Value-Based Lookalikes

Value-based lookalikes are an enhancement of Lookalike Audiences. With it you can include an arbitrary, numeric value for each user set when you create a seed custom audience from CRM data. Facebook uses this to determine which users in an audience are worth the most to you, in a quantifiable way.

To use this product, you must agree with the value-based lookalike terms of services for every ad account using this feature. See Terms of Service.

Create

Step 1: Create a Value-Based Custom Audience

This is a specialized multi-key custom audience, you create with the parameter is_value_based.


curl -X POST \
  -F 'name="Value-Based Custom Audience"' \
  -F 'subtype="CUSTOM"' \
  -F 'is_value_based=1' \
  -F 'customer_file_source="PARTNER_PROVIDED_ONLY"' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/customaudiences

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'use strict';
const bizSdk = require('facebook-nodejs-business-sdk');
const AdAccount = bizSdk.AdAccount;
const CustomAudience = bizSdk.CustomAudience;

const access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>';
const app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>';
const app_id = '<APP_ID>';
const id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>';
const api = bizSdk.FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token);
const showDebugingInfo = true; // Setting this to true shows more debugging info.
if (showDebugingInfo) {
  api.setDebug(true);
}

const logApiCallResult = (apiCallName, data) => {
  console.log(apiCallName);
  if (showDebugingInfo) {
    console.log('Data:' + JSON.stringify(data));
  }
};

let fields, params;
fields = [
];
params = {
  'name' : 'Value-Based Custom Audience',
  'subtype' : 'CUSTOM',
  'is_value_based' : '1',
  'customer_file_source' : 'PARTNER_PROVIDED_ONLY',
};
const customaudiences = (new AdAccount(id)).createCustomAudience(
  fields,
  params
);
logApiCallResult('customaudiences api call complete.', customaudiences);

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require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use FacebookAds\Object\AdAccount;
use FacebookAds\Object\CustomAudience;
use FacebookAds\Api;
use FacebookAds\Logger\CurlLogger;

$access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>';
$app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>';
$app_id = '<APP_ID>';
$id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>';

$api = Api::init($app_id, $app_secret, $access_token);
$api->setLogger(new CurlLogger());

$fields = array(
);
$params = array(
  'name' => 'Value-Based Custom Audience',
  'subtype' => 'CUSTOM',
  'is_value_based' => '1',
  'customer_file_source' => 'PARTNER_PROVIDED_ONLY',
);
echo json_encode((new AdAccount($id))->createCustomAudience(
  $fields,
  $params
)->exportAllData(), JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

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from facebook_business.adobjects.adaccount import AdAccount
from facebook_business.adobjects.customaudience import CustomAudience
from facebook_business.api import FacebookAdsApi

access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'
app_id = '<APP_ID>'
id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>'
FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token=access_token)

fields = [
]
params = {
  'name': 'Value-Based Custom Audience',
  'subtype': 'CUSTOM',
  'is_value_based': '1',
  'customer_file_source': 'PARTNER_PROVIDED_ONLY',
}
print AdAccount(id).create_custom_audience(
  fields=fields,
  params=params,
)

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import com.facebook.ads.sdk.*;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.Arrays;

public class SAMPLE_CODE_EXAMPLE {
  public static void main (String args[]) throws APIException {

    String access_token = \"<ACCESS_TOKEN>\";
    String app_secret = \"<APP_SECRET>\";
    String app_id = \"<APP_ID>\";
    String id = \"<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>\";
    APIContext context = new APIContext(access_token).enableDebug(true);

    new AdAccount(id, context).createCustomAudience()
      .setName(\"Value-Based Custom Audience\")
      .setSubtype(CustomAudience.EnumSubtype.VALUE_CUSTOM)
      .setIsValueBased(true)
      .setCustomerFileSource(CustomAudience.EnumCustomerFileSource.VALUE_PARTNER_PROVIDED_ONLY)
      .execute();

  }
}

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require 'facebook_ads'

access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'
app_id = '<APP_ID>'
id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>'

FacebookAds.configure do |config|
  config.access_token = access_token
  config.app_secret = app_secret
end

ad_account = FacebookAds::AdAccount.get(id)
customaudiences = ad_account.customaudiences.create({
    name: 'Value-Based Custom Audience',
    subtype: 'CUSTOM',
    is_value_based: '1',
    customer_file_source: 'PARTNER_PROVIDED_ONLY',
})

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Step 2: Populate a Seed Audience

You need to populate the new audience with supported identifiers and with the schema key LOOKALIKE_VALUE. You can represent lookalike values by either an integer or float-point arbitrary non-negative number.


curl -X POST \
  -F 'payload={
       "schema": [
         "EMAIL",
         "LOOKALIKE_VALUE"
       ],
       "data": [
         [
           "9b431636bd164765d63c573c346708846af4f68fe3701a77a3bdd7e7e5166254",
           44.5
         ],
         [
           "8cc62c145cd0c6dc444168eaeb1b61b351f9b1809a579cc9b4c9e9d7213a39ee",
           140
         ],
         [
           "4eaf70b1f7a797962b9d2a533f122c8039012b31e0a52b34a426729319cb792a",
           0
         ],
         [
           "98df8d46f118f8bef552b0ec0a3d729466a912577830212a844b73960777ac56",
           0.9
         ]
       ]
     }' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/<CUSTOM_AUDIENCE_ID>/users

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'use strict';
const bizSdk = require('facebook-nodejs-business-sdk');
const CustomAudience = bizSdk.CustomAudience;

const access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>';
const app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>';
const app_id = '<APP_ID>';
const id = '<CUSTOM_AUDIENCE_ID>';
const api = bizSdk.FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token);
const showDebugingInfo = true; // Setting this to true shows more debugging info.
if (showDebugingInfo) {
  api.setDebug(true);
}

const logApiCallResult = (apiCallName, data) => {
  console.log(apiCallName);
  if (showDebugingInfo) {
    console.log('Data:' + JSON.stringify(data));
  }
};

let fields, params;
fields = [
];
params = {
  'payload' : {'schema':['EMAIL','LOOKALIKE_VALUE'],'data':[['9b431636bd164765d63c573c346708846af4f68fe3701a77a3bdd7e7e5166254',44.5],['8cc62c145cd0c6dc444168eaeb1b61b351f9b1809a579cc9b4c9e9d7213a39ee',140],['4eaf70b1f7a797962b9d2a533f122c8039012b31e0a52b34a426729319cb792a',0],['98df8d46f118f8bef552b0ec0a3d729466a912577830212a844b73960777ac56',0.9]]},
};
const users = (new CustomAudience(id)).createUser(
  fields,
  params
);
logApiCallResult('users api call complete.', users);

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require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use FacebookAds\Object\CustomAudience;
use FacebookAds\Api;
use FacebookAds\Logger\CurlLogger;

$access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>';
$app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>';
$app_id = '<APP_ID>';
$id = '<CUSTOM_AUDIENCE_ID>';

$api = Api::init($app_id, $app_secret, $access_token);
$api->setLogger(new CurlLogger());

$fields = array(
);
$params = array(
  'payload' => array('schema' => array('EMAIL','LOOKALIKE_VALUE'),'data' => array(array('9b431636bd164765d63c573c346708846af4f68fe3701a77a3bdd7e7e5166254',44.5),array('8cc62c145cd0c6dc444168eaeb1b61b351f9b1809a579cc9b4c9e9d7213a39ee',140),array('4eaf70b1f7a797962b9d2a533f122c8039012b31e0a52b34a426729319cb792a',0),array('98df8d46f118f8bef552b0ec0a3d729466a912577830212a844b73960777ac56',0.9))),
);
echo json_encode((new CustomAudience($id))->createUser(
  $fields,
  $params
)->exportAllData(), JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

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from facebook_business.adobjects.customaudience import CustomAudience
from facebook_business.api import FacebookAdsApi

access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'
app_id = '<APP_ID>'
id = '<CUSTOM_AUDIENCE_ID>'
FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token=access_token)

fields = [
]
params = {
  'payload': {'schema':['EMAIL','LOOKALIKE_VALUE'],'data':[['9b431636bd164765d63c573c346708846af4f68fe3701a77a3bdd7e7e5166254',44.5],['8cc62c145cd0c6dc444168eaeb1b61b351f9b1809a579cc9b4c9e9d7213a39ee',140],['4eaf70b1f7a797962b9d2a533f122c8039012b31e0a52b34a426729319cb792a',0],['98df8d46f118f8bef552b0ec0a3d729466a912577830212a844b73960777ac56',0.9]]},
}
print CustomAudience(id).create_user(
  fields=fields,
  params=params,
)

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import com.facebook.ads.sdk.*;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.Arrays;

public class SAMPLE_CODE_EXAMPLE {
  public static void main (String args[]) throws APIException {

    String access_token = \"<ACCESS_TOKEN>\";
    String app_secret = \"<APP_SECRET>\";
    String app_id = \"<APP_ID>\";
    String id = \"<CUSTOM_AUDIENCE_ID>\";
    APIContext context = new APIContext(access_token).enableDebug(true);

    new CustomAudience(id, context).createUser()
      .setPayload(\"{\\"schema\\":[\\"EMAIL\\",\\"LOOKALIKE_VALUE\\"],\\"data\\":[[\\"9b431636bd164765d63c573c346708846af4f68fe3701a77a3bdd7e7e5166254\\",44.5],[\\"8cc62c145cd0c6dc444168eaeb1b61b351f9b1809a579cc9b4c9e9d7213a39ee\\",140],[\\"4eaf70b1f7a797962b9d2a533f122c8039012b31e0a52b34a426729319cb792a\\",0],[\\"98df8d46f118f8bef552b0ec0a3d729466a912577830212a844b73960777ac56\\",0.9]]}\")
      .execute();

  }
}

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require 'facebook_ads'

access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'
app_id = '<APP_ID>'
id = '<CUSTOM_AUDIENCE_ID>'

FacebookAds.configure do |config|
  config.access_token = access_token
  config.app_secret = app_secret
end

custom_audience = FacebookAds::CustomAudience.get(id)
users = custom_audience.users.create({
    payload: {'schema':['EMAIL','LOOKALIKE_VALUE'],'data':[['9b431636bd164765d63c573c346708846af4f68fe3701a77a3bdd7e7e5166254',44.5],['8cc62c145cd0c6dc444168eaeb1b61b351f9b1809a579cc9b4c9e9d7213a39ee',140],['4eaf70b1f7a797962b9d2a533f122c8039012b31e0a52b34a426729319cb792a',0],['98df8d46f118f8bef552b0ec0a3d729466a912577830212a844b73960777ac56',0.9]]},
})

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Step 3: Create a Value-Based Lookalike

After the custom audience contains at least 100 people, you can use it as a seed audience for a new lookalike of type custom_ratio.


curl -X POST \
  -F 'name="Value-Based lookalike"' \
  -F 'subtype="LOOKALIKE"' \
  -F 'origin_audience_id="<CUSTOM_AUDIENCE_ID>"' \
  -F 'lookalike_spec={
       "type": "custom_ratio",
       "ratio": 0.01,
       "country": "US"
     }' \
  -F 'access_token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/act_<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>/customaudiences

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'use strict';
const bizSdk = require('facebook-nodejs-business-sdk');
const AdAccount = bizSdk.AdAccount;
const CustomAudience = bizSdk.CustomAudience;

const access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>';
const app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>';
const app_id = '<APP_ID>';
const id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>';
const api = bizSdk.FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token);
const showDebugingInfo = true; // Setting this to true shows more debugging info.
if (showDebugingInfo) {
  api.setDebug(true);
}

const logApiCallResult = (apiCallName, data) => {
  console.log(apiCallName);
  if (showDebugingInfo) {
    console.log('Data:' + JSON.stringify(data));
  }
};

let fields, params;
fields = [
];
params = {
  'name' : 'Value-Based lookalike',
  'subtype' : 'LOOKALIKE',
  'origin_audience_id' : '<valueBasedCustomAudienceID>',
  'lookalike_spec' : {'type':'custom_ratio','ratio':0.01,'country':'US'},
};
const customaudiences = (new AdAccount(id)).createCustomAudience(
  fields,
  params
);
logApiCallResult('customaudiences api call complete.', customaudiences);

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require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

use FacebookAds\Object\AdAccount;
use FacebookAds\Object\CustomAudience;
use FacebookAds\Api;
use FacebookAds\Logger\CurlLogger;

$access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>';
$app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>';
$app_id = '<APP_ID>';
$id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>';

$api = Api::init($app_id, $app_secret, $access_token);
$api->setLogger(new CurlLogger());

$fields = array(
);
$params = array(
  'name' => 'Value-Based lookalike',
  'subtype' => 'LOOKALIKE',
  'origin_audience_id' => '<valueBasedCustomAudienceID>',
  'lookalike_spec' => array('type' => 'custom_ratio','ratio' => 0.01,'country' => 'US'),
);
echo json_encode((new AdAccount($id))->createCustomAudience(
  $fields,
  $params
)->exportAllData(), JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

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from facebook_business.adobjects.adaccount import AdAccount
from facebook_business.adobjects.customaudience import CustomAudience
from facebook_business.api import FacebookAdsApi

access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'
app_id = '<APP_ID>'
id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>'
FacebookAdsApi.init(access_token=access_token)

fields = [
]
params = {
  'name': 'Value-Based lookalike',
  'subtype': 'LOOKALIKE',
  'origin_audience_id': '<valueBasedCustomAudienceID>',
  'lookalike_spec': {'type':'custom_ratio','ratio':0.01,'country':'US'},
}
print AdAccount(id).create_custom_audience(
  fields=fields,
  params=params,
)

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import com.facebook.ads.sdk.*;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.Arrays;

public class SAMPLE_CODE_EXAMPLE {
  public static void main (String args[]) throws APIException {

    String access_token = \"<ACCESS_TOKEN>\";
    String app_secret = \"<APP_SECRET>\";
    String app_id = \"<APP_ID>\";
    String id = \"<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>\";
    APIContext context = new APIContext(access_token).enableDebug(true);

    new AdAccount(id, context).createCustomAudience()
      .setName(\"Value-Based lookalike\")
      .setSubtype(CustomAudience.EnumSubtype.VALUE_LOOKALIKE)
      .setOriginAudienceId(\"<valueBasedCustomAudienceID>\")
      .setLookalikeSpec(\"{\\"type\\":\\"custom_ratio\\",\\"ratio\\":0.01,\\"country\\":\\"US\\"}\")
      .execute();

  }
}

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require 'facebook_ads'

access_token = '<ACCESS_TOKEN>'
app_secret = '<APP_SECRET>'
app_id = '<APP_ID>'
id = '<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>'

FacebookAds.configure do |config|
  config.access_token = access_token
  config.app_secret = app_secret
end

ad_account = FacebookAds::AdAccount.get(id)
customaudiences = ad_account.customaudiences.create({
    name: 'Value-Based lookalike',
    subtype: 'LOOKALIKE',
    origin_audience_id: '<valueBasedCustomAudienceID>',
    lookalike_spec: {'type':'custom_ratio','ratio':0.01,'country':'US'},
})

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You can read, update and delete a value-based lookalike as you do normal Lookalike Audiences. See also Custom Audiences, Reference and Custom Audience Users, Reference.

Targeting

You can target ads with a value-based lookalikes as you do for any other custom audience. See Ad Set, Reference.