Using Facebook’s ‘Custom Audiences Feature’ to Your Advantage

As “noisy” as Facebook is, the social media geniuses behind this networking leviathan can be very hush-hush when releasing updates.

Privacy settings can change from one day to the next and, out of the blue, you’re greeted by a fresh ‘Timeline’ user interface. Major changes such as this all seem to be carried out in silence.
This characteristic 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 ever so quietly introduced the Custom Audiences feature. As its name suggests, Facebook Custom Audiences enables social media marketing companies to target their ads toward specific individuals based on their e-mail 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
Anyone wishing to incorporate Custom Audiences into his or her Facebook ad campaigns should know there is a step-by-step process that must be followed. First, ensure you have power editor up and running.
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, 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 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 e-mail addresses, phone number and Facebook IDs.
When creating your TXT or CSV file, ensure:

Phone numbers are in numerical characters only and should include the country code and the area code
Facebook IDs are entered as numbers
E-mail addresses have the format name@emailprovider.com <> (i.e. user@gmail.com <mailto:user@gmail.com>)

Uploading this list is usually a breeze, but it can take a few minutes depending on the size of the file. Disseminating your ads to your “audience members can take a while.” You may want to check in after a few hours to ensure 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, not exclude.

Amplifying the Value of Your “List”
Social media agencies and other Internet marketers often emphasize the importance of a list, be it in e-mail marketing or customer service. This new feature launched by Facebook solidifies why brands with online presence should strive to build this list. Undeniably, targeted adds can produce higher ROI.

Branson Andrew , Post from: SiteProNews