This guide will walk you through creating, uploading, validating, and managing your custom audience using a simple CSV file.
What is a Manual Audience Upload?
Manual Audience Upload let you build custom targeting segments by uploading your own CRM contact lists directly into the platform. This is especially useful if:
You manage your own first-party data.
You want to retarget previous customers.
You want to reach specific leads or segmented profiles from your own database.
Once uploaded, your data is processed securely and becomes available in campaign targeting.
Step-by-Step: Creating a Manual Audience
1. Start From the Custom Audiences Page
Go to the Custom Audiences section of the platform.
Click the “New audience” button.
A drawer will open — here you’ll choose your audience source.
Select Manual Upload to begin.
Choose the advertiser the audience will belong to.
2. Enter Audience Details & Upload Your Files
This is the main setup step where you'll:
Name your audience
Your audience name must:Be no longer than 100 characters
Be unique across all audiences under the same advertiser
Upload your CRM file
ℹ️ Note: At this step, you’ll find a button to download the CSV template directly in the platform to help you format your data correctly. The template includes the following columns:email, phone, firstName, lastName, postalAddress, city, zipCode, state
These columns must be included in the file even if some rows don’t populate all fields. We recommend including as much data as possible per row for better match rates.
Use the drag-and-drop box or click to browse for your file.
We only accept .CSV files, and you can upload one file at a time.
An audience must contain at least 50,000 valid entries and cannot exceed 500,000 valid entries.
3. Save your Audience
Once your audience name is valid and you’ve uploaded at least one valid file:
The Save button becomes active.
Click Save to complete the process.
File Requirements & Validation Rules
To make sure your CRM audience is uploaded successfully, your CSV file must meet the following requirements:
File type must be .CSV
We only support.csvfiles — other formats like.xlsor.txtwon’t work.Required headers must be included
Your file needs to follow the expected structure. Make sure you use our CSV template to avoid formatting issues.The file must not be empty
Files with no data or only empty rows will be rejected.At least 40% of the rows must be valid
A row is considered valid if it includes at least one of the following:A valid email (e.g., [email protected])
A valid US phone number (e.g., +1 310-555-1234)
A valid postal identity based on the following logic:
Required:
firstName,lastName, and a 5-digit or 9-digitzipcodeOptional (recommended for better match rates):
streetAddress,city,stateValid combinations:
firstName + lastName + zipCodefirstName + lastName + zipCode + postalAddressfirstName + lastName + zipCode + postalAddress + cityfirstName + lastName + zipCode + postalAddress + state
Formatting Guidelines (Per Field)
Field | Format / Rules |
| Must be a valid email (e.g., [email protected]) |
| US phone in international format (e.g., +1 310-555-1234) |
| Must be a 5-digit or 8-digit US ZIP code (e.g., 90210) |
| Must be a 2-letter US state code (e.g., CA, NY) |
| Free text (no specific format required, but must be non-empty if used in matching logic) |
If your file doesn't meet one or more of these requirements, we’ll show you clear error messages to help you fix the issue and try again.
Managing Your Audiences
From the Manage drawer, you’ll find all manual audiences created for the selected advertiser.
Each row shows:
Audience Name
Status:
Ready – audience is processed and available to use in campaigns
Processing – still processing; can take up to 48 hours
Unavailable – processing failed
Update Files
You can add and remove files to an existing audience later.
Files are always listed by most recent upload date first.
Deleting an Audience
To delete a manual audience:
Click the 3-dot menu next to the audience name.
Click Delete.
⚠️ Audiences used in a published campaign cannot be deleted. The Delete button will be disabled in that case.
Using Audiences in Campaign Setup
When setting up a campaign:
Open the Custom Audience module.
You’ll see two categories: Klaviyo and Manual Audience Upload.
"Ready" audiences can be selected and used immediately.
"Processing" or Unavailable audiences are disabled.
Where to See Performance
You can track results of your audience directly in your campaign reports.
Data appears in the Custom Audiences reporting section.
Manual Upload Audiences and Klaviyo Audiences are grouped together.
You’ll be able to see audience names, but you won’t be able to filter by audience source.
If you need help with formatting your file or understanding an error message, reach out to our support team.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What if I only have names and no email or phone?
A: You can still use the audience upload feature. Just make sure each row contains at least:
firstNamelastNamea 5-digit
zipCodecode
You can optionally includepostalAddress,city, orstateto improve match quality.
Q: Can I upload multiple CRM files at once?
A: No. You can only upload one file at a time per action. If you have multiple files, you’ll need to upload and save them one by one
Q: Can I re-upload or replace a file after saving the audience?
A: Yes. You can remove a file and re-upload another one.
Q: Can I include both hashed and unhashed data in my file?
A: No. We only support plain-text (non-hashed) PII. LiveRamp will handle the hashing and identity resolution for you.
Q: What if I only have partial postal address data?
A: That’s okay! The minimum requirement for postal matching is:
firstNamelastNamezipCode
You can optionally improve match quality by including:postalAddresscitystate
Q: Why is my audience size showing as zero after upload?
A: If your data is still processing (less than 48 hours), your audience status will show as Processing and may display 0 size temporarily. If it remains at 0 after 48 hours, it likely failed identity resolution and will be marked as Unavailable.
Q: Can I track performance of CRM audiences in campaign reporting?
A: Yes. Once used in a campaign, your manual CRM audiences appear in the Custom Audiences reporting view. You’ll see performance metrics like impressions, spend, conversions, etc.