Lookalike audiences

A lookalike audience is built by the ad platform to resemble a source audience you provide (existing customers, pixel converters, engaged users). Wevion lets you select lookalikes in Campaign Creator, but the lookalike itself is created on the platform side (Meta Business Manager, Google Audience Manager). Source size 100+ minimum for quality.

Who is this for

Mediabuyers scaling proven audiences. Performance buyers wanting to expand reach beyond direct retargeting. Anyone exporting customer lists to ad platforms for prospecting.

How lookalikes work

The platform analyzes your source audience (people who match a known criterion) and finds new people who look similar based on hundreds of signals (interests, behaviors, demographics, geo).

For example:

• Source: 5.000 customers who purchased in the last 90 days

• Lookalike: 2M people on Meta who share characteristics with those 5.000

You target the lookalike → reach new prospects similar to your best customers.

Source audience options

Common sources:

Source size minimum: 100 members (Meta), 1.000 recommended for quality lookalike.

Source quality matters more than size: 100 high-LTV customers > 10.000 random sign-ups.

Similarity levels

Most platforms let you choose similarity % (Meta) or audience size (Google):

Strategy:

• Start with 1% lookalike for testing

• Expand to 3-5% as you scale

• Use 10% for awareness campaigns where reach matters more than precision

How Wevion uses lookalikes

Wevion does not create lookalikes — that happens on the platform side. Wevion:

1. Surfaces existing lookalikes in audience selector (Pro mode, custom audience field)

2. Targets the selected lookalike when publishing

3. Tracks performance per lookalike audience in analytics

To create a new lookalike:

For Meta

1. Meta Business Manager → Audiences → Create Audience → Lookalike Audience

2. Pick source (customer list, pixel event, custom audience)

3. Pick countries

4. Pick similarity % (1-10%)

5. Save

6. Within 15 min, the lookalike appears in Wevion's audience selector

For Google

1. Google Ads → Audience Manager → Similar Audiences (now Optimized Targeting in PMax)

2. Pick source

3. Save

4. Available in Wevion's audience selector

For TikTok

1. TikTok Ads Manager → Assets → Audiences → Create Lookalike

2. Source + similarity

3. Save

4. Surfaces in Wevion

In Wevion's launchers

Pro mode

In adset configuration → Audience → Custom audiences field:

• Dropdown shows all custom + lookalike audiences accessible to the ad account

• Pick lookalike audience(s)

• Combine with other targeting (countries, age) as desired

Express mode

Express doesn't expose lookalikes directly (kept simple). Use Pro mode for lookalike-based campaigns.

Bulk Launch

Custom audience IDs go in the row's audience config field (per-platform format).

Best practices

Source quality > size

Always start with your best customers as source:

• Top 20% by LTV

• Repeat purchasers

• 90-day converters (recent + relevant)

Never use random emails or low-quality sources — lookalike will mirror the quality of your seed.

Refresh sources

Source audience changes over time. Refresh quarterly:

• Re-upload customer list with latest data

• Use pixel-based sources that auto-update (always last 90 days)

• Re-create lookalike from refreshed source

Layer with other targeting

Lookalike + interest combo can over-narrow. Be careful:

• Lookalike + 1 interest: usually fine

• Lookalike + 3+ interests: probably too narrow

• Just lookalike + country/age: ideal start

Test multiple sources

Different sources = different lookalikes = different performance:

• LTV-top-20% lookalike

• 30-day purchaser lookalike

• Engaged video viewer lookalike

Run ABO test (cc-107) to find winning source.

Common mistakes

• Tiny source (< 100): lookalike rejected or poor quality

• Wrong source country: lookalike geo must match (or include) source geo

• Outdated source: re-create yearly

• Too narrow source: lookalike inherits narrowness (e.g. source = only New York buyers → lookalike won't extend nationally)

• Lookalike + heavy interest stacking: cancels the auto-expansion benefit

Limits

Per platform:

• Meta: max 500 audiences per ad account; can include up to 6 lookalikes per ad set

• Google: Similar Audiences deprecated; use Optimized Targeting in Performance Max

• TikTok: similar limits

Lookalike vs Custom Audience vs Retargeting

Often combined: retarget existing customers (custom) + prospect with lookalike (lookalike) in same campaign.

What you'll see

In Wevion Pro mode → adset audience:

• Custom audience dropdown lists all accessible audiences

• Lookalike audiences typically prefixed "Lookalike" or with platform's icon

• Audience size estimate updates when lookalike added

• Validation warns if combined targeting is too narrow

Common questions

• "How long until Meta builds my lookalike?" Usually 6-24 hours after source is ready.

• "Can I update lookalike size after creation?" No — create a new lookalike with different similarity.

• "Does Wevion charge for lookalikes?" No — they're a platform-side feature, free.

• "Why isn't my new lookalike showing in Wevion?" 15-min sync delay. If still missing after 1h, verify the lookalike is in the same ad account Wevion connected.

Related

• Audience targeting basics — base targeting before lookalike layer

• Retargeting audiences — complement to lookalike (warm vs cold)

• Manage Meta ad accounts — audience visibility per ad account