Retail media teams have long understood the power of audience targeting. But as programs scale, the way audiences are managed hasn’t evolved at the same pace.
Many teams already use uploaded lists and behavioral signals to improve performance through better targeting and bidding. But managing those audiences (e.g., creating segments, understanding availability, iterating on strategy) has often meant navigating API workflows, coordinating with engineering, and waiting for changes to take effect.
That creates a mismatch: teams are expected to move faster, but the systems they rely on slow them down.
Today, we’re launching Audience Builder, a self-serve audience management capability for retail media teams to create, refine, and activate audiences directly in Topsort—without waiting on engineering.
Audience Builder brings audience creation, management, and activation into a single control layer. Everything now happens directly within Topsort, including a new way to generate refined segments by combining existing audiences with logical rules.
Why This Matters Now
As retail media programs scale, the teams that can test audiences faster and target more precisely will outperform those still relying on manual or engineering-heavy workflows.
More campaigns, more advertisers, more segments to test. But when audience management depends on external workflows, every change introduces friction.
Audience strategy isn’t just about segmentation—it affects how bids are prioritized for different users, and ultimately where spend is concentrated. In retail media, those decisions directly impact how demand is distributed across products and users.
By bringing audience management into the platform, teams can continuously test and refine audiences as campaigns run—without relying on external systems.
Audience Builder gives teams direct control over how audiences are created, updated, and applied in campaigns. With it, retail media teams can:
- Manage all audiences in one place: View uploaded lists, combined segments, and behavioral audiences with full visibility into size and availability.
- Create and iterate without dependencies: Build audiences directly in the UI and refine them in minutes.
- Generate new segments from existing data: Use include/exclude logic to combine audiences without re-uploading lists.
- Improve ROAS with prioritized bidding: Audiences function as bid boosters, increasing bids for high-value users to focus spend where it’s most likely to convert while improving budget allocation across users without limiting reach.
Three Ways to Build Audiences
Audience Builder supports three audience types:
1. Upload via CSV
Upload a file of opaque user IDs directly from your computer. Once processed, the audience appears in the Audiences tab with its calculated size and becomes available for campaign setup across vendors.
2. Combined List Builder
Create new audiences by combining previously uploaded lists using include and exclude logic. Add multiple lists together or narrow them down by removing specific users—so you can build more precise segments from the data you already have.
3. Behavioral Audience Builder
Define audiences based on consumer behavior—users who viewed, clicked, or purchased a product or category within the last 7, 30, or 90 days. Combine filters with AND/OR logic to build precise segments.
All three audience types are available in the campaign creation flow for every ad format once created.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Audience Builder?
Audience Builder is a self-serve capability in Topsort that lets retail media teams create, refine, and activate audiences directly in the platform.
Why Did Topsort Launch Audience Builder?
Many teams still rely on API workflows and engineering support to manage audiences. Audience Builder gives teams direct control so they can move faster.
How Does Audience Builder Help Retail Media Teams?
It brings audience creation, management, and activation into one place. Teams can test, refine, and apply audiences without leaving Topsort.
What Types of Audiences Can Teams Create?
Audience Builder supports three types: uploaded CSV audiences, combined audiences built from existing lists, and behavioral audiences based on views, clicks, or purchases.
What Is Combined List Builder?
Combined List Builder lets teams create new segments from existing lists using include and exclude logic. This helps teams build more precise audiences without uploading a new file.
What Is Behavioral Audience Builder?
Behavioral Audience Builder lets teams define audiences based on user actions, such as viewing, clicking, or purchasing a product or category within the last 7, 30, or 90 days.
How Are Audiences Used in Campaigns?
Audiences act as bid boosters. They increase bids for high-value users so spend can be focused where conversion is more likely.
Where Can These Audiences Be Used?
Once created, all three audience types are available in the campaign creation flow for every ad format.
How Do Teams Get Access to Audience Builder?
Audience Builder is available for Topsort customers. Once enabled, the Audiences tab appears in the marketplace admin interface.
Availability
Audience Builder is available now for all Topsort customers, with pricing to be determined. Once enabled, the Audiences tab appears in the marketplace admin interface and is ready to use.
For vendor-scoped audience restrictions, Topsort also supports configuration via API. See our Knowledge Base for details.
Frequently asked questions
Get Started
Audience Builder puts audience strategy in the hands of the teams driving performance.
Talk to your Topsort account manager to enable the Audiences tab, or book a demo to see it in action.
Introducing Audience Builder: Take Control of Audience Strategy Without Engineering
Retail media teams have long understood the power of audience targeting. But as programs scale, the way audiences are managed hasn’t evolved at the same pace.
Many teams already use uploaded lists and behavioral signals to improve performance through better targeting and bidding. But managing those audiences (e.g., creating segments, understanding availability, iterating on strategy) has often meant navigating API workflows, coordinating with engineering, and waiting for changes to take effect.
That creates a mismatch: teams are expected to move faster, but the systems they rely on slow them down.
Today, we’re launching Audience Builder, a self-serve audience management capability for retail media teams to create, refine, and activate audiences directly in Topsort—without waiting on engineering.
Audience Builder brings audience creation, management, and activation into a single control layer. Everything now happens directly within Topsort, including a new way to generate refined segments by combining existing audiences with logical rules.
Why This Matters Now
As retail media programs scale, the teams that can test audiences faster and target more precisely will outperform those still relying on manual or engineering-heavy workflows.
More campaigns, more advertisers, more segments to test. But when audience management depends on external workflows, every change introduces friction.
Audience strategy isn’t just about segmentation—it affects how bids are prioritized for different users, and ultimately where spend is concentrated. In retail media, those decisions directly impact how demand is distributed across products and users.
By bringing audience management into the platform, teams can continuously test and refine audiences as campaigns run—without relying on external systems.
Audience Builder gives teams direct control over how audiences are created, updated, and applied in campaigns. With it, retail media teams can:
- Manage all audiences in one place: View uploaded lists, combined segments, and behavioral audiences with full visibility into size and availability.
- Create and iterate without dependencies: Build audiences directly in the UI and refine them in minutes.
- Generate new segments from existing data: Use include/exclude logic to combine audiences without re-uploading lists.
- Improve ROAS with prioritized bidding: Audiences function as bid boosters, increasing bids for high-value users to focus spend where it’s most likely to convert while improving budget allocation across users without limiting reach.
Three Ways to Build Audiences
Audience Builder supports three audience types:
1. Upload via CSV
Upload a file of opaque user IDs directly from your computer. Once processed, the audience appears in the Audiences tab with its calculated size and becomes available for campaign setup across vendors.
2. Combined List Builder
Create new audiences by combining previously uploaded lists using include and exclude logic. Add multiple lists together or narrow them down by removing specific users—so you can build more precise segments from the data you already have.
3. Behavioral Audience Builder
Define audiences based on consumer behavior—users who viewed, clicked, or purchased a product or category within the last 7, 30, or 90 days. Combine filters with AND/OR logic to build precise segments.
All three audience types are available in the campaign creation flow for every ad format once created.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Audience Builder?
Audience Builder is a self-serve capability in Topsort that lets retail media teams create, refine, and activate audiences directly in the platform.
Why Did Topsort Launch Audience Builder?
Many teams still rely on API workflows and engineering support to manage audiences. Audience Builder gives teams direct control so they can move faster.
How Does Audience Builder Help Retail Media Teams?
It brings audience creation, management, and activation into one place. Teams can test, refine, and apply audiences without leaving Topsort.
What Types of Audiences Can Teams Create?
Audience Builder supports three types: uploaded CSV audiences, combined audiences built from existing lists, and behavioral audiences based on views, clicks, or purchases.
What Is Combined List Builder?
Combined List Builder lets teams create new segments from existing lists using include and exclude logic. This helps teams build more precise audiences without uploading a new file.
What Is Behavioral Audience Builder?
Behavioral Audience Builder lets teams define audiences based on user actions, such as viewing, clicking, or purchasing a product or category within the last 7, 30, or 90 days.
How Are Audiences Used in Campaigns?
Audiences act as bid boosters. They increase bids for high-value users so spend can be focused where conversion is more likely.
Where Can These Audiences Be Used?
Once created, all three audience types are available in the campaign creation flow for every ad format.
How Do Teams Get Access to Audience Builder?
Audience Builder is available for Topsort customers. Once enabled, the Audiences tab appears in the marketplace admin interface.
Availability
Audience Builder is available now for all Topsort customers, with pricing to be determined. Once enabled, the Audiences tab appears in the marketplace admin interface and is ready to use.
For vendor-scoped audience restrictions, Topsort also supports configuration via API. See our Knowledge Base for details.
Frequently asked questions
Get Started
Audience Builder puts audience strategy in the hands of the teams driving performance.
Talk to your Topsort account manager to enable the Audiences tab, or book a demo to see it in action.