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Using your audiences in Google Ads Manager

Updated by Dag

After you sync an audience to Google Ads, it shows up as a Customer Match list with the same name as your ContactLevel audience. You add it to a campaign or ad group in targeting or observation mode.

Before you start

  • Sync your audience to Google Ads. The status in the Syncs window should show Synced.

  • Make sure your Google Ads account is eligible for Customer Match (90 days of history and $50,000 lifetime spend). See Google Ads: Customer Match requirements.

  • Give Google time to match. Processing takes 48–72 hours.

Find the audience

  1. In Google Ads, open Audience Manager.

  2. Look under your customer lists for the list with the same name as your ContactLevel audience.

Add it to a campaign

  1. Select your campaign or ad group.

  2. Open its audience settings.

  3. Add your ContactLevel customer list.

  4. Choose Targeting or Observation.

Observation lets you see how the audience performs without limiting reach. Switch to targeting when you want ads shown only to that audience.

Keep the audience up to date

When you add contacts in ContactLevel, open the audience's Syncs window and click Run next to Google Ads again. The list updates in place in Google Ads.

Tips

  • Google needs at least 1,000 contacts for a list to serve. Aim for 5,000 or more.

  • Use the audience differently by campaign type: as a target list on Display and YouTube, and with bid adjustments on Search.

  • Add the audience's cl_audience parameter to your ad's final URL to see which audience members visit your site. See Finding your audience's UTM parameter.