# Using Your CTWA Custom Audience in Meta Ads Manager
After creating your Custom Audience, the next step is using it inside a **Click-to-WhatsApp advertising campaign.**
This step tells Meta to **show your ads only to people who have already chatted with your business.**
***
#### **Why This Step Matters**
Using a Custom Audience ensures your ads reach **warm leads instead of completely new users.**
This helps you:
* Focus your advertising budget on high-intent users
* Show more relevant messages
* Continue existing conversations
***
#### **Step-by-Step: Selecting Your Custom Audience While Creating an Ad**
#### **Step 1: Open Meta Ads Manager**
1. Go to [facebook.com/adsmanager](https://facebook.com/adsmanager).
2. Click the **green “Create” button** to start a new campaign.
3. Choose your campaign objective — for CTWA campaigns, this will usually be:
* **“Engagement” → “Send Message”**, or
* **“Sales” → “WhatsApp”** (if available in your account).
> **Tip:** The “Send Message” objective is most commonly used for Click-to-WhatsApp ads.
Click **Continue** to move ahead.
***
#### **Step 2: Set Up Your Campaign Basics**
Give your campaign a clear name so it’s easy to identify later.\
Example:
* `CTWA Retargeting - Reconnected Leads - Oct 2025`
* `WhatsApp Retargeting - Abandoned Chats`
You can leave most campaign-level settings as default and click **Next** to move to the Ad Set section — where your targeting options live.
***
#### **Step 3: Go to the “Ad Set” Level**
This is where you choose **who will see your ad** — your audience, placements, and schedule.
Under the section **“Audience”**, you’ll see several options:
* **Custom Audiences**
* **Location**
* **Age**
* **Gender**
* **Detailed Targeting**
We’ll focus on the first one — Custom Audiences.
***
#### **Step 4: Select Your Custom Audience**
1. Click on the field labeled **“Custom Audiences.”**
2. A dropdown list will appear with all your available audiences.
3. Find and select the **Custom Audience** you created earlier — for example:
* `CTWA Leads - All Chats`
* `WhatsApp Replied Last 60 Days`
* `CTWA Product X Interested Users`
Once selected, Meta automatically fills the targeting section with that audience.
> **Important:**
>
> * You can select more than one audience if needed.
> * Make sure to **exclude existing customers** (if you have a separate audience for them) to avoid showing ads unnecessarily.
***
#### **Step 5: Refine Your Targeting (Optional)**
You can still adjust location, age, and gender settings if needed — but usually, CTWA retargeting audiences are already specific enough.
> **Best Practice:**\
> Avoid narrowing your Custom Audience further unless you’re testing something specific (like region-based retargeting).\
> The idea is to let Meta find everyone who matches your CTWA list.
***
#### **Step 6: Choose Your Ad Placements**
Scroll down to the **Placements** section.\
Here, you can choose between:
* **Advantage+ Placements** (recommended for most users)
* **Manual Placements** (if you want to select platforms like Facebook Feed, Instagram Feed, or Stories manually).
For CTWA ads, both Facebook and Instagram placements work well, since they both support the **“Send Message” → “WhatsApp”** action.
***
#### **Step 7: Connect Your WhatsApp Business Account**
In the **Messaging Apps** section, choose:
* **WhatsApp** as the messaging destination.
* Select your **verified WhatsApp Business number** connected via DoubleTick.
This ensures that when users click the ad, the chat opens in your official WhatsApp channel — where your DoubleTick automation, bot, or team can respond.
***
#### **Step 8: Review and Continue**
After selecting your audience and ad destination:
* Double-check your Custom Audience name.
* Review your estimated reach — this helps confirm that Meta has successfully matched your uploaded contacts.
* Click **Next** to move to the “Ad Level,” where you’ll set your ad creative (image, caption, and call-to-action).
***
#### **Real-World Example**
A home service company receives many WhatsApp inquiries for cleaning services.
They upload these contacts as a Custom Audience.
Later, they run a retargeting ad saying:
“Need help with home cleaning this weekend? Tap to continue your WhatsApp conversation.”
When users click the ad, the same WhatsApp chat opens again.
***
#### **Final Summary**
Across this guide series, you learned how CTWA Retargeting works step by step:
1. Understanding CTWA Retargeting
2. Using DoubleTick to capture WhatsApp leads
3. Identifying the benefits of retargeting
4. Creating a Custom Audience in Meta Ads Manager
5. Using that audience in a Click-to-WhatsApp campaign
Together, these steps help businesses **turn WhatsApp conversations into a structured retargeting strategy that keeps customers engaged and encourages them to return.**
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