Finding new customers is one of the biggest challenges in marketing. Remarketing helps you re-engage people who already know your brand, but what about reaching fresh prospects who have never interacted with you before? That’s where lookalike audiences come in.
Lookalike audiences are a powerful way to reach new people who are similar to your best customers. In 2025, they remain one of the most effective tools for scaling campaigns, especially on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and TikTok. At the same time, Google has retired its version of lookalikes, so it’s important to understand where and how you can use them today.
This guide will explain what lookalike audiences are, where they work, how to set them up, and the best practices that separate high-performing campaigns from wasted ad spend.
What Is a Lookalike Audience?
A lookalike audience is a group of people that an ad platform identifies as being similar to an existing audience you already have. You give the platform a source audience, such as your customer list, website visitors, or app users. The platform then looks for new people who share similar traits and behaviors.
For example, if you upload a list of your best customers to Meta, the platform will analyze signals such as demographics, interests, and online behavior. It will then build a new audience of people who are likely to behave in the same way, giving you a much better chance of finding new customers who convert.
Where You Can Use Lookalike Audiences in 2025
Lookalike audiences are not available everywhere, and their availability has changed over the last few years. Here’s the current picture:
- Meta (Facebook and Instagram): Still the most widely used platform for lookalike audiences. They can be created in Audience Manager or applied directly within Advantage+ Shopping campaigns.
- TikTok Ads: TikTok calls them “Similar Audiences.” They work in a very similar way. You start with a custom audience (such as website visitors from the TikTok Pixel or an uploaded customer list), and TikTok expands it into a larger group of similar people.
- Google Ads: Google used to offer Similar Audiences, but they were phased out entirely by 2025. They’ve been replaced by optimized targeting and audience expansion features powered by Google’s AI. While these tools aim to achieve the same outcome, they aren’t lookalikes in the traditional sense.
Other platforms: Some demand-side platforms (DSPs) and CRMs have their own versions of modeled audiences, but Meta and TikTok are the main channels most advertisers rely on for lookalikes.
How to Create a Lookalike Audience
Creating a lookalike audience is simple once you have your source data ready. The exact steps differ depending on the platform.
On Meta
- Go to Audience Manager in your Ads Manager account.
- Select Create Audience → Lookalike Audience.
- Choose your source audience. This can be a customer list, website visitors (via Pixel), app users, or an engagement audience.
- Select the location you want your lookalike to target.
- Choose the audience size. Smaller percentages (1–2%) are more closely matched to your source, while larger ones (up to 10%) reach more people with looser similarity.
- Create your audience and apply it to campaigns.
On TikTok
- Open Audiences in TikTok Ads Manager.
- Start with a custom audience, such as app users or Pixel-based visitors.
- Select Create Similar Audience.
- Define the size and type of expansion (narrow, balanced, broad).
- Save your audience and apply it to campaigns.
Both platforms handle the heavy lifting in the background. Your main task is to ensure the source audience is strong.
Best Practices for Using Lookalike Audiences
Lookalikes can be a game-changer, but only if you set them up correctly. Here are some proven practices:
- Start with quality, not quantity: A smaller list of your best customers is more valuable than a massive list of low-quality leads. Platforms work better when the source audience reflects your ideal buyer.
- Use recent data: Fresh activity (such as purchases in the last 90 days) makes the model more accurate.
- Test audience sizes: Start with 1% (the closest match) and then expand to 2–3% for increased reach. Test larger percentages later if you want to scale.
- Layer with exclusions: Always exclude your existing customers or remarketing lists so you don’t waste money showing acquisition ads to people you’ve already converted.
Combine with interest targeting: Test lookalikes alongside interest-based audiences to diversify your reach.
Limitations and 2025 Updates
While lookalike audiences are powerful, they aren’t perfect. There are some important limitations and updates you need to know about in 2025.
- Privacy changes: Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) and other restrictions have reduced the amount of behavioral data platforms can use. This means the quality of your first-party data is more critical than ever.
- Advantage+ integration: On Meta, some automated campaigns like Advantage+ Shopping already use lookalike-style modeling behind the scenes, even if you don’t set it up manually.
- Google Ads changes: With the retirement of Similar Audiences, advertisers who relied on them must adjust their strategies. Optimized targeting in Display and Discovery campaigns automatically expands reach, but you don’t control it in the same way.
- Performance expectations: Lookalikes are designed for prospecting, not remarketing. They usually deliver lower conversion rates than remarketing lists, but they scale much better.
When to Use Lookalike Audiences
Lookalike audiences are best for:
- Prospecting: Reaching new people who resemble your existing customers.
- Scaling campaigns: Expanding beyond your current audience once remarketing is maxed out.
- Entering new markets: Building an initial audience in a new country or region by modeling from your current customers.
- High-value targeting: Finding people who look like your most profitable buyers.
They are not a replacement for remarketing. Instead, they complement it by helping you find new prospects with a higher likelihood of converting.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even experienced advertisers sometimes misuse lookalike audiences. Avoid these pitfalls:
- Using low-quality source lists: If your source is weak, your lookalike will be too.
- Expanding too quickly: Jumping straight to 10% lookalikes usually reduces performance.
- Not refreshing audiences: Keep your source data up to date to avoid stale targeting.
- Expecting remarketing-level performance: Lookalikes are for cold traffic. Don’t compare them directly to warm audiences.
- Failing to exclude current customers: Without exclusions, you’ll waste budget on people who don’t need acquisition ads.
Conclusion
Lookalike audiences remain a powerful targeting option in 2025. They help you find new people who resemble your best customers and allow you to scale campaigns with more precision than broad targeting alone.
Meta and TikTok both support lookalike-style targeting, while Google has shifted to automated audience expansion. The key to success is starting with high-quality source data, testing audience sizes, and keeping your lists fresh.
For any business looking to grow, lookalike audiences are one of the most innovative ways to expand your reach while staying focused on people who are likely to convert.
Frequently Asked Questions on Lookalike Audience
A custom audience targets people you already have data on (customers, site visitors, app users). A lookalike audience targets new people who are similar to them.
Not anymore. Google’s Similar Audiences were phased out in 2023 and replaced by optimized targeting.
Meta recommends at least 1,000 people, but quality is more important than size. A smaller list of high-value customers often works better.
Yes, especially on Meta and TikTok. They remain one of the best ways to scale acquisition campaigns.
