Connect this destination to export audience membership as Customer Match lists, for use in Microsoft Advertising campaigns.

This destination writes to your Microsoft Ads account and is a good fit when you want to:

Make GrowthLoop audiences available for Microsoft Advertising campaigns
Match contacts on email

This maps to GrowthLoop Audiences and Journeys:

Use it for	Audiences	Journeys
Sending GrowthLoop audiences as Customer Match lists	✓	✓

To send offline conversions, use Microsoft Ads (Bing) Conversions. Do not use an audience export to send conversion events.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have:

A Microsoft account that can access the ads account that should receive audiences.
The Customer ID and Account ID for that ads account. Open Microsoft Ads and copy them from the URL: Customer ID is the value after cid=, and Account ID is the value after aid=.
Customer Match terms accepted in Microsoft Ads. Create one Customer Match audience in Microsoft Ads so you can accept the terms. GrowthLoop can export after that.

Some Microsoft organizations require an Azure administrator to approve the GrowthLoop app once. Ask that admin to connect Microsoft Ads first, or to approve the app in Azure. After that, other users can connect normally.

Set up Microsoft Ads as a destination

In GrowthLoop, click the Destinations tab on the left sidebar.
Click New Destination in the top right corner.
Search for Microsoft Ads and click Add Microsoft Ads.
Sign in with the Microsoft account that can access the ads account you want to add.
Enter the required information, then click Create.

Field	Description
Destination Name	Name this destination in GrowthLoop. Use a name so your team recognizes its purpose, like "Microsoft Ads Customer Match".
Sync Frequency	Set the default export frequency (for example, daily or weekly). You can override this setting for individual exports.
Access Token	Automatically populated from Microsoft. Do not edit it.
Refresh Token	Automatically populated from Microsoft. Do not edit it.
Customer ID	Value after `cid=` in the Microsoft Ads URL.
Account ID	Value after `aid=` in the Microsoft Ads URL.

GrowthLoop validates the connection. Microsoft Ads then appears in your list of connected destinations.

Export to Microsoft Ads

From within GrowthLoop, export from an audience or from a journey Destination Node. See Export an audience or Build a journey if you need more information on these steps.

After building or selecting an audience, click Export, then search for Microsoft Ads. In a journey, add a Destination Node under Ads and select Microsoft Ads.

Map contact identifiers

On an audience or in a journey Destination Node, map Email address. This field is required.

GrowthLoop hashes each email as SHA-256 after lowercasing it.

This destination does not send additional personalization fields.

See Enhanced Match Rate if your organization has it enabled.

Configure the export

This is where you set the campaign type and schedule for audience exports. On a journey Destination Node, you set timing on the journey canvas.

Setting	Audience export	Journey Destination Node
Export Name	Defaults to `{audience name}_GL_Audience_{audience ID}`. That is the Customer Match list name unless you change it.	Required. Enter a name so you can find the export in GrowthLoop and the list in Microsoft Ads.
Campaign type	Choose a one-time or ongoing export.	The journey schedule controls when the journey runs and contacts are sent to Microsoft Ads.
Schedule	Set frequency, start date, end date, and days of the week for ongoing exports.	Users reach this node when the journey runs. Add a Delay Node or set Criteria Evaluation to control timing.

Export behavior

This is what GrowthLoop writes when you export an audience.

Behavior	What happens
What GrowthLoop writes	A Customer Match list in Microsoft Ads. Direction is GrowthLoop → Microsoft Ads.
When it runs	GrowthLoop sends the export as a batch on the next successful run. An export that starts Now runs within about 15 minutes. Journeys send exports on demand when users reach the Destination Node.
List	GrowthLoop creates a Customer Match list named after the export name, or reuses a list with that name, and uses that list on later runs. Membership does not expire.
Match field	Email address, hashed as SHA-256.
Adds	GrowthLoop adds hashed emails to the list.
One-time exports	GrowthLoop sends current membership once.
Ongoing adds and removals	Ongoing exports add contacts who enter the audience and remove those who leave that list.
Deletes	GrowthLoop does not delete the Customer Match list.

Confirm the export was successful

When the run finishes, confirm you can use the data in Microsoft Ads.

Audience export: Open Tools → Audiences and look up the Customer Match list. Look for the _GL_Audience_ name unless you changed Export Name.
Journey Destination Node: Open Tools → Audiences and look up the Customer Match list named after the export.

In GrowthLoop, review counts on the audience Exports tab, or open the Activity tab on the journey Destination Node. See Export an audience or Monitor a journey for more information.

Congrats on successfully exporting to Microsoft Ads!

Troubleshooting

These are the issues we see most often. You can always email us at [email protected] for help.

Problem	Cause	Resolution
Sign-in asks for admin approval	Your Microsoft organization requires an Azure admin to approve the GrowthLoop app	Ask an Azure administrator to connect Microsoft Ads once, or to approve the app in Azure
Connection fails to validate	Customer ID or Account ID is wrong, or the tokens did not populate	Confirm `cid` and `aid` in the Microsoft Ads URL. Sign in again so GrowthLoop can refresh the tokens
Export fails with a Customer Match error	Customer Match terms are not accepted on the ads account	Create one Customer Match audience in Microsoft Ads and accept the terms, then export again
Rows fail to export	Email address is not mapped	Map Email address
You cannot find the list	You are searching for the unsuffixed audience name	Open Tools → Audiences and search for the `_GL_Audience_` export name
Audiences land in the wrong account	Customer ID or Account ID belongs to a different ads account	Edit the destination and enter the `cid` and `aid` for the account that should receive lists