Facebook prompts social media agencies to be always on their toes – on the lookout for the latest updates that can affect their campaigns. Just recently, Facebook introduces ever so quietly the Custom Audiences feature.

1. Right on Target: Using Facebook’s ‘Custom
Audiences Feature’ to Your Advantage
As “noisy” as Facebook is the social media geniuses behind this networking leviathan is
extremely hush-hush when it releases updates. The next day you wake up, its privacy
setting has changed. The next time you access your account, you’re greeted by a fresh
‘Timeline’ user interface. Such major changes were all carried out in utmost silence – for
whatever reason nobody knows.
This slithery quality of Facebook prompts social media agencies to be always on their
toes – on the lookout for the latest updates that can affect their campaigns. Just
recently, Facebook introduce ever so quietly the Custom Audiences feature. As the its
name suggests, Facebook Custom Audiences enables social media marketing companies
to target their ads towards specific individuals based on their email addresses, Facebook
usernames and phone numbers.
For the true blue social media agencies and marketers who appreciate the value of
reach as well as market specificity, this new tool satisfies both criteria.
Setting up Custom Audiences
All social media marketing companies who would want to incorporate Custom
Audiences into their Facebook ad campaigns should make sure that they have power
editor up and running. There’s a step-by-step process on how to do this.
Next, you have to agree to the terms and conditions of the feature. First, go to the
Custom Audiences tab in your Facebook ad account. The tab can be found in the middle
of Page Posts and Funding Sources. Take note that only the account administrator can
accept the terms and conditions.
After this, you’re ready to use the Custom Audiences feature. The initial thing social
media agencies need to do is to select a name for that particular audience. The next
step is to upload a CSV or TXT file with one entry per line containing the information of
the individuals you want to target. Again, you have to select from email addresses,
phone number and Facebook IDs. There are things to keep in mind when creating your
TXT or CSV file in terms of information format:

2. • Phone numbers should in numerical characters only and should include the
country code and the area code
• Facebook IDs should be entered as numbers
• Email addresses should have the format name@emailprovider.com (i.e.
user@gmail.com)
Uploading this list is usually a breeze, but it can also take a few minutes depending on
the size of the file. What takes relatively long is disseminating your ads to your
“audience members.” You may want to check in after a few hours to see that your ads
have been fully propagated.
Once you have this set-up, you can either add or exclude a member from your audience.
If you’re using Facebook Ad Manager, you can only add but not exclude.
Amplifying the Value of Your “List”
Social media agencies and other internet marketers are always emphasizing the
importance of a list – be it in email marketing or customer service. This new feature
launched by Facebook solidifies the business case on why brands with online presence
should strive to build this list. Undeniably, targeted ads can produce higher ROI and are
cost efficient.
Author is working as an Internet Marketing professional in a social media company in
LA, Los Angeles. He likes to write informative articles on various topics related to
Internet Marketing. Through this article, he wants to share his knowledge with people
who are about to hire a social media company for their business.