TikTok Custom Audiences: How To Create TikTok Custom Audiences In 3 Simple Steps

Are you having trouble reaching the right audience for your TikTok ads? Have you considered using TikTok Custom Audiences? This ad targeting feature enables you to engage with people who have already interacted with your brand, increasing the chances of conversion. In this blog, we’ll explore the various types of TikTok Custom Audiences and guide you through creating them in just four easy steps. We’ll also offer tips on maximizing the potential of this powerful targeting tool. Whether you’re a seasoned TikTok marketer or new to the platform, read on to discover how to effectively target the right audience using TikTok Custom Audiences.

What do you know about Custom Audiences on TikTok? 

Custom Audience is an advanced ad targeting option that allows you to reach individuals who are already familiar with or have interacted with your brand. This type of targeting serves as a valuable tool for remarketing, re-engaging potential repeat buyers, growing your follower base, and increasing app engagement.

Using TikTok Custom Audiences, you can leverage a person’s information to re-engage them with an ad after they have liked or commented on one of your previous TikTok ads. This strategy enables you to connect with loyal customers, increase brand awareness (and grow your TikTok following), transfer app engagement to other platforms, and create TikTok Lookalike Audiences.

To effectively target custom audiences in an ad group, there must be a minimum audience size of 1,000. Before you begin retargeting people, you’ll need to upload an email list containing at least 1,000 names and email addresses or gather information from at least 1,000 visitors to your website.

By utilizing TikTok Custom Audiences, you can strengthen relationships with your existing customers and re-engage them with your brand. This approach not only maximizes your marketing efforts but also enhances the overall effectiveness of your TikTok ad campaigns.

How to create TikTok Custom Audiences in 3 simple steps

After enabling retargeting for your app in TikTok Ads Manager, the next step is to create a Custom Audience to target TikTok users who have engaged with your app. Regardless of which of the six sources you choose to use, you can achieve this by following our four-step process.

Step 1: Access TikTok Ads Manager.

Step 2: Navigate to the Audiences section under Assets.

Step 3: Select the source you want to use to create your TikTok Custom Audiences.

7 Different sources to create the best TikTok Custom Audiences ever

TikTok enables advertisers to create various types of custom audiences at the ad group level, such as:

• Customer file
• App Activity
• Lead Generation
• Engagement
• Website Traffic
• Business Account
• Shop Activity

Customer file

You can create a Custom Audience in TikTok Ads Manager by uploading your own Customer File. This file may include clients who have previously purchased from you, subscribers to your email list, or participants who have signed up for webinars or new product launches. Since these individuals have already engaged with your brand, they have established a level of trust.

To ensure successful creation of a customer file, consider the following key points:

• Minimum Audience Size: A Custom Audience must have a minimum matched audience size of 1,000 individuals to target it within an ad group effectively.
• Audience Limit: Your TikTok Ads account can manage up to 400 custom audiences simultaneously.

By adhering to these guidelines, you can optimize the creation and use of Custom Audiences to improve the performance of your TikTok ad campaigns and deepen your connection with engaged customers.

Website traffic

Gathering people who have visited your website or performed specific actions there into a custom audience can be an excellent way to engage with individuals who already know your brand and have previously interacted with your business.

With TikTok Ads, you can target users who have:

• Clicked a specific call-to-action (CTA) or button on your website
• Made a purchase
• Filled out and submitted a form
• Started a free trial
• Engaged with your support team
• Visited a particular blog post or piece of content

This approach helps you re-engage with users who have shown interest in your brand, potentially increasing conversions and strengthening your relationship with them.

Engagement

Why not create segments based on your TikTok engagement rate?

You can create an audience of users who have shown interest in your content across any of the TikTok apps. This could include clicks, impressions, and lists of individuals who have previously engaged with your content, brand, or products.

To keep the momentum going and stay relevant, you could, for instance, retarget the viewers of a highly liked video. This strategy allows you to capitalize on user interest and continue building connections with engaged audiences.

App activity

In addition to website traffic and engagement, you can also create custom segments based on specific events within your company’s app.

Create a custom audience from users who have engaged with your app and performed certain actions. Since these individuals have downloaded and interacted with your app, they are highly interested leads (and may have even made purchases through it).

Here are some examples of app activities that TikTok supports for creating custom audiences:

• Purchase: When a user buys a product
• Register: When a user signs up with your brand or creates an account
• Checkout: When a user proceeds to the checkout page
• Add to Cart: When a user adds an item to their cart (even if they don’t complete the purchase)
• View Content: When a user views a product or service page, blog post, or other content in your app

By targeting these specific user actions, you can focus your marketing efforts on those who are already engaged and interested in your offerings.

Lead generation

You can create an audience from users who have engaged with your lead ads, such as by viewing or submitting a form. For instance, to enhance your campaign’s effectiveness, you can retarget viewers who only viewed the form page of your Lead Ads.

Keep in mind:

• You can have up to 400 active custom audiences for one advertiser at a time.
• Lead Generation is only available for placement on TikTok.

Business account audience

The new custom audience type, known as “Business Account Audience,” enables you to retarget audiences using your TikTok Business Account after your organic profile has completed one of the following actions:

• Users who followed you, visited your profile, or watched your videos (for 2%, 6%, or 100% of the duration)
• Users who liked, shared, or commented on a TikTok post

Shop Activity

TikTok’s Shop Activity Custom Audience feature allows businesses to engage with their current and interested customers while also growing their customer base.

With this feature, you can generate a custom audience based on user interactions such as viewing product details, adding items to the cart, starting the checkout process, and completing purchases. This audience encompasses both paid and organic activities.

It’s advisable to begin with broader audiences and track performance before refining your focus. Additionally, keeping the “Auto-Refresh” option enabled ensures that your audience remains current and applicable.

4 management activities to optimize your TikTok Custom Audiences

After exploring the types and sources for creating custom audiences, you might want to consider four strategies for managing and monitoring your custom audience database effectively.

Apply audience

You have the option to apply your audience to an ad group either from the Audience section or directly from the Ad Group section in TikTok Ads Manager.

• Audience Flexibility: One audience can be utilized across multiple ad groups, providing flexibility and consistency in your targeting strategy. This allows you to optimize campaigns across different ad groups using the same custom audience.
• Inclusion and Exclusion: An audience can be set to either include or exclude certain groups of people, but it cannot perform both functions simultaneously within the same ad group.
• Overlap Handling: If there is overlap between audiences set to include and exclude, the exclusion setting will take precedence. This means that any individuals who are part of both groups will be excluded from the targeting.

You can effectively manage your custom audiences and ensure precise targeting in your campaigns. This approach maximizes the impact of your ads and helps to achieve your marketing objectives.

Delete audience

If you’ve added a custom audience to an ad group but decide you no longer want to use it, you can delete the audience.

Disconnect with ad groups

If you’ve assigned an audience to an ad group but want to stop using that audience, you can disconnect the ad group by visiting the audience detail page.

Audience specifics

• Audience Application Details: Shows the link between the audience and the associated ad groups.
• Disconnect Ad Groups: Separates ad groups that are specific to the audience.
• Audience History: Reveals the TikTok Ads Manager operation log, including the creation and editing of audiences.

3 Best Practices to make an effective TikTok Custom Audience list

Don’t forget the country code

When using phone numbers, always include the country code, even if all the numbers on your list are from the same country.

Mention the country

When using a country on your list, include it in a separate column. This allows TikTok to match as many people from your list as possible on a global level.

Choose your proper file type

When creating a campaign with an app-focused objective, it is important to select the operating system accurately to prevent data loss and optimize performance. For this purpose, we recommend using a custom audience that consists exclusively of IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) or GAID (Google Advertising ID) file types.

• File Types: Using a custom audience composed of IDFA or GAID file types ensures you target the right operating system and maximize the relevance of your ads.
• Regional Consistency: Your IDFA and GAID data should come from the same region as your advertisement target. For instance, if you aim to advertise in Japan, both types of data should be sourced from Japan.

By ensuring the alignment of data sources with your campaign’s geographic target, you can enhance the precision and effectiveness of your app advertising efforts.

FAQ(s)

Can TikTok Custom Audience list auto-update?

Yes, TikTok Custom Audiences can be set to auto-update!

When creating a Custom Audience in TikTok Ads Manager, you have the option to enable auto-refresh, which will update the audience daily based on the lookback window you select. This feature ensures that your audience data is always current, allowing you to reach more potential customers and drive more sales.

Here are some key points to keep in mind about auto-updating Custom Audiences:

• Enable Auto-Refresh: When you create your audience, you can choose to enable auto-refresh to keep your data up-to-date.
• Daily Updates: The audience will refresh daily according to the lookback window, ensuring you are targeting the latest user data.
• Maintaining Audience Size: If you disable auto-refresh, you will need to create a new audience to enable it again. Also, be aware that if your audience size falls below 1,000 users, the audience may become unavailable after a refresh.

By using auto-updating Custom Audiences, you can maximize your campaign’s impact by targeting the most relevant and recent audience data.

What’s the difference between TikTok Custom Audience and TikTok Lookalike Audience?

Custom Audiences and TikTok Lookalike Audiences are two valuable targeting options in TikTok Ads Manager that serve different purposes in your advertising strategy.

Custom Audiences:

• Engaged Users: Custom Audiences are made up of people who have already engaged with your business. This could include customers who have purchased from you, users who have interacted with your content or app, or subscribers to your email list.
• Re-Engagement: These audiences are useful for re-engaging with existing customers or users who have shown interest in your brand. They can help you boost brand loyalty and drive repeat purchases.
• Targeting Options: Custom Audiences can be created based on various data sources, such as customer lists, app activity, website traffic, or engagement with your TikTok content.

TikTok Lookalike Audiences:

• Similar Characteristics: TikTok Lookalike Audiences consist of users who share similar characteristics with your Custom Audiences, even though they have not yet interacted with your brand.
• Expansion Strategy: Lookalike Audiences are great for expanding your reach to new potential customers who are likely to be interested in your products or services because they resemble your existing audience.
• Optimized Targeting: By targeting Lookalike Audiences, you can find and engage new users who are more likely to convert, which can lead to increased campaign performance and growth.

Custom Audiences focus on users who are already familiar with your brand, while Lookalike Audiences allow you to discover and connect with new potential customers who share similar traits with your existing audience. Combining both options in your advertising strategy can help you maximize your reach and impact.

What’s the benefit of using TikTok Custom Audience?

Custom Audiences are a powerful targeting option in TikTok Ads Manager that allow you to re-engage with people who have already interacted with your company. This can include users who have liked or commented on your TikTok ads, or who have engaged with your content in other ways. By targeting these individuals with personalized ads, you have the opportunity to turn them into loyal customers or repeat buyers.

Here’s how Custom Audiences can benefit your advertising strategy:

• Personalized Re-Engagement: By focusing on individuals who have already shown interest in your brand, you can tailor your ads to their preferences and behaviors. This personalized approach can improve the likelihood of conversions and strengthen your relationship with these users.
• Nurture Customer Loyalty: Custom Audiences allow you to nurture your existing audience and keep your brand top-of-mind. By consistently providing relevant content, you can encourage repeat purchases and build long-term customer loyalty.
• Increase Brand Awareness: By targeting users who have previously engaged with your ads, you can raise brand awareness and ensure that your message resonates with an audience that already knows your brand. This can help reinforce your brand’s presence on the platform.
• Grow Your TikTok Following: Targeting users who have engaged with your content can help you grow your TikTok following. As they continue to interact with your ads and content, they may choose to follow your account, expanding your audience base.
• Transfer Engagement to Other Platforms: Custom Audiences provide an opportunity to transfer app engagement to other platforms. For example, if a user has engaged with your TikTok ads, you can direct them to your website or other social media channels, helping to expand your overall online presence.

Custom Audiences empower you to build deeper connections with your audience, turning initial interactions into lasting relationships and driving growth across your brand’s digital presence.

What to do if you don’t have the database of your audience?

To target Custom Audiences in a TikTok ad group, a minimum audience size of 1,000 users is required. This threshold ensures that the targeting is precise and that the ads reach an adequate number of people for meaningful engagement and performance tracking. However, if you’re just starting out with advertising on TikTok, it may be challenging to establish a base data of your audience that meets this minimum size.

Here are some strategies to build up your Custom Audience data:

• Promote Your TikTok Account: Encourage existing customers and followers from other social media platforms to follow your TikTok account. This can help you quickly grow your TikTok audience base.
• Engage with Your Audience: Interact with users who engage with your content by liking, commenting, and responding to their comments. Building relationships with your audience can lead to increased followers and engagement.
• Run Awareness Campaigns: Launch campaigns to increase brand visibility and attract new followers to your TikTok account. These campaigns can help you grow your audience base rapidly.
• Leverage Existing Customer Data: If you have customer data from other sources (e.g., email lists, website visitors, or app users), you can use this data to create Custom Audiences and target them on TikTok.
• Offer Incentives: Consider offering special promotions, discounts, or exclusive content to users who follow your TikTok account. This can attract new followers and expand your audience base.
• Cross-Promote on Other Channels: Utilize your other social media platforms to promote your TikTok account and encourage your existing audience to follow you there.

By implementing these strategies, you can work towards reaching the minimum audience size needed to effectively target Custom Audiences in your TikTok ad groups. Once you achieve this, you can begin to leverage Custom Audiences to create more personalized and impactful ad campaigns.

See more:

• TikTok Ads Bidding: 4 TikTok Ads Bidding Methods For Successful Campaigns
• Latest TikTok Creative Best Practices for E-Commerce TikTok Ads 2024

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