Facebook has launched ‘Lookalike Audiences’, a new tool that lets advertisers reach users similar to those already in their targeting lists.
The tool expands upon Facebook’s Custom Audiences database, launched back in December 2012.
The Custom Audiences platform lets marketers use existing data like email addresses, phone numbers and user IDs to inform their Facebook strategy.
The new Lookalike Audiences extension now alerts advertisers to similar consumers and will be available in power editor starting this week.
Advertisers can serve any type of Facebook ad to these new groups of people potential customers.
In a blog post heralding the new feature, Facebook noted that marketers can buy Custom and Lookalike audiences in conjunction with any ad buy.
“For instance, a business could choose to run an Offer to both people who they know have bought from them before, and to people who share similar attributes with those customers,” the post explains. “Like with custom audiences, marketers can further refine lookalike audience targeting using Facebook’s standard interests and demographics targeting (i.e. a company could reach lookalikes with an Offer and use standard targeting to make sure that Offer only reaches lookalikes in Florida).”
To assuage privacy fears, Facebook claims it won’t share any personal info with advertisers.
In the blog post, Facebook cites unnamed online retail partner getting a 56% lower cost-per-fan acquisition cost and a 94% lower cost per checkout using Lookalikes in beta.
As CEO Mark Zuckerberg told analysts in January during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, “There’s a big opportunity in front of us to make every ad that we’re showing a lot better. The biggest ways we’re going to do this are by improving targeting and relevance so we can show everyone content that they care more about and by designing better ad products that aren’t just about links and text and images. For targeting, I’m most excited about the work that we’re doing on Custom Audiences.”
Read the full announcement here
