# 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.**

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#### <mark style="color:$primary;">**Why This Step Matters**</mark>

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

***

#### <mark style="color:$primary;">**Step-by-Step: Selecting Your Custom Audience While Creating an Ad**</mark>

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#### <mark style="color:$primary;">**Step 1: Open Meta Ads Manager**</mark>

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.

***

#### <mark style="color:$primary;">**Step 2: Set Up Your Campaign Basics**</mark>

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.

***

#### <mark style="color:$primary;">**Step 3: Go to the “Ad Set” Level**</mark>

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.

***

#### <mark style="color:$primary;">**Step 4: Select Your Custom Audience**</mark>

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.

***

#### <mark style="color:$primary;">**Step 5: Refine Your Targeting (Optional)**</mark>

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.

***

#### <mark style="color:$primary;">**Step 6: Choose Your Ad Placements**</mark>

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.

***

#### <mark style="color:$primary;">**Step 7: Connect Your WhatsApp Business Account**</mark>

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.

***

#### <mark style="color:$primary;">**Step 8: Review and Continue**</mark>

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).

***

#### <mark style="color:$primary;">**Real-World Example**</mark>

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.

***

#### <mark style="color:$primary;">**Final Summary**</mark>

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.**