How To ACTUALLY Setup Custom Audiences On Facebook Ads (2025 Guide)

If you’re not already using custom audiences in your Meta ad account, you’re letting Meta take wild guesses about who your customers are. Setting these up isn’t just a “pro” move – it’s essential for running more targeted, more profitable campaigns and for making sure you’re not burning budget on people who’ve already bought or never were going to buy in the first place.

In this deep dive, I’ll walk you step-by-step through setting up custom audiences on Facebook (Meta) Ads using the latest process for 2025, share examples for common ecommerce (EMM) brands, and show you how to leverage your audiences for better tracking, exclusions, and improved results.

If this is your first time here: Hey, I’m Vincent, founder of Chipper. I help brands scale their Meta ad performance predictably and profitably. No more guessing games about which ad or creator works.

Why Custom Audiences Matter (And Why You Should Care)

Let’s get right to it:

“Meta doesn’t know your business the way you do. It can’t tell who’s just window-shopping from who’s an ultra-loyal customer — unless you spell it out for the algorithm.”

Custom audiences are your way of controlling your targeting, instead of letting Meta do all the picking for you. They allow you to:

• Improve ad relevance

• Minimize wasted spend

• See which parts of your ads are driving actual incremental results

The Two Main Types of Meta Audiences You Need

When you break it down, the system is simple. There are only two main buckets you need to set up:

1. Engaged audiences (AKA non-buyers)

2. Existing customers

Let’s explore both — who’s in these audiences, how you build them, and why they matter.

Bucket 1: Engaged Audiences (Non-Buyers)

These folks have shown some real interest. They’ve browsed, clicked, or signed up, but haven’t pulled the trigger and bought yet.

The Four Core Engaged Audiences

You want to set up all four for the most coverage:

1. Website Visitors (Last 90 days)

   • Pulled automatically from your Meta Pixel. These are people who’ve landed on your site recently (think: window shoppers, product researchers).

2. Catalog/Viewers (Last 90 days)

   • These users have looked at specific products but haven’t purchased. Another signal of intent.

3. Instagram Engagement (Last 90 days)

   • Checked out your video, visited your profile, DM’d you, etc.

4. Non-buyers from Your Email List

   • Import your CRM contacts or upload a CSV of recent leads who haven’t purchased.

“90 days is usually the sweet spot – recent enough to keep them warm, but not so old that it’s a cold list.”

Bucket 2: Existing Customers

Now, let’s talk about your buyers. These are the folks you want to treat differently for two key reasons:

1. You don’t want to waste budget showing buy-now ads to people who just bought

2. You may want to retarget or nurture existing customers with different offers

The Three Core Customer Audiences

1. Website Purchases (Last 180 days)

   • Captured by your Meta Pixel’s ‘Purchase’ event: anyone who’s bought from your website in the past ~6 months.

2. Customer File (CSV Upload)

   • You can export a CSV from your Shopify, WooCommerce, or any CRM and upload it directly.

3. Instagram Shop Purchases

   • Only available if you have an IG Shop connected to Meta.

Meta limits customer audience retention to 180 days, but that’s plenty for both retargeting and exclusions.

1. Setting Up Custom Audiences: The Hands-On Guide

Let’s take you inside Meta Ads Manager, step by step.

Step 1: Access Audiences

• Go to your Meta Ads Manager

• Click into the Audience section

If your account is brand new, it’ll be empty. If you’ve run ads before, you might see some audiences pre-built.

Step 2: Create a Custom Audience

Click Create Audience → Custom Audience.
You’ll get a menu of different audience sources (website, customer file, engagement, etc.)

Let’s Do a Live Example: Website Purchasers (Last 180 Days)

1. Select “Website” as the data source.

2. Choose the event: Purchase

3. Set the window to 180 Days

   • This covers buyers in the last 6 months.

   • Note: If you sell a subscription or regular product, you can make the window smaller (e.g., 28–30 days).

Naming Your Audience

Good naming keeps you organized (and trust me, it becomes a mess if not).

For example:
Chipper25_Purchase_180d

Instant Lookalike Audience Creation

Once you create any audience, you can also build a lookalike audience instantly:

• Click your new Custom Audience → “Create Lookalike Audience”

• Select your target region (e.g., United States)

This helps Meta find new people who behave like your best customers.

Step 3: Create and Layer Additional Audiences

Repeat the process for:

• Website Visitors (90 days)

• Catalog Viewers (90 days)

• Instagram Engagement (90 days)

• Email List Non-buyers (upload/sync CRM list)

Each time, pick the correct source and date window.

Pro Tips: Adjusting Date Windows to Match Your Business

Here’s something most people miss:

“If you’re running a subscription business – say, soap or perfume that replenishes every 30 days – tighten those audience windows to 28–30 days.”

Otherwise, use 90 or 180 days for wider product cycles. Always think about:

• How often does someone buy from you?

• When do they typically become repeat customers?

• When is someone no longer a warm lead?

Excluding Your Existing Buyers from Your Ads

One of the BIGGEST budget leaks is showing buy-now ads to people who’ve already purchased.

Here’s how to fix it:

Inside Your Ad Set

1. Go to your campaign, then the ad set you want to edit

2. Scroll down to the Audience section

3. Under “Custom Audiences,” choose to exclude the Purchasers (e.g., Purchase – Last 180 days)

“You can layer in exclusions, like Purchasers (180d), and segment further by new vs. returning customers. This keeps your creative tightly relevant.”

How To Apply & Use Custom Audiences

Now that your custom audiences are built and live, you need to apply them to your campaigns. Here’s how:

1. In the Ad Set settings, scroll to the Audience section

2. Click “Custom Audiences”

3. Select the audience you want to target
   e.g., Website Visitors (90d), Catalog Viewers (90d), IG Engagers (90d)

4. To exclude buyers, scroll down, click “Exclude Custom Audiences,” and pick your list of purchases (e.g., Purchasers 180d)

5. You can layer these audiences with Lookalikes or standard cold interest targeting for even more precision

Segmenting and Reporting: The Secret to Better Results

Custom audiences aren’t just about targeting—they also unlock powerful reporting.

With segments set up, you can:

• See which audience segments are bringing in actual purchases

• Track where your budget is going (are we spending too much on lapsed leads?)

• Breakdown who’s delivering the highest ROI

Inside Meta’s reporting suite, use audience segmentation to tweak, test, and dial in your best results.

“These audiences power your segments and breakdowns. You’ll finally know if retargeting is moving the needle or just costing you cash.”

How Often Should You Refresh or Update Audiences?

A good rule of thumb: every 1–2 months review your audiences and add new segments as needed. Especially:

• Update your customer file (export the latest CSV)

• Sync new email leads

• Re-evaluate your lookalike sources

The more you keep things fresh, the better your performance.

Troubleshooting: Common Mistakes & How To Avoid Them

1. Wrong Audience Windows

Using 180 days when your average repurchase cycle is just 30 days? You’ll be missing recency.

Tip: Match your audience windows to your product cycle!

2. Not Uploading Latest Lists

An out-of-date customer file means you re-target old buyers and miss exclusions.

Tip: Re-upload/export your files at least monthly.

3. Forgetting to Exclude Buyers

Nothing burns budget faster than selling to people who just bought.

Tip: Always double-check exclusions on every ad set.

4. Messy Audience Naming

When every list is called “Website visitors,” you’ll confuse yourself.

Tip: Use a standard naming pattern: [Brand]_[Event]_[Window] (e.g., Chipper25_Purchase_180d)

Extra Credit: Advanced Audience Building & Automation

Want to level up even further? Here are some advanced ways to supercharge your setup:

1. Sync Your CRM Automatically

• Use tools like Zapier, Hubspot, or Klaviyo to auto-sync your leads and buyers into Meta audiences

• Reduces manual CSV uploads

2. Build Micro-Segments

• Segment by high-value customers (e.g., LTV > $500)

• Segment by particular product interests

3. Test Custom Exclusions

• Exclude recent refunders or customer service complaints to avoid wasted ad exposure

4. Combine with Dynamic Creative

• Serve different creative to website browsers vs. returning purchasers

Recap: Your Custom Audiences Checklist

Let’s wrap it up with a simple checklist you can plug and play:

• [ ] Website Visitors (90d)

• [ ] Catalog/Product Viewers (90d)

• [ ] Instagram Engagers (90d)

• [ ] Email List Non-Buyers (90d)

• [ ] Website Purchasers (180d)

• [ ] Customer File Purchasers (180d)

• [ ] Instagram Shop Purchasers (if applicable)

• [ ] Exclude Purchasers in all relevant Ad Sets

• [ ] Create Lookalike Audiences from your best segments

“If you haven’t set up custom audiences yet, now is always the best time to do it. Your ad dollars—and your results—depend on it.”

Final Thoughts & Next Steps

Custom audiences are the foundation of profitable, data-driven Meta ad campaigns. From retargeting to exclusions, segmentation to reporting—everything starts here.

• Want more deep dives like this? Subscribe for more Meta content.

• Need expert help setting up your campaigns, or want advice on scaling to six or seven figures? Book a call with me and let’s hit your goals.

Thanks for reading—now go crush it with your new audience mastery!

“You never have to guess which ad or creator works when you plug real data into your Meta targeting system.”