Facebook Ad Audience Exclusion Guide

Step-by-Step Guide

Exclude Engagement/Video View Audiences to Avoid Overlap

Facebook Audience Overlap Management Primary Audience Video Viewers Page Engagers Lead Form Submitters Exclude Overlap
1

Go to Ads Manager

  • Open Facebook Ads Manager
  • Choose the campaign and go to the Ad Set level
Facebook Ads Manager Campaigns Ad Sets
2

Scroll to Audience Section

  • Under Custom Audiences, click inside the field
Audience Custom Audiences +
3

Include Your Primary Audience

  • Add your target Custom Audience (e.g., interest-based, lookalike, etc.)
Custom Audiences Lookalike Audience + Include
4

Exclude Engagement Audience

  • Click on "Exclude" and select:
  • - Video Views Audience (e.g., 25%, 50%, 75% viewers in last 30/60 days)
  • - Page Engagers (people who liked/commented/messaged)
  • - Lead Form Submitters
  • - Website Visitors (if retargeting)
Custom Audiences Lookalike Audience + Include Exclude Video Views - 75% (30 days) -
5

Save Audience if Reused

  • You can save this audience setup to reuse across ad sets and avoid overlap easily
Save This Audience Audience Name Save Audience
6

Verify in Audience Overlap Tool (Optional)

  • Go to Audiences in Business Manager
  • Select two custom audiences → Click Actions > Show Audience Overlap to check
Audience Overlap Primary Video Overlap: 23%
7

Run the Ads

  • Once exclusions are set, finish creating your ad and publish
Ad Set Ready to Publish Audience overlap successfully avoided Publish

Understanding Audience Overlap

Before Exclusion Cold Audience Engaged Users Wasted Ad Spend in Overlap Area After Exclusion Cold Audience Engaged Users No Overlap = Efficient Ad Spend Cold Audience Engaged Users

Common Examples

If you're running an awareness video ad, and then a conversion ad, exclude:

"People who watched 75% of video in last 30 days" in the conversion ad set.

Video Ad Campaign Target: Cold Audience Conversion Ad Campaign Exclude: 75% Video Viewers

If you're running a lead generation ad, exclude:

"Page Engagers" or "People who submitted lead forms" to avoid wasting budget.

Lead Generation Campaign Target: Interest-based Audience Exclusions • Page Engagers • Previous Lead Form Submitters

Tips to Manage Overlap

Create engagement-based custom audiences regularly

👁️ 👍 📝

Exclude these audiences from cold campaigns

Cold Warm

Always refresh your exclusion audiences

30-60 Day Window

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