Creating a Custom Audience for CTWA Retargeting Using Your DoubleTick Leads
Goal: Learn how to prepare your CTWA (Click-to-WhatsApp) lead list and create a Custom Audience inside Meta Ads Manager (Facebook & Instagram) — so you can retarget people who have already chatted with your business on WhatsApp.
This guide is written for non-technical DoubleTick users — so even if you’ve never worked with Ads Manager before, you’ll be able to follow along confidently.
💬 Why Create a Custom Audience?
A Custom Audience helps you reach people who already know your business — users who have previously clicked on your CTWA ads and chatted with you on WhatsApp.
Instead of showing ads to strangers, this lets you reconnect with warm leads who are already familiar with your brand. When done right, it helps you:
Re-engage existing WhatsApp leads.
Show relevant offers or reminders.
Continue conversations you’ve already started.
Creating this audience is the foundation for your CTWA Retargeting campaigns. Let’s go step by step.
🧠 What You’ll Need
Before you start, make sure you have:
✅ A list of your CTWA leads — ideally exported from your DoubleTick platform.
📞 Phone numbers (this is the most important data).
📧 Optional: Email addresses and names — these help Meta match profiles more accurately.
Tip: The more details you include (phone, name, email), the better Meta can identify and connect your audience correctly.
🪄 Step-by-Step: Creating Your CTWA Custom Audience
🔹 Step 1: Get Your Lead List Ready
Log in to your DoubleTick account (or wherever your CTWA leads are stored).
Export or download your lead list in a CSV format — a simple spreadsheet format that can be opened in Excel or Google Sheets.
Ensure your phone numbers include the correct country code (for example,
+91for India).Example: Instead of
9876543210, it should appear as+919876543210.
Why it matters: Meta identifies users globally. Missing or incorrect country codes can cause matching errors later.
🔹 Step 2: Go to Meta Ads Manager
Open your web browser and visit 👉 facebook.com/adsmanager.
On the left-hand side menu, hover over the navigation icons until you find “Audiences.”
Click Audiences to open the page where all your audience lists are managed.
This is where you’ll build your new group of WhatsApp leads.
🔹 Step 3: Start Building Your Custom Audience
On the “Audiences” page, click the blue button labeled “+ Create Audience.”
From the dropdown menu, select “Custom Audience.”
This tells Meta that you’re creating a list based on your own customer data — not from page visitors or app activity.
🔹 Step 4: Choose “Customer List” as the Source
A new window will open showing several audience source options.
Select “Customer List.”
Click Next to continue.
You’ll be given the option to download a sample file — it’s worth reviewing this sample so you can compare your CSV structure.
Tip: You don’t need to include every field. Even just the phone number column (with country codes) works perfectly fine for retargeting.
🔹 Step 5: Upload Your List & Match the Details
Now comes the key step — uploading and matching your data correctly.
When asked about “Customer Value,” select “No” (you can skip this for now).
Click “Next.”
Click “Upload File” and choose the CSV file you prepared in Step 1.
Once uploaded, Meta will automatically try to match your columns (for example, identifying your “Phone” column as phone numbers).
Important:
Check that your phone number column is labeled as “Phone Number.”
If you’ve included emails, make sure the column is mapped as “Email.”
If you see “Action Needed,” click on it and manually select the correct type.
Once everything looks correct, click “Upload and Create.”
🔹 Step 6: Name Your Custom Audience
Give your new audience a clear, simple, and descriptive name — this helps you stay organized later.
Here are some good examples:
CTWA Leads - All ChatsWhatsApp Leads - Replied Last 60 DaysCTWA Audience - Interested in Product X
Use names that describe what kind of leads are inside, or when they last interacted.
Then click “Next.”
🔹 Step 7: Finalize and Let Meta Process
Meta will now begin processing your upload. This may take a few minutes, especially if your list is large.
When it’s done, your new Custom Audience will appear in your Audiences dashboard with a green “Ready” indicator.
Note: If you see “Populating” or “Processing,” that’s normal. Meta is matching your contact data with real Facebook and Instagram users.
And that’s it — you’ve successfully created your first CTWA Custom Audience! 🎉
🎯 What Happens Next
Once your audience is ready, you can use it to:
Run CTWA Retargeting campaigns — showing ads to users who already chatted with your business.
Create Lookalike Audiences — to reach new people similar to your WhatsApp leads.
Track engagement trends — see how existing customers respond to reminder or re-engagement ads.
Pro Tip: Keep your Custom Audience updated. Every few weeks, export your latest CTWA leads from DoubleTick and upload a new CSV file. This ensures your ads always reach the freshest, most relevant users.
🧭 Summary
Here’s a quick recap of what you did:
Exported your CTWA leads from DoubleTick as a CSV file.
Uploaded that list into Meta Ads Manager.
Matched the data columns correctly (phone, email, etc.).
Named and saved your new Custom Audience.
You now have a ready-to-use audience of WhatsApp users who’ve already interacted with your business — the perfect starting point for effective CTWA Retargeting campaigns.
💡 Key Takeaway
Creating a Custom Audience isn’t about chasing new users — it’s about staying connected with people who’ve already shown interest.
With just a simple exported list and a few steps inside Meta Ads Manager, you can transform your existing WhatsApp chats into a focused, high-quality retargeting audience that keeps your business visible and relevant.
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