Shopify Audiences: A Detailed Guide

Finding the right audience interested in your brand can be challenging, especially if you’re a Shopify Plus merchant with a huge inventory and high-volume needs.

Some Shopify Plus merchants analyze potential customers manually, which can be time-consuming and lead to ineffective targeting. Not only that, merchants may end up spending a hefty amount on ads without driving any conversions.

To solve this problem, Shopify launched Shopify Audiences, a targeting tool that helps identify high-purchase-intent audiences and integrates them with major advertising platforms. This tool drives traffic of interested customers from multiple ad channels and reduces customer acquisition costs by up to 50% (based on the latest v2.4 upgrade). 

This blog delves into the nitty-gritty of Shopify Audiences, its types, how to install the Shopify Audience app, how to create a custom audience, and more. 

So, let’s explore how it works! 

Note: Shopify Audiences is only applicable to Shopify Plus merchants. You can download the app directly from the Shopify App Store. Also, it is free to use but can only be accessed with Shopify Plus privileges.

What Is Shopify Audiences?

As mentioned earlier, Shopify Audiences is a powerful tool designed to enhance ad targeting by creating custom audience lists of high-intent buyers based on aggregated purchase data from across the Shopify ecosystem by using the Shopify Audiences data co-op.

Here is how it works:

1. Connect with Multiple Ad Platforms

To use Shopify Audiences, you have to connect your advertising platforms, such as Meta, Google Shopping, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Criteo ad accounts, to the Shopify Audiences app within the Shopify Plus dashboard. This allows Shopify to securely and directly share custom audience lists with your ads account.

2. Create Audiences

After connecting the ad platforms, Shopify uses machine learning algorithms that analyze millions of data points, like customers’ purchase history, their behavior, demographics, etc., across participating Shopify Plus merchants to build audience lists tailored to your store and products.

Example: If you sell eco-friendly skincare, Shopify might create an audience of people who recently purchased similar clean beauty products from other Shopify stores.

3. Automatically Export 

After the custom audience lists are generated, they are automatically exported to your linked ad platforms. From there, you can select them during ad campaign setup. 

When you use Shopify Audiences, you’re essentially layering on top of or replacing native ad platform targeting. For example, in Meta Ads, this is what happens:

• You would select the Shopify-generated audience as a “Custom Audience.”
• Do not apply more targeting filters, as that may narrow the audience too much or conflict with the intent of the Shopify-generated list.

Note: Shopify Audiences do not directly control your budget. Instead, once the list is imported into your ad platform, it behaves like any other Custom Audience. Your ad spend is still managed through the ad platforms.

Shopify Audiences Example

We will take Meta ads as an example. Let’s see how Shopify Audiences work for an ad platform. We shall use Meta, in this case:

• Using Shopify Audiences, the app generates a custom audience called “Skincare Shoppers – 30 days.” Once the list is created, it gets automatically exported to Meta.
  
• This list can be accessed on Meta Ads Manager. This is where you will create your ad campaigns for Facebook and Instagram. To find it, you navigate to the audiences and find the “Skincare Shoppers – 30 days” custom audiences.
  
• Using this list, Meta will display your ads to those specific individuals who are covered in the custom audience list, based on their purchase history, activity across Meta, interests, etc. 

Further reading: Explore Shopify themes in detail and choose the right one for your online store.

Features of Shopify Audiences 

Shopify Audiences offers a plethora of specific features that enhance targeting efforts. Here are the major features:

1. Integration with Multiple Marketplaces: The tool integrates and automatically exports audience lists to major marketplaces to run ads. These marketplaces are Meta, Google, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Criteo.
   
2. Custom Audiences: The tool allows you to easily create a custom audience list that contains all potential customers, which can boost conversions. The custom audience list is created by analyzing customer behavior and intent.
   
3. Lookalike Audiences: In addition to custom audiences, it can also generate lookalike audiences, which contain new customers with behaviors and interests similar to those of the existing audience.
   
   Note that lookalike audience generation depends on the platform you are using; if the platform has the option to create lookalike audiences, you can then use Shopify Audiences to do so.
   
   The lookalike audience is created on the ad platform (Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Criteo) and the source used is the Retargeting Boost Audience. We have explained this below in detail for every ad platform that generates lookalike audiences.
   
4. Privacy & Protection: Customers’ information is hashed and aggregated. Shopify Audience users cannot access any customer data, ensuring their privacy is protected.
   
5. Updates & Refreshes Automatically: The audience list gets periodically refreshed with new customers with high-buying intent. Depending on the type of audience, it may take 1-7 days or 7-14 days.
   
6. Shopify Plus Focus: It functions as a premium feature for Shopify Plus users. 

While these are the primary features, Shopify Audience recently underwent an upgrade, which enabled new features. This is the latest v2.4, which we are discussing in the next section. 

Latest Shopify Audience 2.4 Upgrade

The tool has evolved from version 2.3 to 2.4 in 2024, and with the new version, three new updates were introduced:

1. New audience type 
2. Improved Retargeting Boost audiences
3. Improvement in cost per acquisition

Let’s learn about them in detail –

1. The New Audience – Shopify Audiences v2.4 introduces “Existing Customers Plus,” which helps exclude lifetime existing customers from prospecting ad campaigns, which can help in optimizing ad spending. The prospecting ad campaigns are designed to find new customers.
   
   Usually, these ads also target customers who have already purchased an item from your online store, which can lead to wastage of ad spend. By using Existing Customers Plus, businesses can ensure their ads only reach potential new customers, making the ad spend more focused and effective.

2. Improved Retargeting Boost Audiences – Earlier, in the Shopify Audiences v2.3, Retargeting Boost audiences helped businesses get twice as many orders for every dollar spent on retargeting ads. Now, with the v2.4 upgrade, the Retargeting Boost Audiences has improved by 50% compared to the previous version. 

3. Noticeable reduction in cost per acquisition –  Shopify Audiences also helps businesses reduce their cost per acquisition (CPA). CPA is the amount of money a business spends to acquire a new customer.
   
   Merchants can lower this cost by up to 50% by using Shopify Audiences. This is especially important because it means businesses can achieve the same or even better results at a lower cost. 

How Does Shopify Audiences Work? 

For the readers who are curious about how Shopify Audiences gathers data and provides an effective audience list, we’ll now explain what happens behind the scenes– 

Shopify uses first-party data from the entire Shopify ecosystem to generate custom audiences.

Let’s take luxury pet beds as an example. Shopify will track and analyze customers who have purchased pet-related products in the past and build a custom audience of those customers. This custom audience list contains customers who are very likely to purchase your pet beds. 

Shopify Audience gathers this information using machine learning algorithms to find interested customers while maintaining their privacy. This is done by hashing their crucial information, such as phone numbers, addresses, emails, etc., to the ad platforms (Meta, Google, Pinterest, etc.). 

The ad platforms then match the customer data to their user base and generate a custom audience. This way, you’re only targeting individuals who have shopped on a Shopify Plus store, but now they will view ads across different ad platforms. 

Think of it like this–Hey Meta, here are a bunch of users Shopify thinks are super likely to buy the luxury pet beds from my store. Can you display my ads to them?

Shopify ensures security and uses privacy-safe methods like hashing and aggregation. It does not just hand over customers’ raw data but also complies with privacy standards. 

Now that we have touched upon Shopify Audience, its features, and how it works, it’s time to dive into the essentials and learn to use the tool. 

Further Reading: Learn how to connect Shopify to Pinterest.

Using Shopify Audiences

Using Shopify Audiences is a fairly simple process. In this section, we will focus on the prerequisites, types of audiences, how to set up, and how to create the right audience. 

Eligibility & Prerequisites for Using Shopify Audiences

There are some eligibility requirements and prerequisites that one must follow in order to use this tool:

1. Shopify Plus merchants: The tool is only for Shopify Plus merchants. You must be on the Plus plan to use it.
   
2. Location: The Shopify Plus merchant should be based in the United States or Canada. Merchants should also comply with regional privacy laws.
   
3. Shopify Payments: It is mandatory for Shopify Payments to be active and in use. 

Types of Shopify Audiences 

The platform-specific types of audiences include – 

• Meta Audiences 
• Google Audiences
• Pinterest Audiences
• Snapchat Audiences 
• TikTok Audiences 
• Criteo Audiences

As you select an ad platform, you can narrow down and create specific audience types according to your requirements. For different ad platforms, you can generate the following audience list:

• Retargeting Boost Audiences
• Prospecting Audiences
• Lookalike Audiences 
• Existing Customers Plus 

Let’s see which ones you can apply to each ad platform:

Meta Audience (Facebook & Instagram)

For Meta, you can generate an audience list for Facebook and Instagram. Here are the different kinds of audiences you can produce: 

1. Retargeting Boost: This audience list focuses on generating a list of shoppers who visited your online store but did not complete the purchase or abandoned their carts. This list is refreshed automatically on Meta, and new potential customers are added every 1-7 days.
   
2. Prospecting Audiences: Shopify generates an audience list that is similar to your existing audience who have made a purchase in the past. This list is refreshed automatically on Meta, and new potential customers are added every 7-14 days.
   
3. Meta Lookalike: This audience is usually generated on Meta, and the source is derived from Retargeting Boost audiences. Basically, you use a Meta-generated lookalike audience, and the seed (source) audience from which you will derive the new potential customers is from Lookalike audiences consisting of potential customers who have similar interests as the existing customers.
   
   The list contains 3% of Meta users in the US and Canada. The estimated audience size is 9.1 million, and Meta periodically refreshes the list.
   
4. Existing Customers Plus: This list focuses on existing customers who reside in the US and Canada. It can be used to exclude existing customers from prospecting campaigns, include them in retargeting ad campaigns, or add them to Advantage+ campaigns.

Google Audience 

Google Audiences are used in ads that appear on Google Search, Google Shopping, Gmail, YouTube, and Google Display Network. You can utilize the following audiences for Google:

1. Prospecting Seed: Shopify generates an audience list that is similar to your existing audience who have made a purchase in the past. It acts as the source for Performance Max campaigns. This list is refreshed automatically on Google, and new potential customers are added every 1-7 days.
   
2. Existing Customers: This list focuses on existing customers who reside in the US and Canada. It can be used to exclude existing customers to avoid targeting existing customers, include them in remarketing campaigns, or add them as a signal for PMax campaigns to enhance targeting.

Also read: Understand Performance Max Audience Signals in detail.

Pinterest Audience 

Pinterest is another ad platform perfect for creating targeted ads. It is another ad platform that connects with Shopify Audience and the following audience lists can be exported to the platform:

1. Retargeting Boost: The audience list focuses on generating a list of shoppers who visited your online store but did not complete the purchase or abandoned their carts. This list is refreshed automatically on Pinterest, and new potential customers are added every 1-7 days.
   
2. Prospecting Audiences: Even for Pinterest, Shopify generates an audience list that is similar to your existing audience who have made a purchase in the past. This list is refreshed automatically on Pinterest, and new potential customers are added every 7-14 days.
    

Snapchat Audience

Another popular platform for running ad campaigns. You can sell on Snapchat by creating the following audiences and running ads: 

1. Retargeting Boost Audience: This can be added to existing retargeting ad sets. This enables the ads to reach customers who have engaged with your online store or ads in the past but haven’t made a purchase. The new potential customers are automatically added on Snapchat every 1-7 days.
   
2. Prospecting Audience: This consists of customers who have purchased a product from your online store. New potential customers are automatically added on Snapchat every 7-14 days.
   
3. Snapchat Lookalike Audience: For Snapchat ads, Similarity Lookalike Audiences, a Snapchat ads feature, are used. These audiences consist of potential customers who have similar interests as the existing customers. This lookalike audience also uses Retargeting Boost Audiences as the source and is generated on Snapchat.
   
   The Shopify Audience app creates the Similarity Lookalike Audience automatically and fills it with potential customers from the US and Canada. Everything is refreshed and managed on Snapchat.
   
4. Existing Customers: The major focus lies on existing customers who reside in the US and Canada. It can be used to exclude existing customers to avoid adding them to prospecting campaigns and include them in retargeting ad campaigns.
   

TikTok Audiences

You can create an audience list for TikTok ads too. You can generate the following for that: 

1. TikTok Lookalike: TikTok creates Narrow Lookalike Audiences, which uses Shopify Audiences Lookalike Seed as the source. Shopify Audiences creates a TikTok Lookalike Audience with a narrow lookalike size of US-based TikTok users, which is managed and updated by TikTok.
   
2. Existing Customers: For TikTok, the audience lists consists of existing customers who live in the US and Canada. It can be used to exclude existing customers or include them in remarketing campaigns.

Also read: Track your TikTok audience better by installing the TikTok pixel for your Shopify store.

Criteo Audiences

Lastly, Criteo is also another advertising platform that helps in creating targeted ads for higher reach. You can generate the following audiences for Criteo: 

1. Retargeting Boost:  You can add this to existing retargeting ad sets, helping ads reach customers who interacted with your store or ads but haven’t bought anything. New potential customers are automatically added to Criteo every 1-7 days.
   
2. Prospecting:  It contains buyers who have purchased a product from your online store. Additional potential customers are automatically added on Criteo every 7-14 days.
   
3. Criteo Lookalike: Criteo ads use lookalike segments generated on the platform. The source is Retargeting Boost Audiences, and Shopify Audiences automatically creates a Criteo lookalike segment of 100,000 US and Canadian customers. Criteo refreshes and updates the list.
   
4. Existing Customers: It creates a list of existing customers in the US and Canada. To boost performance, you can either exclude them from prospecting campaigns, target them in retargeting campaigns, or do both. 

Setting up Shopify Audiences

The first step is to install the Shopify Audiences app from the app store before connecting with ad platforms. Once the app is installed, follow the steps to set it up: 

• Turn on data sharing to begin setting up. To do this, go to Shopify Admin > Settings > Apps and sales channels. 
• In the “Apps and sales channel” webpage, locate and click Shopify Audiences > Open app. 
• Agree to terms and conditions by clicking “Get started.” 
• Once done, under the “Data Sharing” section, ensure compliance with US state and privacy laws, then click Turn On.
• After that, connect to eligible ad platforms where you have campaigns running.
• (This is applicable if your custom audience list is ready) Export audiences based on your store’s attributes, which are generated automatically.
• Finally, go to your ad platform to add the exported audience to existing campaigns or create new campaigns using the audience lists.

When you enable data sharing, you agree to automatically share customer data with Shopify Audiences. Don’t worry, your privacy and your customers’ privacy are protected, as all personal information is hashed and aggregated.

These data-sharing settings will apply to all the ad platforms you connect to Shopify.

Create the Right Audience

Next, Shopify Audience will create a custom audience and export it to the ad platforms. For that to function, you need to do the following:

• First, make sure data sharing is enabled. 
• Then, connect your Shopify store to ad platforms like Meta, Google, Pinterest, TikTok, Snapchat, and Criteo. 
• Next, go to your Shopify admin > Shopify Audiences app and select the platform for which you want to generate audiences. 
• Click “Generate audiences” and follow the steps to connect your ad account and export the audience. Merchants can export audience lists straight to ad platforms to improve targeting.
• Once exported, you can use the audience in your campaigns on the connected platform.
• Make sure your store is eligible to use Shopify Audiences, which are available for Shopify Plus stores using Shopify Payments in the United States or Canada.

Connecting with different ad platforms

While we gave you a bird’s eye view of how to use Shopify Audiences, connecting it to different ad platforms is crucial for it to automatically export the audience list.

Follow the steps below to establish a connection: 

Meta 

First, connect your Facebook account with the Shopify Audiences app. Two things are important–activate two-factor authentication and gain full control over both your Meta Business Account and ad account.

Here are the steps to generate Meta Audience:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Apps and sales channels.
2. Click on Shopify Audiences.
3. Then, click Open app.
4. Select the Meta tab, then click Generate audiences.
5. Click Connect.
6. Enter your Facebook password, and click Continue.
7. Search for the Meta Business Account and ad account where you’d like to export the audiences, and click on it.
8. Click Accept terms to agree to Meta’s Custom Audiences terms.
9. Hit Export audiences.

Select an ad set for the Meta Retargeting Boost audience

Here is what you have to do–

Assign an Ad Set:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Apps and sales channels.
2. Click on Shopify Audiences.
3. Click Open app.
4. Select the Meta tab, and click on the Retargeting Boost section.
5. Click Select ad set.
6. In the Ad set for Retargeting Boost audience modal, search for a live ad set from a retargeting campaign, then choose it. You can search by name or ad set ID.
7. Click Save.

Changing or Removing an Ad Set:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Apps and sales channels.
2. Click Shopify Audiences.
3. Click Open app.
4. Select the Meta tab, and go to the Retargeting Boost section.
5. Click the ellipsis (…) next to the ad set you want to modify.
6. Choose from the following:

• To change the ad set, click Change ad set.
• To remove the ad set, click Remove ad set.

Google 

You need admin permissions for your Google Ads account to connect your Google account with the Shopify Audiences app.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Apps and sales channels.
2. Click Shopify Audiences.
3. Click Open app.
4. Select the Google tab, then click Generate audiences.
5. Now, click Connect.
6. Enter your Google password, then click Continue.
7. Select the Google Ads account you want to export audiences to.
8. Click Accept terms to agree to Google’s Customer Match Policy.
9. Click Export Audiences.

Pinterest

In order to connect your Pinterest account with the Shopify Audiences app, you need to have admin permissions for your Pinterest ad account.

Here’s how you can generate a Pinterest Audience list:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Apps and sales channels.
2. Click Shopify Audiences > Open app.
3. Select the Pinterest tab, then click Generate Audiences.
4. Then, select Connect.
5. Enter your Pinterest password and click Give access.
6. Select the Pinterest ad account where you want to export your audiences.
7. Click Export Audiences.

Note: If you’re logged into your personal Pinterest account when connecting to Shopify Audiences, switch to your business account first and try again.

TikTok

Just like the previous ad platforms, you’ll again need admin permissions for your TikTok ad account to connect your TikTok account to the Shopify Audiences app.

Check these steps to generate TikTok Audiences:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Apps and sales channels.
2. Click Shopify Audiences > Open app.
3. Select the TikTok tab, then click Generate Audiences.
4. Select Connect.
5. Enter your TikTok password and click Confirm.
6. Choose the TikTok ad account where you want to export the audiences.
7. Click Accept terms to agree to TikTok’s Audiences terms.
8. Finally, click Export Audiences.

Pro Tip: Easily run TikTok ads for your Shopify store and apply Shopify Audiences for maximum reach and output!

Snapchat

To connect your Snapchat account to the Shopify Audiences app, you must have admin permissions for your Snapchat ad account.

Follow the steps below to generate Snapchat Audience:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Apps and sales channels.
2. Click Shopify Audiences.
3. Click Open app.
4. Select the Snapchat tab, then click Generate Audiences.
5. Click Connect.
6. Enter your Snapchat password and click Continue.
7. Select the Snapchat business account and ad account to export audiences to.
8. Click Accept Terms to agree to Snapchat’s Customer List Audience Terms.
9. Click Export Audiences.

Criteo

To connect your Criteo account to the Shopify Audiences app, get admin permissions for your Criteo ad account.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Apps and sales channels.
2. Click Shopify Audiences.
3. Click Open app.
4. Select the Criteo tab, then click Generate Audiences.
5. Hit Connect.
6. Enter your Criteo password and click Approve.
7. Select the Criteo ad account where you want to export audiences.
8. Click Export Audiences.

What Happens After a Connection is Established Between Shopify Audience & Ad Platforms?

When you have an established a connection between the ad platform(s) and created an audience, you can do the following:

1. Export Audiences

The first thing to do is export audiences, which happens automatically. Shopify Audiences lets you sync the audience list with all ad platforms it supports.

2. Run Ad Campaigns

Using the audience list, you can create targeted ad campaigns for potential customers with lookalike audiences.

For example, the TikTok Lookalike audience is created using a Shopify Audiences Lookalike Seed audience by analyzing customer behavior and matching it with your store’s unique attributes to TikTok’s user base in order to find interested customers. The same goes for Meta, Snapchat, and Criteo. 

3. Improve the Effectiveness of Your Ads

Targeting the right audience improves your ad campaign performance as your campaign targets focus on customers who are more likely to convert.

4. Change & Create Ad Sets

You can generate new ad sets with the exported audience list or add them to existing ones. You can also opt to include or exclude specific audiences in the ad campaigns. 

5. Experiment with different audience types

Based on your goals, experiment with different audience types. For example, use Retargeting Boost audiences to display ads to existing customers when running retargeted campaigns.

Conclusion

Using Shopify Audiences enables more efficient advertising across multiple ad platforms, helping to expand your product’s reach and significantly improve conversion rates.

By leveraging this tool, you’ll not only optimize your ad performance but also gain a competitive edge, ensuring you stay ahead in the marketplace!

FAQs

Is Shopify Audiences worth it?
Yes, Shopify Audiences can be highly effective for Shopify Plus merchants, often reducing customer acquisition costs and improving ad targeting. Many users report a better return on ad spend (ROAS), but results vary by business.

How frequently should I update my Shopify Audiences?
Shopify Audiences refreshes automatically every 1 to 14 days, ensuring your ad targeting remains relevant without manual updates.

How do I integrate Shopify Audiences with Facebook Ads?

To integrate Shopify Audiences with Facebook Ads, you must have a Shopify Plus subscription. After installing the Shopify Audiences app, create an audience within the app and export it to your connected Facebook Ads account. Once imported, you can select this audience for your ad campaigns in Facebook Ads Manager.

How can I subscribe to Shopify Audiences?

Shopify Audiences is available exclusively to Shopify Plus merchants. To access this feature, you must upgrade to Shopify Plus, then install the Shopify Audiences app from the Shopify App Store and start creating audiences for your marketing campaigns.

Can I use Shopify Audiences with Google Ads?

Yes, Shopify Audiences can be integrated with Google Ads, allowing you to export custom audiences and run targeted ad campaigns across Google’s advertising platforms.

Are there additional costs associated with using Shopify Audiences?

Shopify Audiences is included in the Shopify Plus subscription, but advertising costs on platforms like Facebook and Google are separate and will vary based on your campaigns and budget. Overall, there is no fee applicable for using the Shopify Audiences app. 

What do merchants say in their Shopify Audiences reviews?

Merchants often praise Shopify Audiences for making ad targeting more effective and helping reduce acquisition costs. Many have seen a better return on ad spend (ROAS), although results can vary. However, some users want the algorithms to improve and a faster overall performance.