The Paid Audience Spec Builder

Turn one persona into LinkedIn, Meta, Google and Microsoft Ads targeting, check each audience clears the platform minimum, and check a test can finish.

Excel + Google Sheets · Free

What this resource helps you do

Turn one persona into LinkedIn, Meta, Google and Microsoft Ads targeting, check each audience clears the platform's own minimum, and check your budget can finish a test before you spend.

Get the builder from AAJ's free marketing templates library.

What the Paid Audience Spec Builder does

The Paid Audience Spec Builder turns one persona into the targeting LinkedIn, Meta, Google and Microsoft Ads each need. Before you spend, it checks two things: whether each audience or list clears the platform’s own minimum size, and whether your budget can finish a test in time.

What is inside

Persona in, Specs out (LinkedIn, Meta, Google Search, Google Demand Gen and Microsoft Advertising), Feasibility, Can it learn and Platform rules sheets, plus an Example Co. (fictional) sheet.
Every platform rule is linked to the platform's own page and dated, and turns red 90 days after its check.
Reddit: the file states no Reddit setting or minimum. An "Other platform (for example Reddit)" row takes a minimum you enter from that platform's own help page; it is not verified by AAJ.

How to use it

Describe the persona. Start from the Three-Lens Persona Brief or the ICP Fit Scorer, and use only what interviews, won deals or your CRM back up. Leave a field blank rather than guess.
Copy the specs. Copy each value into the platform and keep the exclusions.
Check each audience clears the minimum. Enter list sizes and the match rate you expect from your own past uploads.
Check the budget can learn. Enter the audience, monthly budget, cost per click, conversion rate and the smallest lift worth detecting.
Re-check the platform rules every 90 days. Open each link, update the number and the date, and the Feasibility sheet follows.

Who it is for

Founders and first marketers at seed to Series B startups who are about to put money into paid social or search for a B2B, AI, EdTech or MedTech product, and want to know before launch whether the audience can serve and the test can finish.

The worked example uses Example Co., a fictional company; its figures are illustrative. The template is free in exchange for an email address.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the minimum audience size on LinkedIn, Meta and Google?

As checked on 11 October 2026: LinkedIn says a campaign's target audience must have at least 300 members; Meta says you can build a lookalike from a custom audience of at least 100 people; Google says a data segment needs at least 100 active users in the last 30 days to serve on Search, YouTube and Display. The workbook's Platform rules sheet links each page and turns a rule red 90 days after it was checked.

Does it cover Reddit?

Not with AAJ's own numbers. Reddit's help pages could not be read for this file, so it states no Reddit setting or minimum. If you plan Reddit, use the 'Other platform (for example Reddit)' rows and enter the minimum and settings from Reddit's own help page. That row is not verified by AAJ; check it before use.

Why not just aim for 30 conversions per variant?

Because the number you need depends on your conversion rate and on the smallest change worth detecting. The Can it learn sheet sizes each test with the same two-proportion formula as AAJ's A/B Test Significance Calculator and ad-creative-testing skill, then tells you whether your budget can read it in time.

Where do the match rates come from?

From you: your own past uploads or the platform's upload report. The file holds no match-rate benchmark. Where the platform shows its own audience estimate, enter that instead and it replaces the calculation.

Does it cover health, financial or under-18 audiences?

It flags them before you build. For MedTech and EdTech, the Start here sheet points to each platform's own rules on restricted categories, health data and under-18s. That is orientation, not legal advice; check how they apply to you with counsel.

Is the template free, and what format is it?

Free, in exchange for an email address. It is an Excel .xlsx that opens in Excel and Google Sheets, with no macros.