specific people you want them to – the people that actually want to see them.

So how does it work? By creating a custom audience, a list that targets specific known sections of your clients, you’re spreading your message to the people it was tailored to. No more messing around with uninterested parties. As well as reaching these target audiences, Facebook can then generate look alike audiences based on your previously created custom audience. This allows you to boost fan acquisition, site registrations, off Facebook purchases, coupon claims and push brand awareness. Current users have seen up to six times the return on their ads spent!

At first we were worried that creating these custom audiences would be more of a hassle than it’s worth, but with such a large ROI and a simple downloading process, we’re fully convinced Facebook has gotten it right this time. Per usual, the process is as simple as one, two, three!

1. Identify your audience.

Decide which clients you want to talk to and compile a list of either their email addresses or phone numbers. These can be clients living in certain neighborhoods, rewards members or all of your clients that have signed up for your emails. The lists must all be in the same format (janedoe@mail.com OR 1-234-567-8910), but to use both forms of data you can upload two separate lists.

2. Find these people on Facebook by creating your Custom Audience.

To create a custom audience for the first time, click the “Audiences” tab on the left hand navigation bar in your “Ads Manager”. Go to “Create Audience” and upload your compiled list of audience members. If you’ve already created an audience and want to use the same list again, simply select the drop down arrow from the “Custom Audience” box and choose an existing audience!

Hint: Your audience may take up to 30 minutes to be ready to use once it has been created. You will receive a notification when it’s ready to be used.

 3. Reach your audience with Facebook Ads.

Create you’re A+ ad in the ads create tool, select your custom audience from the “Audience” box, set up your campaign per usual and WHALA! Your very own custom advertisement directed at your custom audience.

But now that I’ve told you Facebook’s new biggest secret, please don’t waste it. Create meaningful reach by making sure to use .cvs or .txt formatting when creating your email or phone lists. In addition, I’d recommend an audience of 2,500 people or more to create an optimal reach. Finally, make sure that you give each new custom audience a relevant name and description, so that you can come back and reach your audience again!

So that’s it! Identify your audience, create the list, and reach out for an audience all your own.

Still confused? Check out Facebook’s help center for more tips at www.facebook.com/help/audiences.

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At Ideas That Evoke we develop digital, social and mobile strategies for salon professional, beauty, hospitality and entertainment brands. As branding and public relations veterans, yet early adopters of all things digital, we understand the importance of creating measurable, buzz-worthy campaigns that generate bottom-line results. #IdeasThatEvoke