Audience Targeting
Part of Paid social campaign strategy for Australian advertisers
Separating prospecting from retargeting campaigns
Decide when prospecting and retargeting need separate campaigns, define their roles and check audience, overlap and reporting limits.
Separate prospecting and retargeting when each needs a different message, spend limit or success decision, and the platform can build and serve both audiences. If an audience is too small to activate or the split makes delivery harder to manage, keep a simpler structure. Prospecting introduces an offer to eligible people who may be unfamiliar with it; retargeting addresses a useful next step after a permitted, observable interaction. These are planning roles, not perfectly distinct groups of people.
Define entry and exit rules
Set an entry rule and an exclusion for each audience: prospecting might use eligible locations and customer characteristics, excluding observed purchasers where supported. Retargeting might include a relevant website visit or ad engagement and exclude an observed purchase or resolved enquiry. Record the audience source, time period and exclusion rule.
For example, define prospecting by eligible locations and customer characteristics, then exclude observed recent customers. Define retargeting using TikTok Website Traffic to include visitors or people who took a selected event during a chosen period, and exclude observed recent customers when reminders no longer fit; TikTok supports event-and-period exclusions.
A missing event does not prove someone is new to the business or has not bought through another route. Matching limits, privacy choices and data delays also affect who appears in an audience.
| Planning question | Prospecting | Retargeting |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Explain the offer to eligible people | Address a useful next question about an offer they encountered |
| Message | What it is, who it suits and why it matters | Terms, proof or a next step without assuming why they left |
| Review | Reach and later business outcomes | Return actions, repeated exposure and later business outcomes |
Choose a workable structure
Separate campaigns when each role needs its own objective, budget boundary, reporting decision or materially different offer. A simpler setup may be enough when it gives the team clear controls. Splitting a small audience into many segments can make delivery and interpretation harder.
Check audience feasibility before committing separate budget: can the platform build the audience, is it large enough to use, and can the campaign apply the exclusions you need? If any answer is no, or the split fragments delivery, keep a simpler structure until the audience or requirements justify separation.
TikTok Custom Audiences can use uploads, website or app activity, TikTok engagement, or an audience activation partner. TikTok requires 1,000 total matched users in a Custom Audience before it can be used in an ad group; a small local advertiser may not reach that threshold.
TikTok Website Traffic audiences require a TikTok Pixel and a defined event. You can include an event and time period, add exclusions by event and time period, and use Broaden or Narrow rules for OR or AND event logic. TikTok's Available Audience estimator reflects factors including opt-in status, age and location.
LinkedIn supports retargeting based on website and platform interactions, including video ads and Lead Gen Forms. Website retargeting uses the LinkedIn Insight Tag, and an audience can take up to 48 hours to build and continue growing as more members match. Check the usable size in your account before assigning separate budget.
Meta's Advantage+ campaigns and expanded automated targeting can automate audience selection. Before splitting, check in Ads Manager that the warm-audience and exclusion controls you need are available; automation alone does not establish that a separate retargeting audience can be isolated.
Platform Requirements for Retargeting Audiences in Australia
- TikTok Pixel requirement
- Required for Website Traffic audiences
- TikTok Custom Audience threshold
- Minimum 1,000 matched users
- LinkedIn audience build time
- Up to 48 hours to build and grow
- Meta Advantage+ automation
- Requires check in Ads Manager for warm-audience controls
Check overlap, privacy and results
Where supported, exclude observed warm audiences from prospecting or resolved purchasers from acquisition reminders when that fits the campaign's purpose. If an exclusion sharply reduces delivery, inspect its source, time period and matching status.
Do not assume a website visit reveals why someone left or imply knowledge of a private circumstance in the ad. For pixel-based targeting in Australia, consult the OAIC's guidance on tracking pixels and privacy obligations before relying on that data.
Privacy obligations for third-party website pixels depend on the data involved and the organisation. Confirm the requirements that apply to your organisation before using pixel data for targeted advertising.
Review spend and suitable business outcomes for each role, then review the business total. Retargeting may receive attributed conversions from people who were already engaged; attribution alone does not establish additional sales. Avoid making an acquisition decision from one combined cost figure.
Privacy and Data Use Considerations for Tracking Pixels in Australia
- Pros
- Enables precise targeting based on user interactions with your website or ads
- Cons
- Must comply with OAIC privacy obligations; cannot assume private circumstances from behaviour
