Audience exclusions guide: who to leave out of paid campaigns

List the groups to leave out

• Existing customers, when the campaign is for new customers. Write the rule for how long a buyer counts as existing, for example a set number of days since the last order.
• Staff, the agency team and test accounts, so internal visits do not inflate reach or train the audience.
• Recent buyers of the product in the campaign, for offers that should not repeat to the same people.
• Places the store does not ship to, or markets it does not serve. Reach that cannot convert is wasted spend.

Build the lists from your own data

• Use the customer list the client supplies under its data rules, with a stated refresh date. Do not build it from guesses.
• Keep one list per purpose, named by what it holds and the date it was made, so it can be checked later.
• Refresh each list on the schedule the rule sets. A list that is months old still excludes people who no longer belong in the group.

Check that reach is still enough

• Check that the exclusions do not cover most of the audience. A campaign with almost no one left to reach cannot spend well.
• Write the reach left after exclusions beside the plan, and compare it with the budget that will go in.

Keep an exclusions sheet

• Record each list with its source, its refresh date, the campaigns it applies to and the person who owns it.
• Review the sheet when the offer changes, when a product launches, or when a list is more than 90 days old.

What to check in the report

• The size of each exclusion list at the report date, the reach left after exclusions, and any campaign judged on a list that was stale when it ran.