Appearance
Audiences: built and imported
An audience is a group of customers that you send to Meta or Google. You then select one in the Audience setting when you deploy an ad. Open the list from Performance > Audiences.
The page has two tabs, Built and Imported. Each tab shows its number of audiences.
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Built | Audiences you create in Nexus from your own customer data. Types are Customer Match and Lookalike. |
| Imported | Audiences you made in Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads. Nexus copies only their details. You manage them on the platform. |
Problem and intended user
A media buyer (the person who runs your paid ads) needs to know which customer groups an ad can target, and whether each group reached Meta and Google. A retention marketer (the person who runs email and repeat-purchase campaigns) often defines those groups from order history. The groups sit in your customer data, in Meta and in Google.
Current workflow
You keep a spreadsheet of the audiences you uploaded: names, sizes and the date of each upload. You open the audience lists in Meta Ads Manager and Google Ads to see whether each one is ready, failed or deleted. You check each platform by hand.
Prerequisites
- Built unlocks after your order history finishes its first import. It also unlocks when you import a Meta Custom, Pixel or Engagement audience to seed a lookalike.
- Imported needs Meta Ads, Google Ads or both, with the first ad sync finished. See Meta Ads and Google Ads.
- To sync a Built audience, connect the platform you send it to.
- Sync to Blueshift needs a connected Blueshift account. See Blueshift.
How Nexus works
Nexus builds a Built audience from your own customer data with fixed filters. No AI picks the members. Nexus hashes each email address before it uploads to Meta or Google.
Nothing uploads until you select a sync button. One exception: if you ticked the auto-refresh box when you built the audience, Nexus rebuilds it and syncs it to your connected platforms every day at 08:00 UTC.
The Imported tab only copies details of audiences that already exist on Meta or Google. Nexus also refreshes them on a schedule in the background. You can pick an Imported audience when you deploy an ad: in the picker, Browse all shows Built and Imported tabs.
Find an audience
- Use the platform buttons to show All Platforms, Google or Meta.
- Search by name or description.
- Pick a status in the All statuses list.
- Choose a sort field and select the arrow to flip the direction.
Create an audience
Select New Audience. On an empty tab, select Create audience. See Build an audience.
Refresh the Imported tab
- Select Refresh from Meta, Refresh from Google or Refresh all to copy the latest details.
- Read the Last refresh card. It lists what was imported, refreshed, skipped and archived.
- Read Last imported from. It shows when each platform last refreshed.
The third card shows Archived (drift). If an audience disappears from the platform, Nexus archives it and shows a banner. Re-import to clear the flag if the audience returns.
Open an audience
Select a row to open its detail drawer. Change the name with the pencil icon next to it.
Actions in the drawer
| Button | Audience type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Edit filters | Customer Match | Opens the filters. See Build an audience. |
| The rebuild button, next to Edit filters | Customer Match | Rebuilds the member list from your customer data. The button reads Rebuilding… while it runs. |
| Sync to Meta, Sync to Google, Sync to Meta + Google, Sync to Blueshift | Customer Match | Uploads the members. Sync to Blueshift stays disabled until you connect Blueshift. It creates a profile for any email Blueshift lacks. |
| Sync to Meta | Lookalike | Sends the lookalike to Meta. |
| Refresh from Imported tab | Imported | Opens the Imported tab. |
| Cancel sync | Any, while syncing | Stops the sync. |
| Delete | Any | Opens Delete audience. |
WARNING
Delete cannot be undone for a Customer Match audience or a lookalike. It removes a Customer Match audience from Nexus and its synced copies from Meta and Google. It removes a lookalike from Nexus and Meta. For an imported audience, Nexus forgets it and the platform keeps it. Select Refresh all on the Imported tab to bring it back.
Exact output
The Built tab
Three cards sit above the table: Audiences (with how many are synced), Total reachable customers and Combined attributed revenue. The cards add up the audiences now listed, after your search and filters. A customer in two audiences counts in both. Revenue is each customer's lifetime order revenue, not ad results.
The columns are Name, Status, Type, Customers, Revenue, Margin, Rev / Customer and Synced to. Status reads Synced, Syncing…, Building…, Not synced or Sync failed.
Synced to shows an icon for each destination: Meta, Google or Blueshift. Hover over an icon for its state. An amber dot means the platform is still processing the audience. A red dot means the audience is on the platform but cannot be delivered.
The Imported tab
The Imported tab has no revenue columns, because Nexus does not hold the members. Customers becomes Reach, the platform's own estimate.
The detail drawer
The drawer shows these parts.
- Number cards: Customers, Revenue, Margin and Revenue / Customer.
- Sync details: Status, Synced to, Last synced, Meta ID, Google User List and Blueshift List ID.
- Members: for Customer Match only. Columns are Email, Name, Segment, Predicted revenue and Country. You can search and filter. Predicted revenue estimates lifetime spend.
- Lookalike spec: for a lookalike. It shows Seed audience, Country and Ratio. Meta builds the members, so Nexus lists none.
What to do with it
| What you see | Decision or action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Synced status with a Meta or Google icon | Select the audience in the Audience setting when you deploy an ad. See Review and deploy ads. | media buyer |
| Customers, Revenue, Margin and Rev / Customer | Compare audiences. Choose which to keep, sync or rebuild. | ecommerce manager (the person who runs the store) |
| Members table | Check who is in the audience. Use Edit filters if the group is wrong. | retention marketer |
| An amber dot, or Syncing… | Wait for the platform. Select Cancel sync to stop an upload. | media buyer |
| A red dot, Sync failed or an error card | Fix the cause on the card, then sync again. Accepting Meta terms happens on Meta, outside Nexus. | media buyer |
| Archived (drift) and its banner | Check the audience in Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads, outside Nexus. Select Refresh all if it returned. | media buyer |
| An audience you no longer use | Select Delete and confirm in Delete audience. | media buyer |
Expected value and measurement
Audiences can help you reach chosen customers. One list in Nexus can stand in for a separate upload per platform.
To check an audience, open Performance > Audiences. Read Status and Synced to to see whether the audience reached each platform. Read Customers, Revenue, Margin and Rev / Customer to compare groups. The drawer shows the same four numbers, with the last one named Revenue / Customer. They describe the group, not ad results. Compare the same audience after a rebuild.
Nexus does not split ad results by audience. Read those in Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads. You cannot isolate the effect of an audience when you change budgets, creatives or offers at the same time.
Limitations and exceptions
- Predicted revenue and Reach are estimates.
- A lookalike cannot be created until its seed is on Meta.
- A new audience can need time on the platform. The drawer shows an amber notice that Meta or Google is still propagating the audience. For Meta, it reads "New Custom Audiences can take up to 24 hours to populate." For Google, it reads "Customer Match lists can take up to 48 hours" to clear Google's serving floor. The notice then says when to try again.
- A red banner says the audience is undeliverable. Re-sync it or pick a different audience.
- A failed sync shows an error card that says what to fix. For example, Meta may ask you to accept its Custom Audience Terms. A Google card says to connect Google Ads.
- An empty Imported tab reads No imported audiences yet. Select Refresh all to find them.
- An empty Built tab reads No audiences yet. Select Create audience.
- When a search or filter matches nothing, the page reads No audiences match the current filters. Clear the search or the status.
- A failed load reads Failed to load audiences and the reason. Reload the page.
- In Demo Mode, the create, edit, rebuild, sync, cancel and delete controls are disabled. Refresh from Meta, Refresh from Google and Refresh all import nothing. The Last refresh card shows 0 imported, 0 refreshed, 0 skipped and 0 archived for Meta and Google, whichever button you press.
- The Members table reads No members yet in Demo Mode.