In an era of increasing privacy regulations and the decline of third-party cookies, first-party data is the most valuable asset your Brisbane business owns. By using the information your customers have already given you—like email addresses and phone numbers—you can re-engage past buyers with incredible precision and lower your overall advertising costs.
Remarketing with first-party data (often called 'Customer Match' or 'Custom Audiences') allows you to show ads specifically to people who have already interacted with your brand. This guide will walk you through how to securely prepare and upload this data to Google Ads and Meta (Facebook/Instagram) to boost your ROI.
Prerequisites: What You’ll Need
Before we begin, ensure you have the following ready:- A Customer List: A CSV or Excel file containing customer emails, phone numbers, or physical addresses.
- Admin Access: High-level access to your Google Ads and Meta Business Suite accounts.
- Privacy Policy: An updated policy on your website stating that you use customer data for marketing purposes (essential for Australian Privacy Act compliance).
- Minimum Volume: You generally need at least 1,000 active users for Google Customer Match to run effectively.
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Step 1: Clean and Format Your Data
Before uploading anything, your data must be formatted correctly so the platforms can 'match' your list to their users. What you should see: An Excel spreadsheet where column A is 'Email', column B is 'Phone', column C is 'First Name', and column D is 'Last Name'.- Emails: Must be lowercase (e.g., mate@example.com.au).
- Phone Numbers: Include the country code (e.g., +61 for Australia). Remove any spaces or brackets.
- Country: Use ISO country codes (AU for Australia).
Step 2: Navigate to Audience Manager in Google Ads
Log into your Google Ads account. Click on the Tools and Settings icon (the wrench) in the top right corner. Under the 'Shared Library' column, select Audience Manager.Step 3: Create a New Customer List in Google
Click the blue plus (+) button and select Customer list from the dropdown menu. Screenshot description: You will see a screen titled 'Upload emails, phones and/or mailing addresses'. There will be a section to name your segment—choose something descriptive like 'All Customers - Oct 2023'.Step 4: Upload and Hash Your Data
Select the 'Upload plain text data' option (Google will hash/encrypt it for you during the upload for security). Choose your CSV file.Note: You must tick the box confirming that the data was collected in accordance with Google's policies. This means you didn't buy the list from a third party!
Step 5: Set Membership Duration
Decide how long a user should stay in this list. For most Brisbane retail businesses, 'No expiry' is a good start, but for seasonal services (like pest control), you might set it to 365 days. Click Upload and Create.Step 6: Access Meta Business Suite
Now let's do the same for Facebook and Instagram. Go to business.facebook.com and navigate to All Tools, then select Audiences.Step 7: Create a Custom Audience
Click the blue Create Audience button and select Custom Audience. From the list of sources, select Customer List.Step 8: Prepare the Meta Template
Meta will provide a guide on formatting. Since you've already cleaned your data in Step 1, you can usually skip to the next screen. Ensure you include a column for 'Customer Value' if you want to create 'Value-Based Lookalikes' later—this tells Meta who your highest-spending customers are.Step 9: Upload and Map Fields
Upload your CSV. Meta will ask you to 'Map' the fields. What you should see: A preview where Meta asks, "Is this the Email column?" You will confirm by selecting the correct header from the dropdown. If a green tick appears, you are good to go.Step 10: Import and Process
Click Import and Control. Meta will now hash your data. This process doesn't upload the actual names to their server in a readable format; it turns them into strings of code to protect privacy.Step 11: Create Lookalike Audiences (The Secret Sauce)
Once your lists are uploaded, don't stop there. Use these lists to create Lookalike Audiences.In both Google and Meta, you can tell the platform: "Find me 100,000 people in Australia who behave exactly like my existing customers." This is often the most profitable targeting method for local businesses.
Step 12: Apply Audiences to Your Campaigns
Go to an existing campaign or create a new one. In the 'Audience' or 'Targeting' section, search for the name of the list you just uploaded.- Targeting: Only shows ads to people on the list.
- Observation (Google only): Shows ads to everyone but lets you see how the people on your list perform compared to others.
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Pro Tips for Success
- Segment Your Lists: Don't just upload one giant list. Create separate lists for 'High Spenders', 'Leads Who Didn't Buy', and 'Past Customers (Inactive)'. Tailor your ad copy to each.
- The 1,000 Rule: Google Ads requires a minimum of 1,000 matched users to serve ads on the Search Network. If your list is small, focus on the Display Network or Meta first.
- Refresh Regularly: Customer data goes stale. Aim to re-upload your lists at least once a month to include new customers and remove those who have opted out.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Buying Email Lists: Never upload a list you bought from a broker. Not only is it a violation of Google/Meta terms, but it also risks heavy fines under the Australian Spam Act 2003.
- Poor Formatting: If your phone numbers don't have '+61', the match rate will be incredibly low. Take the time to fix the spreadsheet first.
- Ignoring Opt-outs: If a customer unsubscribes from your email marketing, ensure they are removed from your remarketing uploads to remain compliant.
Troubleshooting
- Low Match Rate: If you upload 1,000 emails but only 200 are matched, it’s usually because those customers use different emails for their social media accounts than they do for shopping. Try adding phone numbers to your upload to increase the match rate.
- List 'Too Small' Error: It can take 24–48 hours for Google and Meta to process your list. If it says 'Too Small' immediately after upload, wait a day before panicking.
- Upload Failures: Ensure your file is saved as a .CSV (Comma Separated Values), not an .XLSX file.
Next Steps
Now that your first-party audiences are live, your next step is to create specific ad creative that speaks to these people. For example, offer a 'Welcome Back' discount to customers who haven't shopped in six months.If you need help setting up advanced tracking or segmenting your database for better ad performance, the team at Local Marketing Group is here to help. Contact us today to optimise your digital advertising strategy.