Facebook's Lookalike Audiences Lets Advertisers Expand Targeting

Facebook on Tuesday offered advertisers another tool to target consumers on the platform with Lookalike Audiences, a feature that lets them reach users similar to those in their Custom Audience databases.

Launched in late 2012, Custom Audiences lets marketers use existing data like email addresses, phone numbers and user IDs to inform their Facebook strategy. As the name implies, Lookalike Audiences is a tool that alerts advertisers to similar consumers. 

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)."

SEE ALSO: Facebook to Serve Up Ads Based on Your Offline Shopping Habits

The object is to try to lure new fans. However, marketers will only know certain details about the Lookalike Audiences, like their size. 

Facebook says it won't share any personal info with advertisers. Facebook claims that such targeting increases ad efficacy. The company claims an unnamed online retail partner, for instance, has seen a 56% lower cost-per-fan acquisition cost and a 94% lower cost per checkout using Lookalikes in beta.

Facebook launched Lookalikes in beta in February. The product ties in with Facebook's goal of improving overall ad performance.

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."

By mashable


articles from:  http://mashable.com/2013/03/19/facebook-lookalike/