What is a similar audience?
Similar audiences help advertisers find new customers who share characteristics with their existing best customers. They expand reach by identifying users likely to be interested in a product or service.
Key points
- Expand reach to new potential customers.
- Based on characteristics of existing high-value customers.
- Utilizes platform algorithms to find matching users.
- Improves campaign efficiency and conversion rates.
Similar audiences are a powerful tool in paid advertising that allows marketers to reach new potential customers who look a lot like their existing ones. Imagine you have a list of your best customers, people who frequently buy from you or engage deeply with your brand. Advertising platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads can take this list and find other users across the internet who have similar online behaviors, demographics, and interests.
These platforms use sophisticated algorithms to analyze the characteristics of your source audience. For example, if your current customers are mostly young professionals interested in technology and travel, the platform will identify other users who fit that profile. This process helps you expand your reach beyond your known customer base without having to guess who your next best customer might be. It's about smart targeting to find people who are already predisposed to like what you offer.
Why similar audiences matter for your marketing strategy
Using similar audiences can significantly improve your paid advertising efforts. Here's why they are so valuable:
- Scalability and reach: Similar audiences allow you to tap into a much larger pool of potential customers than you could with just your existing customer lists. This is crucial for growth and expanding your market presence.
- Improved efficiency: Because these new audiences share traits with your proven customers, they are often more likely to convert. This can lead to better campaign performance, including higher click-through rates and lower costs per acquisition compared to broader targeting methods.
- Discovery of new segments: Sometimes, similar audiences can reveal new customer segments or demographics that you hadn't explicitly considered before. This insight can inform your overall marketing strategy and product development.
How to build and use similar audiences
Creating and leveraging similar audiences involves a few key steps:
Choosing your source audience
The foundation of a successful similar audience campaign is a high-quality source audience. This is the list of users that the platform will analyze to find new lookalikes. Good source audiences include:
- Customer lists: Upload lists of your email subscribers, past purchasers, or loyal customers. Focus on those who have shown high value.
- Website visitors: Target users who have visited specific pages on your website, like product pages or pricing pages, or those who have completed a conversion event.
- App users: If you have a mobile app, use data from active users or those who have completed in-app purchases.
- Social media engagers: People who have interacted with your social media content, profiles, or ads.
Implementing on platforms
Most major advertising platforms offer similar audience capabilities:
- Google Ads: Often referred to as
Real-world examples
E-commerce brand finding new buyers
An online clothing store uploads a list of customers who have made multiple purchases in the last year. They then create a similar audience campaign on Facebook to find new users with similar shopping habits and interests, leading to a 15% increase in new customer acquisitions.
SaaS company generating qualified leads
A B2B software company uses a list of attendees from their recent successful webinar as a source audience. They run a Google Ads campaign targeting a similar audience, resulting in a 20% lower cost per lead for new sign-ups compared to their broader targeting efforts.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Using a low-quality or too small source audience, leading to inaccurate matching and poor performance.
- Not segmenting source audiences properly, such as mixing one-time buyers with loyal, high-value customers.
- Failing to test and iterate on different similar audience percentages or types, which can limit campaign optimization.