> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.chord.co/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.chord.co/activate/audiences/custom-audiences.md).

# Custom audiences

## Overview

Custom Audiences give brands a quick and easy way to view (and activate) specific customer segments for marketing and beyond. The quickest way to build one is to describe it to **Ask Chord** in plain language. You can also capture one from an explore, or start from a prebuilt template.

## How to create and activate audiences from Ask Chord

Describe the audience you want in plain language, for example "everyone who abandoned their cart in the last 72 hours with a cart over $50" or "one-time buyers from the last 90 days who used a discount". Ask Chord builds it, tells you how many people are in it and how many are reachable, and you can narrow it in the same conversation.

When the list looks right, tell Ask Chord to save it and give it a name. The audience lands in your shared audiences folder alongside the ones built from explores or templates. From there, click "Sync Audience" to send it to Chord Activations exactly as you would for any other custom audience.

For what Ask Chord reports on abandonment audiences and how to narrow them, see [Building abandonment audiences with Ask Chord](/activate/audiences/chord-retargeting/building-abandonment-audiences-with-ai-chat.md).

## How to create an activate audiences from explores

{% embed url="<https://www.loom.com/embed/f67b3e580ea44c76941004e2b677c7e9>" %}

You can now build and save custom audiences faster with the new **Create Audience** button — available directly in Explores.

When you've defined your filters and segments in an Explore, the **Create Audience** button allows you to:

* **Capture your current Explore state:** Everything you've filtered, defined, and scoped is preserved as the foundation of your new audience.
* **Name your audience:** Give it a clear, meaningful name to reflect its purpose or intended use.
* **Save it to your Shared Audiences folder:** No need to export or switch views — your audience is instantly saved and available for reuse.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Bonus: Auto-Select on Save**

Once your audience is saved, it will be automatically pre-selected when you navigate to the **Shared Audiences** view. That means you can immediately take action, explore further, or use it in downstream workflows — no extra clicks required.
{% endhint %}

## How to create and activate audiences from prebuilt audiences

![](https://2938842758-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5Oy2IAsu7IvAGAlWgC36%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-b50d7f156447e00a49b628d4f2564604f942d39c%2Fcustom-audiences-1.png?alt=media)

![](https://2938842758-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5Oy2IAsu7IvAGAlWgC36%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-8fb15f09057b98a10c35033aae9a4f606b93d48c%2Fcustom-audiences-2.png?alt=media)

![](https://2938842758-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5Oy2IAsu7IvAGAlWgC36%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-c79f8a71faff655fad60f9f2e44bb0d46a85f402%2Fcustom-audiences-3.png?alt=media)

1. Once logged into the Chord data platform, navigate to the **Prebuilt Audiences** page.
2. Select a prebuilt audience that you'd like to customize. Click on the **Use As Template** button.
3. Give your new audience a new title and/or a description in the modal and click **Create Audience**.
4. After you have made the desired changes to your custom audience segment, click **Sync Audience** to send your custom audience to Chord Activations.
5. From here, you can send your customized audience segment to an existing sync OR create a new sync for your audience.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** If you do not see your custom audience synced to data activations, please reach out to <help@chord.co> for assistance.
{% endhint %}

## Troubleshooting and FAQs

* **Question: I clicked "Activate Audience" after creating a customized pre-built audience, and nothing happened. What did I do wrong?**
  * ***Does your organization have access to Chord's Data Activations suite?*** If not, your team manager can request access to the Data Activations features and a Chord representative will be in touch shortly!
  * If you organization ***does*** have access to the Data Activations features, you will see the below Audience Activations page:

    ![](https://2938842758-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5Oy2IAsu7IvAGAlWgC36%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-49bd9cd1dd779421d6a7256af99e82a71d896c2d%2Fcustom-audiences-4.png?alt=media)
  * From here, you can follow the existing steps to create a data activations destination and will see your customized prebuilt audience list in the data sources dropdown menu.
* **Question: I just created a custom segment and sent it to activations following the instructions above but don't see the audience segment I need in the activations suite. What did I do wrong?**
  * The sync should occur immediately. However, if you do not see your custom audience listed under the activations modal, it may be due to issues with the setup of the audience in which the underlying SQL is not compiling. You''ll want to check that:
    * Your dimension does not show "Remove filled in dates" like below. If your dimension does show "Remove filled in dates," select "Remove filled in dates" and then re-save your audience.

      ![](https://2938842758-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5Oy2IAsu7IvAGAlWgC36%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-838d9863c1cd6f4340eab85c9ace01d5fd19ceda%2Fcustom-audiences-5.png?alt=media)
  * If you do not see your custom audience listed under the activations modal, please reach out to [help@chord.co ](mailto:help@chord.co)for assistance.
* **Question: Can I edit and activate a custom audience segment that has been previously activated?**
  * No, you will not be able to edit a custom audience segment that has been previously activated. You will need to create new audience segments each time in order to send the customer list to the Chord data activations suite.
* **Question:** **What if I am not creating an audience through the Chord data platform and want to send information to a third-party app like Klaviyo or Google Sheets?**
  * This is something the Chord team is working on supporting through a separate custom data activations feature. This workflow is not supported by **Custom Audiences.**


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