---
title: "Meta custom, lookalike and Advantage+ audiences"
author: "Performetic Ekibi"
url: "https://www.performetic.com/en/blog/meta-custom-lookalike-advantage-plus-audiences"
published: "2026-01-22T08:00:00.000Z"
updated: "2026-10-05T02:41:44.350Z"
---

# Meta custom, lookalike and Advantage+ audiences

> Custom audiences are built from your own data (site visitors, customer lists, engagement); lookalike audiences find new people similar to that source; Advantage+ audience uses your inputs as suggestions and lets Meta's AI decide the audience. In ecommerce, use custom audiences for suggestions, exclusions and reporting, and Advantage+ audience for acquiring new customers.

## How should ecommerce brands use custom, lookalike and Advantage+ audiences on Meta?

In ecommerce, the three audience types do three different jobs. Custom audiences (site visitors, customer lists, Instagram engagers) come from your data and are used for retargeting, exclusions and suggestions. Lookalike audiences find new people who resemble those sources. Advantage+ audience takes your inputs as suggestions and lets AI define the audience for new customer acquisition. The problem is rarely the audience type itself; it is assigning audiences to the wrong job.

A few years ago, account structures were made of dozens of interest and lookalike ad sets. Today, Meta switches Advantage+ audience on by default for Sales campaigns and treats your inputs as suggestions rather than hard limits. This guide explains where each audience type fits in that new setup.

## What is a custom audience, and what sources can it use?

According to Meta, a custom audience lets advertisers build audiences from their own data sources or Meta engagement data for retargeting, new customer campaigns and other targeting options. There are two main groups:

- **People who interacted with your business:** website visitors tracked by the Meta Pixel, app activity, people who interacted with items in your catalog, an uploaded customer list (email or phone) and offline (in-store) activity.
- **People who interacted with your content on Meta:** video viewers, people who opened lead forms, people who engaged with your Instagram account or Facebook Page, and people who browsed your Facebook or Instagram Shop.

You can create up to 500 custom audiences per ad account. Two practical points matter for website custom audiences: they start populating from the moment you create them (no backfill), and you can use up to five include or exclude rules per audience. So create your core audiences on day one of the account.

## How do lookalike audiences work?

A lookalike audience is a way to reach new people who are likely to be interested in your business because they resemble your existing customers. Meta uses information such as demographics, interests and behaviours from your source audience to find people with similar qualities.

What to know when setting one up:

- The source must have at least 100 people. Meta generally recommends a source of 1,000 to 5,000 people.
- People in the source audience are automatically excluded from the lookalike.
- A smaller percentage means a closer match to the source; a larger one means a broader audience.
- Source quality matters more than size. Meta also notes that a source built from your best customers, rather than all customers, may perform better depending on your goals.

One important change: according to Meta, Advantage+ lookalike is automatically enabled for new, duplicated and draft campaigns using lookalikes created from website, mobile or customer list custom audiences. In that case the system can go beyond your chosen percentage when it expects better performance. So a lookalike is now a strong hint rather than a hard boundary.

## What did Advantage+ audience change?

Advantage+ audience lets Meta's AI find your audience using signals such as past conversions, Pixel data and previous ad interactions. Two concepts must be kept apart:

| Concept | What it does | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Controls | Hard limits the system will not cross | Location, minimum age, language, custom audience exclusions |
| Suggestions | Starting hints the system can go beyond | Age range, gender, interests, custom audience inclusions |

According to Meta's own figures, Sales and App promotion campaigns using Advantage+ audience could get 7.2% lower cost per result. Meta recommends A/B testing Advantage+ audience for almost all campaign types except retargeting campaigns. For the Sales objective, it recommends the full Advantage+ campaign setup, which also covers budget and placements, rather than Advantage+ audience on its own.

## Which audience should ecommerce brands use for which job?

Thinking about audiences by business function simplifies the structure:

1. **New customer acquisition:** Advantage+ audience. Add your customer list or high-value buyers as suggestions; the system uses them as a starting point.
2. **Excluding existing customers:** a purchasers custom audience or customer list, added as an exclusion under controls. In Advantage+ audience, custom audience exclusions are always applied as controls.
3. **Retargeting:** website visitors who viewed products or added to cart without buying in the last 30 days. Dynamic product ads are the most efficient tool for this; see our [dynamic product ads guide](/en/blog/dynamic-product-ads-setup-guide).
4. **Cross-sell and repeat purchase:** custom audiences of customers who bought a specific product, served creative for complementary products. We cover repeat purchase strategy in our [repeat purchase guide](/en/blog/how-to-increase-repeat-purchases).
5. **Permanent exclusions:** an exclusion-only custom audience for people who opted out or must not be targeted for legal reasons. This type can only be used for exclusions and cannot be converted into a regular audience later.
6. **Reporting:** define "engaged audience" and "existing customers" segments in your ad account settings. Meta then breaks down sales campaign results into new, engaged and existing customers.

### Example: a fashion brand's audience map

Example: a fashion brand used to test different interests and 1%, 3% and 5% lookalikes across 12 ad sets. In the new structure, there is one Advantage+ sales campaign. The customer list and the last 180 days of purchasers are added as suggestions, and the last 30 days of purchasers are excluded as a control. A separate dynamic product ads campaign reaches cart abandoners. With audience segments defined, the brand can see in reporting how much of its budget actually reaches new customers.

## What are the most common audience mistakes?

- **Splitting the same audience across many ad sets.** Ad sets targeting similar audiences enter the same auctions and restrict each other's delivery.
- **Forgetting exclusions.** A meaningful share of a new customer campaign's budget can go to existing customers who would have bought anyway.
- **Relying on narrow interests.** The smaller the audience, the less room the system has to find opportunities, and costs can rise.
- **Working with stale customer lists.** If the list is not refreshed, exclusions and suggestions go stale too. Update it regularly.
- **Naming audiences inconsistently.** Once hundreds of audiences pile up, it becomes unclear which ones are exclusions and which are suggestions. Use a consistent naming pattern with source, window and purpose, for example "WEB_Purchasers_30d_EXCL". Meta's audience labels also help you keep them organised.

## Key takeaways

- Custom audiences are your data, used for retargeting, exclusions and suggestions.
- Lookalikes need a source of at least 100 people; Meta recommends 1,000 to 5,000, and Advantage+ lookalike is on by default in many setups.
- In Advantage+ audience, controls are hard limits and suggestions are starting hints.
- Use Advantage+ audience for new customers, exclusions for existing customers and dynamic product ads for cart abandoners.
- Use audience segments to measure which customer group your budget reaches.

If you want to simplify your audience structure and make new customer acquisition measurable, you can [get in touch with Performetic](/en/contact) for a free growth analysis.

## FAQ

### Do lookalike audiences still work?

Yes, but their role has changed. According to Meta, Advantage+ lookalike is automatically enabled in many new campaigns, and the system can go beyond your chosen percentage when it helps. Think of a lookalike as a strong hint built from your best customers rather than strict targeting.

### Is Advantage+ audience suitable for retargeting?

Meta recommends A/B testing Advantage+ audience for almost all campaign types except retargeting. For retargeting, website custom audiences and dynamic product ads are the more direct tools. For new customer acquisition, Advantage+ audience is a strong starting point.

### How do I exclude existing customers from my ads?

Add your customer list or a purchasers website custom audience as a custom audience exclusion in your audience controls. According to Meta, excluding a custom audience does not switch Advantage+ off. Remember to refresh the list regularly so the exclusion stays accurate.

### How big should a lookalike source audience be?

Meta requires at least 100 people and generally recommends a source of 1,000 to 5,000 people. Quality matters more than size: a source of high-value or repeat customers may perform better than one containing all customers, depending on your goals.

## Sources

- [About custom audiences (Meta Business Help Center)](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/744354708981227)
- [Create a Lookalike Audience (Meta Business Help Center)](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/465262276878947)
- [About Advantage+ lookalike (Meta Business Help Center)](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1212225059146059)
- [About Advantage+ audience (Meta Business Help Center)](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/273363992030035)
- [About exclusion-only custom audiences (Meta Business Help Center)](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1011010098188443)