In Meta Ads Manager (Facebook & Instagram Ads), audiences are the most important part of targeting. Meta broadly categorizes them into three types:
1. Core Audience
Data built and saved by Meta based on your targeting preferences.
Demographics
Age, gender, location, education, relationship status, job title, etc.
Interests
Fashion, fitness, travel, technology, food, entrepreneurship, etc.
Behaviors
Shopping habits, device usage, travel patterns, purchase behavior.
Connections
People connected to your page, app, or event.
2. Custom Audience
Meta lets you retarget people who have already interacted with your business.
Sources of Custom Audiences:
Customer list
Email/phone uploads.
Website visitors
List of visitors that visited the Website via Meta Pixel.
App activity
via SDK
Engagement
People who interacted with your posts, ads, page, or Instagram profile
3. Look-alike Audience
Meta uses AI to find new people similar to your best existing audience.
Based on a source audience (e.g., your customers, website visitors, or high-value purchasers).
You can choose the percentage size:
1% Lookalike → Closest match, smaller reach.
5–10% Lookalike → Broader reach, but less similar.
