Lookalike Audience, explained properly.
How lookalike audiences work
The platform analyses your source audience for shared signals, including demographics, interests, online behaviour patterns, content engagement and purchase patterns. Meta's 1% lookalike represents the closest match, the smallest and highest in similarity, while 5% and 10% lookalikes scale wider with less similarity. Google's Similar Audiences work on similar principles without explicit size tiers.
Best source audiences for lookalikes
1. Existing customers, especially high-value or repeat customers. 2. High-intent website visitors such as cart abandoners, demo requests and multiple-page visitors. 3. Email subscribers who have opened or clicked within the last 90 days. 4. Recent converters from the last 30 to 90 days, weighted toward recent for relevance. The quality of your source audience determines the quality of the lookalike.
Take this further
Lookalike audiences are one of the cleanest scaling levers in paid acquisition when they are set up properly.
Lookalike Audience: common questions.
How big should my source audience be?
Meta requires at least 100 people but recommends 1,000 to 50,000 for best results. Google Similar Audiences also work better with larger source audiences. Aim for at least 500 high-quality source records.
Are lookalike audiences still effective in 2026?
Yes, with caveats. Apple's privacy changes and third-party cookie deprecation have reduced accuracy. The most effective lookalikes now come from first-party data rather than pixel-based behaviour.
Can I use lookalikes for B2B targeting?
Yes, especially when your source audiences are buyers, meaning decision-makers in the right ideal customer profile. LinkedIn lookalikes are particularly strong for B2B.
What is the difference between lookalike audiences and Customer Match?
Customer Match targets your existing customers directly, while lookalikes target new users similar to those customers. Use both, for retention and acquisition respectively.
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