Meta Custom Audiences setup for Data Activation

The Data Activation connector for Meta (formerly Facebook) Custom Audiences enables seamless integration between your customer data and Meta's powerful advertising platform. By connecting these systems, you can efficiently target and re-engage your audience with highly personalized ads that resonate at every stage of the customer journey.

This integration empowers you to:

• Leverage real-time insights: Use up-to-date, first-party customer data to create dynamic and precise Custom Audiences on Meta.

• Boost campaign ROI: Optimize ad spend by focusing on the most relevant segments, such as high-value customers, recent purchasers, or users likely to churn.

• Enhance cross-channel consistency: Align your messaging and offers on Meta with other channels to deliver cohesive and personalized customer experiences.

• Automate audience updates: Keep your Meta Custom Audiences automatically refreshed with the latest data, ensuring your targeting remains relevant and impactful.

Key features:

• Create a Meta custom audience directly from the Data Activation

• Send user identifiers to Meta anytime based on online/offline profile data (unlike Meta pixel integration which only triggers when a user interacts with a web page)

• Combine several types of identifiers

• Automatically add/remove users from connected Meta custom audiences when profiles enter or leave audiences/journeys

Destination connector overview

Before you begin

Before configuring the Meta connector, ensure that you have the following details ready:

• Admin access to an active Business Manager account.

• Admin access to Ad Account (using Meta Business Manager).

• Your Meta Ad account ID. To find your Meta Ad account ID, visit Facebook Advertising Settings with the owner account and click the dropdown toggle on the top right. Copy the Ad Account ID you want to connect and save this for later.

• You’ve accepted the Custom Terms and Conditions (see https://business.facebook.com/ads/manage/customaudiences/tos/?act=<AD_ACCOUNT_ID>).

  • To find your AD_ACCOUNT_ID, visit Facebook Advertising Settings with the owner account and click the dropdown toggle on the top right.

• You’ve prepared links for your company's Privacy Policy URL, Terms of Service URL, and User Data Deletion URL.

Note

Meta configuration is not the Data Activation's responsibility. This article is meant as a guide to set up the connector.

High-level Meta configuration

Step 1: Create new app

1. Go to Facebook Developer portal and create a new app.

   1. Under App details, give the app a display name and a contact email.

   2. Under Use cases, select Measure ad performance data with Marketing API

   3. Under Business, you can connect your business portfolio now or later

   4. Under Overview, review the details and click Create app.

2. In your App Dashboard, select  App settings → Basic from the left sidebar. Fill in the required fields, making sure to provide a valid Privacy Policy URL, Terms of Service URL, and User Data Deletion URL, and save the changes.

Step 2: Create admin system user and access token

1. Go to Facebook People Settings, and select the linked Business Portfolio.

2. Go to Users → System Users.

3. Add a new Admin System User or use an existing one.

   1. If you add a new System User, make sure its role is set to Admin.

4. Select the Admin System User and click Generate token.

5. Select the app that you previously created, and click Next.

6. Set the token to expire Never, and click Next.

7. Copy the token and save it in a secure location. You’ll need it when setting up the connector in Data Activation.

8. To verify that everything is configured correctly, go to Facebook access token and paste in the token you generated earlier. Confirm the token settings:

   • Type: System User

   • Expires: Never

Step 3: Publish the app

When you have set all the configurations correctly, publish the app you created.

1. Go to your App Dashboard in Facebook Developers portal and click Publish on the left sidebar.

2. Review your app, and click Publish.

Instructions

Step 1: Configure destination

1. On the Data Activation platform, select Connectors in the left-side navigation bar.

2. Click + New Connector.

3. Select Facebook.

4. Use the same access token that was created in the Meta configuration process.

You can set up multiple Meta connectors connected to different Ad Accounts and/or types of identifiers (see Payload type) for the same Ad account.

Step 2: Add the destination connector to an Audience or Journey

1. On the Data Activation platform, select Audiences in the left-side navigation bar.

2. Configure the criteria users should meet to become part of the audience in step 1.

3. Add your Meta connector in step 2 of the audience setup.

Make sure profile identifiers mentioned in the Quick Connector Overview are collected in the Data Activation before using this connector.

Error handling

Meta error codes are reported on the Data Exchange section of the audience or journey using the following error codes:

• Timeout

• Other error

• Invalid credentials

For more information, see the Meta API documentation:

• Meta Marketing API

• Meta Custom Audiences documentation

If your error isn't listed above, consult the Meta Marketing API error reference documentation for investigation.

FAQs

How do I use the external ID as payload type?

The Data Activation team is currently assessing whether the external ID provides any added value compared to first-party identifiers such as cookies created by the Meta pixel or email/phone hash.

Can I use the external_id in combination with CAPI/pixel?

Meta uses different storage for custom audiences compared to CAPI/pixel; an external_id sent using pixel cannot be used in Custom Audiences and vice versa.