When Alice launched her new product line, her initial ads brought in plenty of leads, but a few weeks later, those same prospects had gone cold. Open rates dropped, retargeting ads were getting ignored and conversions flatlined. Like many businesses, Alice had no idea how to re-engage those cold leads without starting from scratch (and without blowing her budget).
That’s where Facebook Custom Audiences come in. These powerful tools allow businesses to reconnect with lost prospects, retarget based on specific behaviours and deliver timely, personalised messaging that brings users back into the funnel.
In this blog, we’ll explore how to build smarter Custom Audiences, optimise retargeting campaigns and turn cold leads into paying customers, all while improving your Facebook ad efficiency and return on investment (ROI).
Facebook Custom Audiences is a powerful targeting feature that allows advertisers to reach users who have already interacted with their brand. Instead of running cold campaigns to people who’ve never heard of you, Custom Audiences let you retarget warm leads, people who have visited your website, engaged with your content, or already exist in your customer database.
Why do Custom Audiences matter? Because they drastically improve ad efficiency and ROI. These users already know your brand, so they’re more likely to engage. That means lower CPC, higher conversion rates and better performance across the board.
To get the most out of Custom Audiences, you need to build them strategically, not just lump everyone into a single retargeting group. Start by segmenting audiences based on engagement levels to ensure you’re sending the right message to the right people.
Time-based segmentation is an easy and effective place to start:
Speaking of exclusions, don’t forget to exclude inactive users from your high-intent campaigns. Showing ads to uninterested audiences wastes the budget and lowers engagement metrics.
Here’s a simple example of structured segmentation:
By building layered, high-intent segments, you ensure your retargeting is both relevant and cost-effective, boosting performance without increasing spend.
When leads go cold, standard retargeting isn’t enough; you need to reignite interest with precision and relevance. These proven strategies help turn disengaged users back into active prospects:
These ads automatically show users the exact products they left behind. Whether they browsed a product or abandoned their cart, dynamic product ads bring them back with a personalised nudge, often leading to higher conversion rates at lower costs.
Sometimes, all a cold lead needs is an incentive to return. Offer limited-time discounts, free shipping, or bundle deals specifically for retargeted audiences. Make the message feel exclusive to them: “Still thinking it over? Here’s 10% off to help you decide.”
What works for warm leads may fall flat for cold ones. Test video vs. carousel vs. single image ads to find what resonates best. Use data to refine messaging, creativity and placement; small changes can lead to big improvements in re-engagement rates.
Once you’ve re-engaged part of your cold audience, use those who converted or engaged as a seed for a Lookalike Audience. This lets you scale your reach to new users who resemble your warmest leads, maximising the efficiency of future ad spend.
These tactics allow you to reconnect with cold leads using tailored messaging, tested creative and intelligent audience expansion, keeping your funnel warm without wasting your budget.
Once you’ve mastered retargeting, the next step is scaling your results and Facebook’s Custom Audience tools give you everything you need.
Your best customers are a goldmine for growth. Build Lookalike Audiences from your top converters, frequent purchasers, or most engaged users to reach new people with similar behaviours.
Instead of creating broad Lookalikes from your full email list or website traffic, use high-intent subsets (e.g. users who purchased more than once or spent more than £100). This creates tighter, more qualified Lookalikes that convert better.
Take your strategy cross-platform by syncing your Facebook Custom Audiences with your email CRM (e.g., Mailchimp, Klaviyo). This lets you run coordinated re-engagement campaigns across email and Facebook, ensuring consistent messaging and reinforcing calls to action.
With these strategies, you move from just chasing conversions to building scalable, sustainable audience pipelines, where retargeting fuels growth and Lookalikes expand your reach intelligently.
The Householder Club, a membership platform, faced the challenge of reaching new users while re-engaging previous visitors who didn’t initially convert. With Mr Digital’s help, they implemented a Custom Audience and retargeting strategy through Facebook Ads, designed to bring cold leads back into the funnel.
Here’s what we did:
The results?
This case demonstrates how a structured Custom Audience strategy, combined with retargeting and audience expansion, can reignite cold leads and significantly improve campaign ROI.
Facebook Custom Audiences aren’t just about retargeting, they’re about rebuilding relevance. By segmenting users based on behaviour, using time-based rules and delivering the right message at the right time, you can transform cold leads into warm prospects and paying customers.
As seen with brands like The Householder Club, strategic audience segmentation and smart retargeting can drive lower CPC, higher engagement and more conversions, without increasing your budget.
If your current campaigns are underperforming or you’re struggling to reconnect with leads, it’s time to rethink your approach. Ready to make your Facebook ads work harder? Contact us today to optimise your custom audience strategy and unlock better ROI from every campaign.