Creating an Audience Sync

This guide walks through the process of creating an audience sync to activate an audience to a destination.

Prerequisites

Before creating an audience sync, ensure you have:

An audience that has been saved and successfully evaluated (has a non-zero member count)
A configured destination to send the audience to
The destination must support audience/list-type syncs (most CRM, ad platform, and email destinations do)

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Start the Sync Builder

There are two ways to start:

From the audience detail page: Click Create Sync on an existing audience. The audience is pre-selected.
From the audience syncs list: Navigate to Segment > Audience Syncs and click Create Audience Sync. You’ll select the audience in the next step.

Step 2: Select the Audience

If not pre-selected, choose the audience to sync. The dropdown shows all saved audiences with their entity type, member count, and last evaluation timestamp.

You can search by audience name to find the right one.

Step 3: Select the Destination

Choose the destination to send the audience to. The dropdown shows all configured destinations. Select the destination and, if applicable, the specific object or list within the destination.

Destination-specific objects:

Destination Type	Object	Example
Facebook Ads	Custom Audience	”Website Visitors Lookalike”
Google Ads	Customer Match List	”High Value Customers”
Salesforce	Campaign or List	”Q1 Retention Campaign”
HubSpot	List	”Enterprise Leads”
Braze	Segment or Cohort	”Active Users Cohort”
Mailchimp	Audience/Tag	”Newsletter Subscribers”

Some destinations let you create a new object directly from the sync builder. For others, you must create the object in the destination first and then select it.

Step 4: Choose the Sync Mode

Select how membership changes should be handled:

Mode	Behavior	When to Use
Mirror	Add new members, remove departed members	Default. Keeps destination in exact sync.
Additive	Only add new members, never remove	When you want a growing list (e.g., all-time purchasers).
Subtractive	Only remove departed members, never add	When you want to shrink a pre-populated list.

See Sync Modes for detailed guidance on choosing the right mode.

Step 5: Map the Identifier

Map the entity key to the destination’s identifier field. This tells the destination how to match incoming records to existing records.

Common identifier mappings:

Entity Key	Destination Field	Notes
`email`	Email	Most common for ad platforms and email tools
`phone`	Phone Number	Used for SMS platforms and some ad platforms
`user_id`	External ID	Used for CRMs and analytics tools
`device_id`	Mobile Advertising ID	Used for mobile ad platforms

The destination connector determines which identifier fields are available. Some destinations support multiple identifier types (e.g., Facebook Custom Audiences accept email, phone, or mobile advertiser ID).

For ad platforms that use hashed identifiers, SignalSmith automatically hashes the identifier values (SHA-256) before sending. You do not need to pre-hash your data.

Step 6: Map Additional Fields (Optional)

Beyond the identifier, you can map additional trait values and entity attributes to send to the destination. This enriches the audience members with extra data.

Example field mappings for a CRM sync:

Source Field	Destination Field
`lifetime_value` (trait)	Customer Value
`plan_type` (attribute)	Subscription Plan
`last_purchase_date` (trait)	Last Purchase
`country` (attribute)	Country

Not all destinations support additional fields. Ad platforms typically only accept identifiers, while CRMs and data warehouses accept arbitrary fields.

Step 7: Configure Schedule

Set how often the audience sync should run:

Schedule	Best For
Manual	One-time syncs or testing
Every 15 minutes	Real-time audience activation (e.g., triggered campaigns)
Hourly	Near-real-time use cases
Daily	Standard activation cadence for most marketing campaigns
Weekly	Low-frequency or stable audiences
Custom Cron	Specific timing needs (e.g., every weekday at 9 AM)

⚠️

The sync schedule should be the same frequency or slower than the audience evaluation schedule. If the audience is evaluated daily, syncing more frequently than daily won’t produce new results.

Step 8: Review and Save

Review the complete configuration:

Audience name and current member count
Destination and target object
Sync mode
Identifier mapping
Additional field mappings
Schedule

Click Save to create the audience sync. The first sync run will be triggered immediately (or at the next scheduled time, depending on your schedule choice).

After Creation

Initial Sync Run

The first sync run sends the full current membership to the destination. All members are treated as new additions since there’s no previous state to diff against.

Monitor the initial run on the audience sync detail page. You’ll see:

Number of rows sent
Success/failure count
Duration
Any error details

Ongoing Monitoring

After the initial sync, subsequent runs send only the membership diff. Monitor the sync from the detail page, which shows:

Run history — A log of all sync runs with status, row counts, and errors
Current status — Whether the sync is active, paused, or errored
Last synced at — Timestamp of the most recent successful run
Next scheduled run — When the next automatic run is scheduled

Editing a Sync

To modify an existing audience sync:

Navigate to the audience sync detail page
Click Edit
Change the sync mode, field mappings, schedule, or destination object
Click Save

Changes take effect on the next sync run. The sync does not automatically re-run when edited.

Pausing and Deleting

Pause — Stops scheduled runs without deleting the configuration. Resume anytime to pick up where you left off.
Delete — Permanently removes the audience sync. This does not remove members from the destination — it only stops future syncs.

Next Steps

Sync Modes — Detailed explanation of mirror, additive, and subtractive modes
Audiences — Build and manage audience definitions
Destinations — Configure destination connections

Overview Sync Modes