What Is Audience Activation?
Activation is the final step in audience management. Once you've built a segment in Loop, activation refers to pushing that data to a DSP, ad network, or social advertising platform so your audience can see relevant ads in an active campaign. This step ensures your data moves from planning to execution, allowing you to engage the right users at the right time.
Supported Platforms
Loop integrates with several major advertising platforms to activate audiences:
Platform | Description |
Basis DSP | A demand-side platform used for programmatic media buying across multiple channels. |
Meta Ads | Allows audience activation for targeted campaigns across Facebook and Instagram. |
Google Ads | Supports audience activation for Google Search, YouTube, and Display campaigns. |
Google Marketing Platform | Includes DV360, Google’s enterprise DSP, for advanced programmatic buying. |
Teads Ad Manager | Specializes in video and display advertising with premium publisher inventory. |
The Trade Desk | A major DSP for cross-channel programmatic buying, including video, CTV, and display. |
TikTok Ads | Enables activation of audiences for TikTok's highly engaged short-form video ads. |
Xandr | A powerful programmatic platform with deep integrations across multiple ad exchanges. |
Common Use Case: Retargeting High-Intent Users
A retail brand collects first-party data on site visitors who viewed a specific product but didn’t complete a purchase. By activating a segment in Google Ads or Meta Ads, the brand can retarget those users with a personalized offer, increasing the chances of conversion.
How Audience Syncing Works
When activating an audience in an ad platform, it’s important to understand how data syncing works. Depending on how the segment was created, updates may or may not be sent to the destination platform.
Static vs. Dynamic Audience Syncing
Static Audiences: These are segments based on a fixed data file, such as a custom audience upload. Since the data does not change over time, no updates are necessary after the initial activation.
Dynamic Audiences: These are segments built using real-time or batch-collected data sources in Loop. Since new users may qualify for the segment over time, updates are sent periodically to the destination platform. This process ensures the audience remains fresh, but note that most platforms take up to 24 hours to process new entries.
Enriched Segments: These segments use audience expansion techniques (e.g., lookalike or cross-device). Since the seed would need to be reprocessed every time the audience changes, Loop does not automatically update these segments in ad platforms.
Audience Syncing Behavior by Segment Type
Segment Type | Data Source | Does It Update in the Destination Platform? | Sync Frequency |
Custom Audience Upload | Static CSV upload | ❌ No, remains static | One-time activation |
Rule-based Segments | Streaming data from Loop’s sources (API integration, Tag or Pixel) | ✅ Yes, updates continuously | Up to 24-hour delay |
Lookalike Segments | First-party seed expanded via algorithm | ❌ No, seed must be manually refreshed | Not automatically updated |
Cross-Device Segments | First-party seed linked to multiple devices | ❌ No, seed must be manually refreshed | Not automatically updated |
Mix & Match Segments | Combination of first- and third-party data | ❌ No, remains static once activated | Not automatically updated |
By understanding how audience syncing works, you can better plan when and how often to refresh your segments for optimal targeting in ad platforms.