Shopify’s Lookalike Audiences – Should You Use Them?

In 2022, Shopify launched Lookalike Audiences for Shopify Plus users.

By now, we have an idea of their effectiveness, thanks to a few marketers who have been using the feature.

But first, a quick recap…

What are Shopify Lookalike Audiences?

Here’s a simple explanation:

All participating Shopify merchants contribute their existing customer data into a shared data pool.

Shopify analyzes this customer data, then allows merchants to create a Lookalike Audience that matches the product they want to promote.

Then you upload this lookalike audience to Facebook and run your campaign.

So… Do Shopify Lookalike Audiences work?

Here’s the general takeaway:

The size of Shopify Lookalike Audiences is in the 1–2 million users range

This means that if you have a medium–high daily budget, you’ll saturate the audience quickly and there won’t be enough room to scale.

The feature would probably benefit small stores with a tiny daily spend

Unfortunately, it’s reserved for enterprise plans, so small shops might not be able to get access.

Shopify Lookalike Audiences Takeaways

Based on our experience with Shopify Lookalike Audiences, here are some takeaways:

The feature will likely get better with time…

…as more merchants contribute data and the Shopify machine learning process improves.

The quality of a lookalike audience depends on the value of the custom audience…

…hence, the buyers’ data.

However, since the buyers in your Shopify Lookalike Audience didn’t purchase from you, you can’t assign these people a value specific to your business.

The conclusion?

Shopify Lookalike Audiences aren’t delivering the results marketers and advertisers were hoping for… yet. But it might be too early to say.

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