A lookalike of the wrong people
A Thrissur coaching centre built a 1% lookalike from all 9,000 instant form leads, most of whom never answered calls.
Meta found more people just like them: quick to fill forms, slow to enrol.
We rebuilt the lookalike from 450 students who actually enrolled, uploaded from the CRM. Cost per lead rose 20%, but enrolments per ₹1 lakh spent nearly doubled.
Illustrative example based on a common pattern in Kerala e-commerce accounts. Numbers rounded.
What a lookalike audience is
Meta looks at the people in your source audience and finds others with similar behaviour and interests. Smaller percentages are closer matches; larger ones reach more people.
With Advantage+ audience on, Meta may go beyond your lookalike if it finds better results. That makes the source the main lever: feed it your best customers, not every lead.
Lookalike quality ≈ quality of the source audience (best customers > all leads > page fans)
Lookalike source checklist
Check your lookalike source before you build it.
0 of 6 done (0%)
Big gaps. Start with the first unticked item; each one is a quick win.
Stuck on one? Join the community and post it for doubt-clearing.
Source audiences, best to weakest
| Source | Why |
|---|---|
| Customers with high value | Teaches Meta who actually pays well |
| Qualified leads from the CRM | Filters out junk form fillers |
| Website purchasers (pixel) | Good if tracking is clean |
| All leads or engagers | Easy to build, weakest signal |
How experienced marketers use Lookalike audience
1. Prospecting with a strong signal
Use a customer lookalike as the audience or as an Advantage+ suggestion when entering a new city or launching a new course.
2. Testing against broad
Many accounts find broad targeting with good creative matches or beats lookalikes. Test both.
3. Value-based growth for stores
A value-based lookalike tends to find bigger spenders.
What good looks like
| Business type | Starting rule | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lookalike size | 1–3% to start | Larger sizes for bigger budgets. |
| Source size | 1,000+ ideal | Minimum 100 matched people. |
| Refresh | Every 1–3 months | Customer base changes. |
When the number lies
- Advantage+ expands beyond it
- Results may come from people outside the lookalike. Check audience breakdowns before crediting the lookalike.
- Small accounts
- With low budgets, differences between lookalike and broad are often noise.
Mistakes to avoid
Using all leads as the source
You get more low-quality leads.
Stacking many lookalikes in one ad set
Audience overlap and muddled learning.
Never refreshing the source
The audience drifts from who buys today.
Related terms
Questions people ask about a lookalike audience
What is a lookalike audience?
A new audience Meta builds of people similar to a source audience you provide, such as your customers.
Do lookalike audiences still work in 2026?
They can, especially with high-quality sources, but Meta’s broad and Advantage+ targeting often performs as well. Test both.
What size lookalike should I use?
Start with 1–3% for the closest match. Use larger sizes when budgets are big or results plateau.
How many people do I need for a lookalike?
At least 100 matched people from one country; 1,000 or more gives a better result.
Put it into practice
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