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Custom audiences lists the Meta Custom Audiences mirrored for each connected ad account and provides reviewed creation flows for new Custom Audiences and lookalikes.
Audiences are owned by a specific Meta ad account. Confirm the account before creating, naming, or selecting a source audience.

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Read the audience inventory

The page groups audiences by Meta ad account and can show:
  • audience name and ID;
  • source or type;
  • approximate size when Meta provides it;
  • provider processing or availability status; and
  • actions supported for the current role and account state.
An unavailable approximate size does not prove the audience is empty. Meta may still be processing it or may not expose a size for that audience.

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Create a Custom Audience

Select Create audience, then choose a source:
1

Choose the account and source

Verify the target ad account, then select the source that matches the intended population.
2

Complete the source fields

Enter Name, the required pixel, URL, event, Page, or rule, the retention window, and optional description.
3

Review

Select Review and confirm the account, definition, and audience name that Meta will receive.
4

Create

Select Create once the summary is correct. Wait for Meta processing before using approximate size as a validation signal.

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Advanced rules

Advanced (raw JSON rule) is for an operator who already has a valid Meta rule. A syntactically accepted rule can still target the wrong population; retain the reviewed source and intended logic with the change record.

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Create a lookalike

Select Create Lookalike from the intended source audience, then provide:
  • source audience;
  • country;
  • Audience size ratio;
  • name; and
  • optional description.
Select Review, confirm every field, then Create. The lookalike becomes selectable after Meta finishes building it. The source audience, country, and ratio define the result. A familiar name does not validate those inputs.

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Terms and account state

Creation depends on:
  • an active Meta ad account;
  • provider authorization and the right asset grants;
  • accepted Custom Audience terms;
  • accepted website or pixel terms where applicable; and
  • available provider capacity.
A closed ad account blocks creation. Reconnect or resync cannot reopen it; resolve the account state in Meta.

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Reuse without confusing roles

A Meta Custom Audience can appear in several workflows:
  • ad-set include or exclude targeting;
  • an Existing customers reporting role;
  • an Engaged-audience definition mirrored in Ads Manager;
  • New customer acquisition customer exclusions; or
  • the source for a lookalike.
These references have different effects. Removing an audience from one role does not automatically remove every other reference.

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Verify after creation

  1. Confirm the Meta ad account ID.
  2. Match the saved audience name and ID in Meta.
  3. Confirm source, retention, and rule.
  4. Wait for provider processing.
  5. Review approximate size only when available.
  6. Add the audience to the intended targeting, reporting, or exclusion role.
  7. Record the purpose so a later operator does not repurpose it incorrectly.

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Recovery matrix

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Next step

Assign the new audience to exactly one intended workflow first, verify its effect in Meta, and then document any reuse across reporting, exclusion, or lookalike creation.
Last modified on August 9, 2026

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