# Ad networks: LinkedIn, Google, Facebook (Meta)

## Export Person-level data to Ad networks 

Audience Syncs allow you to push contacts from HockeyStack directly into ad platform audiences. Build targeted advertising campaigns using the same contact-level views you've created in HockeyStack — automatically synced to LinkedIn, Meta (Facebook), and Google Ads.

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### Overview

A workflow-based approach lets you export contacts to advertising platforms for retargeting, suppression lists, or lookalike audiences. Instead of manually uploading CSV files, Audience Syncs keep your ad audiences up to date on a schedule you define.

**Supported Platforms:**

* LinkedIn Ads
* Meta (Facebook) Ads
* Google Ads

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### When to Use It

Use Audience Syncs when you want to:

* Automatically push high-intent contacts into ad platform audiences
* Build retargeting campaigns based on engagement signals in HockeyStack
* Create suppression lists to exclude existing customers from prospecting campaigns
* Keep ad audiences continuously updated without manual uploads

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### Creating an Audience Sync Workflow

#### Step 1: Create a New Workflow

Navigate to **Workflows** and click **Create Workflow**. Give your workflow a descriptive name (e.g., "High Intent Contacts to LinkedIn").

#### Step 2: Configure the Source Node

The Source Node defines which contacts will flow into your workflow.

**Source Scope:** Select **Contacts** — Audience Syncs operate at the contact (person) level, not the account level.

**Source Type:** Choose from:

* **View** — Pull contacts from an existing saved view
* **Custom** — Define filters directly in the workflow

**Schedule:** Set how often the workflow should run (daily, weekly, etc.). You can also leave this unset during initial testing.

> **Tip:** Use a contact-level view to make the workflow run faster. If you need to aggregate contacts from accounts, you can add AI nodes upstream in the workflow.

#### Step 3: Add a Destination Node

Click to add a destination and select your ad platform: **LinkedIn**, **Meta**, or **Google**.

**Configuration options:**

| Field        | Description                                                                                |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Account**  | Select the ad account you want to sync to                                                  |
| **Audience** | Choose **Create New** to generate a new audience, or select an existing audience to update |

When you create a new audience, HockeyStack generates a unique name based on your workflow name with a "HockeyStack" suffix, making it easy to identify synced audiences in your ad platform.

#### Step 4: Save and Run

Save your workflow and click **Run** to execute the sync. Simple workflows typically complete in a few minutes, while workflows with AI enrichment nodes may take longer.

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### Branching to Multiple Platforms

You can sync the same contacts to multiple ad platforms in a single workflow using the **Branching** feature.

Add a branch node after your Source, then connect separate destination nodes for each platform. This lets you push the same audience to LinkedIn, Meta, and Google simultaneously without creating multiple workflows.

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### Monitoring Workflow Progress

While a workflow runs, you can continue working on other tasks. To check progress:

1. Navigate to your workflow
2. Click the **History** tab
3. Select the running workflow to view real-time status

Workflows display status indicators showing which nodes have completed and any errors encountered.

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### Platform Requirements and Behavior

#### Minimum Audience Size

LinkedIn requires a minimum audience size of **300 contacts**. If your view contains fewer contacts, the sync will fail. Update your view filters to include more contacts before rerunning.

> Google may refer to audiences as "Segments" in their interface, but the functionality is the same.

#### Audience Processing Time

After HockeyStack successfully pushes contacts, the ad platform needs time to process and match the data:

* LinkedIn and Google show a "Building" or "Populating" status during processing
* Processing typically takes 1–2 hours but can vary
* HockeyStack's sync completes once the data is pushed — subsequent processing happens on the ad platform side

#### Privacy and Data Visibility

Ad platforms do not expose the list of individual contacts you've synced. This is standard practice for privacy compliance. You can verify a successful sync by:

* Checking the workflow history in HockeyStack for completion status
* Viewing the audience in your ad platform's audience manager
* Confirming the audience size matches your expected contact count

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### Audiences vs. Campaigns

Audience Syncs push contacts to **audiences**, not campaigns. An audience defines who you're targeting; a campaign defines how you reach them.

After your audience is created or updated via HockeyStack:

1. Go to your ad platform's campaign manager
2. Create a new campaign or edit an existing one
3. Select the HockeyStack-synced audience as your targeting criteria

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### Best Practices

* **Start with larger views:** Ensure your source view contains at least 300 contacts (preferably 1,000+) to meet platform requirements and improve match rates
* **Use scheduling:** Set workflows to run on a recurring schedule to keep audiences fresh without manual intervention
* **Name workflows clearly:** Descriptive names make it easier to identify synced audiences in your ad platform
* **Test with existing audiences:** When testing, select an existing audience to update rather than creating new ones

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### Troubleshooting

| Issue                      | Solution                                                                                    |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Sync fails with size error | Increase your view's contact count to meet the platform minimum (300 for LinkedIn)          |
| Audience shows 0 matches   | Allow 24–48 hours for the ad platform to process and match contacts                         |
| Workflow takes too long    | Complex workflows with AI nodes take longer — check history for progress                    |
| Can't find synced audience | Look for the workflow name with "HockeyStack" suffix in your ad platform's audience manager |