What Are Signals?
Signals are the outputs of Innkeepr’s causal models. They come in two forms:- Audience Signals – Predictive user segments for targeting, lookalikes, and exclusions, built from users ranked by predicted incremental lift
- Conversion Signals – Incrementality-weighted conversion values that replace standard conversion data to improve bidding accuracy Both signal types are designed to help your ad platforms optimize toward users and touchpoints that drive true incremental impact — not just users who would have converted anyway.
Learn more about how signals work in the Signal Overview.
Guides by Platform
Meta Ads
Seed Audiences direct budget toward users most likely to convert because of ad exposure. Innkeepr ranks your visitors by predicted incremental lift and uploads them as Custom Audiences or Value-Based Audiences, which Meta uses to build Lookalike Audiences.
Exclusion Audiences remove users where advertising has no measurable effect — users who either do not convert at all, or convert regardless of ad exposure. Applying these at the ad set level concentrates remaining budget on users where ads make a difference.
Both audience types are complementary and can be used simultaneously once each has been validated individually.
Google Ads
Performance Max Audience Signals give Google’s algorithm a reference group of high-incrementality users as targeting guidance. Instead of optimizing broadly, PMax uses Innkeepr’s seed audiences to find and target users similar to those most likely to convert incrementally.
Conversion Signals modify the conversion data Google Ads receives. Depending on the bidding strategy, Innkeepr adjusts either the reported conversion count (for CPA-based strategies) or the reported conversion value (for ROAS-based strategies) based on the incremental contribution of each touchpoint.
TikTok Ads
TikTok audience signals mirror the Meta setup, with one key difference: TikTok matches audiences by email. Every user in a TikTok upload must carry an
email or email_sha256 trait, written to the profile via Innkeepr Identify. Users without an email cannot be matched, so email coverage directly determines audience size and match rate.
Criteo
Criteo pairs Innkeepr audience signals with product feed optimization, matching user segments (e.g. high-value shoppers, churn risks) against your live merchant feed to deliver relevant product ads across web and app inventory.
Choosing the Right Guide
If you are just getting started, the recommended activation order is:- Meta Seed Audiences — fastest to set up, results visible within 2–4 weeks
- Meta Exclusion Audiences — complements seed audiences, can run in parallel after initial validation
- PMax Audience Signals — requires a 60–90 day evaluation window
- Google Conversion Signals — requires Enhanced Conversions to be active and a 60–90 day learning phase; setup is handled by the Innkeepr team All guides follow the same structure: prerequisites, setup instructions, a monitoring and optimization timeline, best practices, and a troubleshooting reference.
Learn more
- Set Up Seed Audiences on Meta
- Set Up Exclusion Audiences on Meta
- Set Up Audience Signals on Performance Max
- Set Up Conversion Signals on Google Ads
- Set Up Seed Audiences on TikTok
- Set Up Exclusion Audiences on TikTok
- Set Up Audience Signals on Criteo
- Signal Overview
- Audience Signals
- Conversion Signals