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Custom segments -Reach your ideal audience based on their interests and behaviors

Note

  • Not everyone has this feature yet. If you don't, don't worry—it's coming soon!
  • Custom segments work best with either minimal use of other audience targeting settings, or as a supplement to enhance your existing targeting strategy.

Custom segments allow you to target customers who have shown purchase intent signals within customized categories created and defined by you. This offers an opportunity to manually add categories beyond the predefined list we offer for in-market audiences. All you need to do is add the keywords/categories associated with your custom segment. Then, your ad group targeting will be optimized for audiences whose interests and behaviors align with those keywords/categories.

For example, you might create a new custom segment and name it “Luxury shoppers.” Then, you add keywords that your ideal audience would use to search for products on the web, such as “designer handbags” and “diamond necklaces.” For better reach and performance, add as many relevant keywords as possible.

Once you create your custom segment, your ads will target potential customers who have shown interest in or made purchases for luxury items like designer handbags and diamond necklaces.

Your keywords for custom segments will undergo an editorial review once you add them. There are three editorial statuses: Pending, disapproved, and approved. You will see the pending and disapproved statuses reflected next to the keyword itself below Keywords in your custom segment settings. Disapproved keywords will show an error, and pending keywords will show a clock. If your keyword has been approved, you won't see either of these statuses. See below for information about what to do if you have a disapproved keyword.

Note

It takes two to three days to build the audience for your custom segment after adding it to your ad group.

Note

You cannot download audience lists from the Audience Library. Microsoft Advertising follows strict privacy standards, and these lists may include sensitive user data. Downloading them directly could expose personally identifiable information.

The benefits of using custom segments

  • Reach new customers. Find customers who are interested in your specific products and services.
  • Increase conversions. Target audiences who are more likely to convert in the categories you create.
  • Improve bids and targeting. You can set up your ad group targeting and then apply bid adjustments to increase or decrease ad exposure to people assciated with your custom segment. As with all audience targeting, you have the option to show ads to everyone or only the potential customers associated with your custom segment. To learn more about bid adjustments, see How to target my customers by adjusting my bids
  • Simple setup. Custom segments are simple to set up and don't require UET tags.

Using custom segments

  • Create custom segments

    You can create custom segments during Audience campaign creation, in your ad group settings, or in the Audience library:

    Audience campaign creation

    1. Follow the steps here to create your campaign and add your creative assets to it.
    2. In your ad group, audiences, and targets settings, select Create below Custom segments.
    3. Enter a Name for your custom segment.
    4. Add keywords. These are words or phrases your target audience would search for on the Microsoft Advertising Network based on their interests and behaviors. For better reach and performance, add as many relevant keywords as possible.
    5. Select Save.

    Ad group settings

    1. From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns and select Ad groups > Ad groups.
    2. Select the appropriate ad group.
    3. Select Settings.
    4. Below Ad group targets, select Edit target categories.
    5. Select Audience.
    6. Below Audience, select Edit target.
    7. Select Add targeting.
    8. Select Custom segments from the dropdown.
    9. Select Create custom segment.
    10. Enter a Name for your custom segment.
    11. Add keywords. These are words or phrases your target audience would search for on the Microsoft Advertising Network based on their interests and behaviors. For better reach and performance, add as many relevant keywords as possible.
    12. Select Save.

    Audience library

    1. From the navigation menu on the left, select Tools > Audiences.
    2. Select Custom segments.
    3. Select Create.
    4. Enter a Name for your custom segment.
    5. Add keywords. These are words or phrases your target audience would search for on the Microsoft Advertising Network based on their interests and behaviors. For better reach and performance, add as many relevant keywords as possible.
    6. Select Save.

  • How do I associate a custom segment with my ad group?

    See this help page for information about associating your custom segment with an ad group.

    Note

    Custom segments can only be associated with ad groups, not campaigns.

  • How do I edit a custom segment association?

    Follow these steps to pause, delete, exclude, or change the bid adjustment for your custom segment:

    1. From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns and select Audiences.
    2. Select the checkbox next to the appropriate custom segment > Edit.
    3. Select Pause, Delete, Exclude, or Change bid adjustment.
    4. Select Save.

  • What do I do if I have a disapproved keyword?

    If you have disapproved keywords in your custom segment, your custom segment will still deliver on the keywords that have been approved. Pending keywords can take up to several weeks to be approved. To address a keyword disapproval, you have two options: You can remove the keyword and try again, or if you don't want to remove it, review our policies for disallowed content and update your keyword accordingly.

    Note

    Custom segments won't populate until there's at least one approved keyword.

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