Lookalike Audience Percentage
Determines how closely your lookalike audience will resemble an original group of users. A lower percentage will result in a more homogeneous audience; a larger percentage leads to a broader audience.
What are lookalike audiences?
Lookalike audiences are one of the most powerful tools in the modern marketer’s arsenal. The unifying premise is that given a group of users, an ad platform’s algorithm can assemble a second group that resembles the original one.
Understanding lookalike audience percentages
- 1% lookalike audience: Includes the users who most closely resemble the source audience. This option offers the highest level of similarity but the smallest potential reach.
- 1% to 5% lookalike audience: Expands targeting to a larger group while maintaining a moderate level of similarity. This range can help balance audience relevance with campaign scale.
- 5% to 10% lookalike audience: Provides the broadest reach, but users may share fewer characteristics with the source audience. This range may be useful for scaling campaigns or increasing brand awareness.
Audience sizes and available percentage ranges vary based on the advertising platform, selected location, and number of eligible users.
Why are lookalike percentages helpful?
By using the lookalike audience feature and choosing a lookalike percentage, you can scale your marketing to reach new audiences. Your campaigns are more likely to be successful because the audience resembles users who already enjoy using your product or service.
How do you build a lookalike audience?
Lookalike audiences are built by choosing a metric you want to base the new audience on. These metrics include CRM data, conversion data, or engagement data.
What are examples of a lookalike audience?
One example would be a seasonal lookalike audience. You could build an audience around the previous year’s purchase data for a specific holiday, say Valentine’s Day, to reach people likely to buy in the current year.
Seasonal lookalike audience example:
Relevant metrics: Highest cart value, past purchases, add to cart in a specific time frame
Similarity: 1% preferred
Best practices for choosing a lookalike percentage
- Start with a narrow audience: Begin with a lower percentage, such as 1%, to establish a performance baseline before expanding the campaign.
- Expand gradually: Test broader percentages in stages, such as moving from 1% to 3% and then 5%, once performance and cost per acquisition are stable.
- Use a high-quality source audience: Build lookalike audiences from customers or users who completed valuable actions, such as making a purchase or submitting a qualified lead.
- Exclude existing customers: Remove current customers and active retargeting audiences when the goal is to acquire new customers. This helps reduce audience overlap and unnecessary ad spend.
- Compare campaign performance: Monitor conversion rate, cost per acquisition, return on ad spend, and reach to determine which percentage supports the campaign’s goals.