> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mention-me.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Meta Audience Builder
> Create seed audiences from your first-party referral data, sync them with Meta, and target lookalike audiences.
## About Audience Builder
Audience Builder lets you create seed audiences from your first-party referral data, synchronise them with Meta, and target more people like them via lookalike audiences.
Audience Builder is available as an add-on. Reach out to your Mention Me Account Manager to learn more and upgrade if needed.
## Prerequisites
* At least **Advertiser** or **Admin** permission for your Meta Ads account with **Full Control** permission.
* Log in to your [Meta Business Manager account settings](https://business.facebook.com/settings/ad-accounts)
* Go to **Users > People**, select your user account
* Select the ad account you want to create audiences in
* Ensure **Manage ad account** is enabled
* Access to the [Mention Me platform](https://mention-me.com/login) (contact your CSM if you do not have access).
## Step 1 — Connect your Ads Account
On the [Mention Me platform](https://mention-me.com/merchant/~/audiences/new), click **Connect** to begin.
Allow Mention Me to transfer data to Meta on your behalf.
Mention Me cannot post anything to your page.
Choose the account you want to send your Mention Me data to.
## Step 2 — Build your audience
Choose which countries to build the audience from.
Select one country per seed audience for best results. If contact numbers are low, select multiple countries in similar markets.
We recommend **Existing customers who have successfully referred a friend**. If you have fewer than 1,000 contacts, choose the next dataset in the list.
Audience data is collected from your best customers over the last 12 months:
| Audience data set | Description |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Highest value successful referrers (ECR) | Advocates with the greatest revenue when accounting for both their spend and their friend's spend. [Learn more about ECR](/knowledge/reporting/advocacy/ecr) |
| Active referrers (ECR) | Advocates who have either referred or purchased recently. [Learn more about ECR](/knowledge/reporting/advocacy/ecr) |
| Existing customers who successfully referred a friend | Our recommended data set — your biggest brand advocates. |
| Existing customers who have shared | Highly engaged advocates. |
| Existing customers who have joined the referral programme | Customers on the path to becoming advocates. |
| Referred customers who have placed their first orders | New customers gained from your advocates. |
## Step 3 — Name your audience
Name your audience and click **Next**.
* A default name is created automatically. This name appears in Meta Ads Manager.
* The countries you selected also appear in the audience description in Meta Ads Manager.
Use a naming convention that is easy to identify, e.g. `MM - UK - Successful Referrers`.
## Step 4 — Confirm consent and review
Confirm that you have the relevant consent required by law or Meta to enable Mention Me to process this data.
Review your audience details and click **Build** to start the sync.
* You can edit the audience name directly on this page.
* The build starts immediately but can take 24-48 hours for Meta to process.
* Email addresses are [hashed](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/marketing-api/audiences/guides/custom-audiences/#example_sha256) before being sent to Meta.
Once the build starts, the summary screen lets you view all audiences with contact counts and build new audiences.
Your audience updates weekly with new customers meeting the selection criteria.
Effective audiences need a minimum of 1,000 contacts, but aim for 5,000+ as a realistic starting point due to variable match rates. If your recommended audience is too small, create another based on the next valuable dataset.
## Step 5 — Build lookalike audiences in Meta
Once the audience has synced, [create a lookalike audience](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/465262276878947?id=401668390442328) to find new customers that "look like" your best customers.
Open your [Audiences](https://www.facebook.com/ads/manage/audiences.php) (you can also create a Lookalike Audience during ad creation in Ads Manager).
From **Other Sources**, select the Custom Audience you created.
Meta only creates lookalike audiences based on a single country. If your Custom Audience contains contacts from multiple countries, create a separate lookalike audience for each.
Keep the reach between **1-3%** for best results.
* It may take 6-24 hours for your Lookalike Audience to be created.
* Your audience refreshes every 3-7 days with new Audience Builder contacts.
* You don't need to wait for updates to use your Lookalike Audience.
## Step 6 — Create an ad using lookalike audiences
Create a Meta Ad using your new lookalike audience.
* Keep ad copy the same as previous campaigns to compare results.
* Meta excludes contacts from your source audience but cannot identify your customers from other sources. Set up a [Meta exclusion](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/165516217407801?id=1913105122334058) to avoid targeting existing customers.
* Experiment with multiple audiences to find the best performers.
* Compare performance against previous purchase and CRM-based audiences.
## Re-authorising Meta authentication
There may be occasions where your Meta authentication needs to be re-authorised. You will see an error on the Audience Builder page:
> "Your Meta authentication has expired and you need to re-authenticate the integration"
### Why does this happen?
1. **Access token expired** — Meta only allows Mention Me access for **60 days** at a time. You must re-authorise to keep audiences syncing.
2. **Password changed** — Changing your Meta password requires re-authentication.
3. **User access revoked** — The user who set up the connection no longer has access to your Meta Business Manager account.
### How to re-authorise
Mention Me sends email notifications 10 days and 5 days before expiry, and again when it has expired. Click the **Re-Authorise** link directly in the email.
#### Manual re-authentication
Go to [mention-me.com/login](https://mention-me.com/login).
Find it under the Audience name or in the notification at the top of the page.
You will see the authentication that needs re-authorising.
A Meta/Facebook authentication popup will appear — enter your login details to re-authorise.
Re-authorisations can take up to 1 hour to be reflected on the Audience Builder pages.