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Using audiences from Shopify Audiences

After you set up the Shopify Audiences app and connect to an ad platform, audiences are automatically created and exported to your ad account. The Shopify Audiences app creates and exports several objective-based types of audiences that you can use for your ad campaigns.

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How the Shopify Audiences app creates audiences

The Shopify Audiences app uses algorithms powered by the data and attributes of your store to create a list of potential customers called an audience. Audiences contain potential customers based on how likely they are to purchase from your store.

Using an audience for your ad campaigns

To use an audience for an ad campaign, select it as the target when you create a campaign on your ad platform. If you want to apply filters to the audience, then you can filter them on the ad platform.

You can use audiences for ad campaigns on the following platforms:

  • Facebook and Instagram
  • Google Search, Google Shopping, Gmail, YouTube, and Google Display Network
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok

For more information about using audiences to create ad campaigns, refer to the documentation for the ads platforms:

Updates to created audiences

If an audience is being used in an active campaign, then the list of potential customers is automatically updated every 7 days to help ensure the best ad performance. The 7-day period begins on the day that the audience was last updated. Your campaigns aren't impacted when the updates are performed.

If an audience isn't being used in an active ad campaign, then no updates are made to the list. If you start using an audience for an active campaign more than 7 days from when it was last updated, then the list updates within 24 hours and a new 7-day update cycle begins.

Types of audiences

The Shopify Audiences app generates the following types of audience lists:

Higher intent, lower reach audiences

The Higher intent, lower reach audience contains a list of the highest-ranked potential customers and is intended to be used in ad campaigns for bottom-of-funnel marketing.

Mid intent, mid reach audiences

The Mid intent, mid reach audience contains a larger list of potential customers for expanded reach, and is intended to be used in ad campaigns for middle-of-funnel marketing.

Lower intent, higher reach audiences

The Lower intent, higher reach audience contains a large list of potential customers and is intended to be used in ad campaigns for top-of-funnel marketing. Ad platforms create an audience using the Higher intent, lower reach audience as a source.

Lower intent, higher reach audiences for Facebook Ads

The Lower intent, higher reach audience for Facebook Ads is a lookalike audience that Facebook creates using the Higher intent, lower reach audience as a source. The Shopify Audiences app doesn't have access to the identities of potential customers in the lookalike audience.

Shopify Audiences creates a Facebook lookalike audience with the following characteristics:

  • The audience includes 3% of the facebook users located in United States and Canada.
  • The audience has an estimated size of 9.1 million.

Lower intent, higher reach audiences for Google Ads

The Lower intent, higher reach audience for Google Ads is a similar segment audience that Google creates using the Higher intent, lower reach audience as a source. The Shopify Audiences app doesn't have access to the identities of potential customers in the similar segment audience.

Google automatically creates the similar segment with all possible regions when the Higher intent, lower reach audience is exported to your Google Ads account. You can apply geolocation restrictions when you create your ad campaign to get an estimate of the audience size for the locations you want.

Lower intent, higher reach audiences for Pinterest Ads

The Lower intent, higher reach audience for Pinterest Ads is an actalike audience that Pinterest creates using the Higher intent, lower reach audience as a source. The Shopify Audiences app doesn't have access to the identities of potential customers in the actalike audience.

Pinterest actalike audiences can help you find new customers based on the source audience. Shopify Audiences automatically creates a Pinterest actalike audience that includes 10% of Pinterest users located in the United States.

Lower intent, higher reach audiences for TikTok Ads

The Lower intent, higher reach audience for TikTok Ads is a lookalike audience that TikTok creates using the Mid intent, mid reach audience as a source. The Shopify Audiences app doesn't have access to the identities of potential customers in the lookalike audience.

TikTok lookalike audiences can help you find new customers based on the source audience. Shopify Audiences automatically creates a TikTok lookalike audience that includes narrow lookalike size of TikTok users located in the United States.

Experimenting with Shopify Audiences

Testing audiences in your ad campaigns can help increase your chance of getting better ad performance. For example, you can try multiple ad platforms to find out where your audiences perform well.

The best way to incorporate Shopify Audiences in your marketing might vary depending on what tactics you already know work well for your campaigns.

If you find top of funnel tactics such as lookalikes perform well, then consider trying some of the following:

If you find mid funnel tactics like consideration campaigns perform well, then consider trying some of the following:

If you find lower funnel tactics like retargeting perform well, then consider trying some of the following:

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