Creating Facebook Lookalike Audiences based on Link Engagement

By now, we're all aware value of creating a custom audience for Facebook ads. Custom audiences allow you to target very specific groups of people, and if you've been using link retargeting, it can allow you to target only people who you know are already interested in your product. They save you time, money, and a lot of frustration. 💸
‍

However, it seems that not everyone is on board yet with the fact that lookalike audiences can be an equally useful tool to have in your digital marketing arsenal.
‍

A lookalike audience is a segment of users who are being targeted because they share similar interests with your custom audience.
‍

So while you may already have an audience of interested potential customers who you'd like to target, a lookalike audience can give you interested potential customers you haven't even encountered yet (and would otherwise never be able to reach).
‍

It's especially useful to try and run a lookalike audience on Facebook, since a lot of information and user interests can be gleaned from a user's profile. While it's possible to create a lookalike audience based on a number of factors (such as page likes), we're going to talk here about basing a lookalike audience on pixel fires.
‍

What you'll need:
‍

• A Facebook business account.
• At least one link with a Facebook retargeting pixel attached.

Not sure how to add your Facebook pixel to a link? Read our guide here!

Step 1: Set up your custom audience

The most important first step is to create the audience you'd like to use as the template for your lookalike. We recommend using a retargeting audience based on link clicks! This will ensure a high concentration of targeted, interested users. To do so, you can follow the steps in this tutorial, then create an audience either based on all your link clicks, or even an audience based on specific links!
‍

For example, let's say I decided to use links from a campaign I'm running specifically for giant sunhats. I've been using the link 'https://pxlme.me/4z-tjUOg' in a Facebook ad about my hats.
‍

The link goes to Amazon, so I can't add my Facebook pixel to the page itself. Instead, I used PixelMe to attach my Facebook pixel to that link. Now, I can create an audience based entirely on the users who clicked through to my Amazon page!
‍

I just have to go to my Facebook business account and visit my Events Manager. From there, I can select the Pixel I attached to my link.
‍

From here, I can select 'Create audience → Custom audience'. Now I just have to select 'People who visited specific web pages' and paste the URL I've been using in my ad.

I named the audience and saved it. At this point, you may have to wait a bit for Facebook to populate your audience and calculate the size. When that's done, you can proceed to step 2.
‍

Step 2: Select the audience you'd like to use for your lookalike audience.

Back in your Facebook Business account, find the 'Audiences' page in your navigation.

Your newly created audience should be one of the first audiences! Press on it to bring up a new modal on the right hand side. Click 'Actions', then 'Create Lookalike'.

You're almost there!
‍

Step 3: Set up your lookalike audience.

At this point, all you need to do is select how you'd like your lookalike audience to be. You can set the location for the users you'd like to target, and you can set the audience size.

The smaller the audience size, the more similar the users will be to your original audience.

Increasing the size gives you a larger audience, but it may be less accurate! If you'd like to try different audiences, you can also use the 'Number of audiences' drop down menu to create multiple audience sizes.
‍

When you're ready, create the audience! Now, you can use this audience in any ad you'd like by selecting it in the 'Audience' phase of your ad creation.
‍

Want to know more about creating an ad using a custom audience? We've got you covered. 💫
‍

If you'd like to try creating a lookalike audience based on Pixel fires, just sign up for our 7 day free trial to get access to all of our retargeting features!
‍