Can I Use B2B Data for Lookalike Audiences

Can I use B2B data for lookalike audiences? It’s a smart question—and one more UK SME marketers are asking as they try to scale campaigns without wasting budget.

Lookalike audiences, whether through Facebook, LinkedIn or other platforms, promise precision: finding people who resemble your best customers. But using B2B data to fuel those audiences can be tricky—especially when much of it comes from purchased lists rather than your own CRM.

Add GDPR into the mix, and suddenly the rules around what you can and should upload become less clear.

In this post, we’ll walk through what’s possible, what’s risky, and how B2B data can still play a powerful role in shaping and scaling your outreach—when used smartly. Whether you’re running ads, building funnels, or refining audience segments, this guide will help you stay compliant, targeted, and results-focused.

What Are Lookalike Audiences?

Lookalike audiences are a powerful way to expand your reach by targeting people who closely resemble your existing customers. Most commonly used on platforms like Facebook (Meta), LinkedIn, and Google, these audiences are created by uploading a “seed list” of existing contacts—then letting the platform find similar profiles based on shared behaviours, interests, or attributes.

For B2B marketers, the appeal is obvious: if your current list of engineering firm directors in the North West converts well, why not find more people like them?

The benefits include:

• Wider Reach: Extend beyond your existing database without sacrificing relevance

• Improved Targeting: Platforms use thousands of data points to refine matches

• Stronger ROI: Better matching often leads to higher conversion rates and lower ad spend per lead

But before you upload your B2B data, there are key rules and limitations to understand—especially when that data hasn’t come directly from your own marketing channels.

Can You Upload B2B Data for This Purpose?

The short answer is: yes, but it depends on the data—and how it was collected.

To build a lookalike audience, platforms typically require a “custom audience” upload. This might include email addresses, phone numbers, company names, or other identifiers that the platform can match against user profiles.

Here’s where it gets tricky with B2B data:

• Most B2B data is work-based, not personal—e.g., john.smith@company.co.uk or main office phone numbers. These don’t always match well with consumer-level platform profiles, especially on platforms like Facebook, which prioritise personal identifiers.

• Match rates can be low unless your data is clean, recent, and based on contacts who already interact with your business.

• Uploading purchased data directly—especially if those contacts haven’t consented to marketing—raises red flags for both GDPR and platform policies.

While technically possible, blindly uploading cold B2B data isn’t a silver bullet—and can backfire without the right strategy or safeguards in place.

GDPR and Platform Policies: What You Need to Know

Using third-party B2B data for lookalike audiences isn’t just a technical decision—it’s a compliance one. Both GDPR and ad platforms like Meta and LinkedIn have clear rules around data use and consent.

Here’s what you need to keep in mind:

• GDPR requires a lawful basis for processing personal data, especially when uploading it to third-party platforms. If the individuals on your list haven’t explicitly consented to this use, you’re on shaky ground.

• First-party data is safer. Contacts gathered through your own channels (webforms, email interactions, CRM) are typically fine—assuming you’ve been transparent about how their data will be used.

• Purchased B2B lists can be problematic. Even if they’re high quality and accurate, uploading them for ad targeting can breach both GDPR and platform terms if consent isn’t clearly established.

• Platform enforcement is real. Ad accounts can be suspended or penalised for uploading data that violates policy.

When in doubt, treat B2B data as a tool to inform strategy—not as something to upload without care.

Smart Ways to Use B2B Data in Audience Expansion

You don’t have to upload your entire B2B list to benefit from it. Instead, use it strategically to shape your approach and build compliant, high-performing audiences.

Use B2B Data to Inform Strategy, Not Just Upload It

Start by profiling your ideal customers using the data you already have—industry, company size, region, job title. This helps you create content and campaigns tailored to those segments, even if you don’t upload the data directly.

Combine B2B Lists with First-Party Signals

One smart method is to use B2B data for outreach—via email or phone—and direct engaged contacts to landing pages or resources. Once they’ve interacted with your site, you can retarget them or build lookalikes based on those warm signals, which are both compliant and more effective.

Segment Before You Scale

Avoid uploading large, unfocused lists. Instead, segment your data by audience type—say, construction firms in Yorkshire with 20+ staff—and use these focused groups to guide content or build more precise lookalikes using warm leads or customer converters.

B2B data works best as a compass, not a cannon. The more focused your approach, the better your results—and the lower your compliance risk.

Why Choose Results Driven Marketing

At Results Driven Marketing, we don’t just sell data—we help you make it work.

Here’s why UK SMEs rely on us for targeted, campaign-ready B2B lists:

• Tailored Data, Built to Brief: Every list we deliver is aligned to your specific goals—by sector, region, job title, company size, and more.

• GDPR-Aligned and Clean: We follow strict sourcing and cleansing standards, ensuring your data is compliant, accurate, and structured for real-world use.

• Proven Experience: We’ve helped hundreds of businesses use data to drive leads through email, telemarketing, and audience building strategies.

• Fast and Friendly Support: Need a sample or a quick strategy chat? We turn things around fast and keep communication straightforward.

Whether you want to improve targeting, test new markets, or refine your email lists, we’re here to help you make smarter moves—backed by reliable data.

Final Thoughts: The Smart Way to Scale with Lookalikes

Can I use B2B data for lookalike audiences? Yes—but not in the way many assume. Uploading cold, purchased data directly into ad platforms is risky, both in terms of compliance and performance.

But that doesn’t mean your B2B data isn’t valuable.

Use it to define who you want to reach, inform your segmentation, and guide your creative. Warm up those contacts via compliant channels like email or direct mail, and then build your lookalikes from the people who engage.

With the right strategy, you’ll get the best of both worlds: scale and precision—without putting your brand or budget at risk.

📩 Ready to Use B2B Data the Smart Way?

Contact us for tailored advice or to request a no-obligation sample list.

Results Driven Marketing
IIB Trading Ltd | Cobalt Business Exchange, Newcastle
📞 0191 406 6399 | rdmarketing.co.uk
Helping UK SMEs go from bad data to more customers and profits.
Highly targeted marketing lists for email, telemarketing, and direct mail campaigns.