# Ads plays: turn Cornersight leads into ad audiences Ad platform rules were checked against each platform's help docs on 20 October 2026 (links inline and in Sources). Platforms change these often, so check the linked page before you rely on a rule. **Key fact first:** Cornersight gives you people (name, title, company, LinkedIn profile, what they engaged with). It gives emails **only if you connect your own email finder** (in-app table integrations: LeadMagic, Prospeo, Findymail, Icypeas), or you add them in Clay. Ad platforms match people best on email, so most plays need one of those before upload. Why ads + signals: the people in your audience showed interest in your topic this week. You pay to be in front of warm people, not a cold job-title target. --- ## Play 1. Warm-signal audience on LinkedIn Ads **Idea:** Everyone who engaged with competitor, creator or keyword posts (and fits your ICP) becomes a LinkedIn audience. Refresh it weekly. **Setup** 1. In Cornersight, set an ICP filter on each source (competitors, creators, keywords). 2. Export the leads as CSV, or push them by webhook into Clay. 3. Add work email: connect your own email finder in Cornersight, or add it in Clay. 4. Download LinkedIn's contact list template and fill it in. Don't rename or remove its headers, or the upload fails. Each row needs at least one of: email, first + last name, or a Google mobile ad ID. Adding company name to first + last name improves matching. Supported columns: email, firstname, lastname, employeecompany, title (job title), country. CSV only, at least 300 rows, max 300,000 rows or 20 MB. ([LinkedIn help](https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a1489764), [LinkedIn API docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/marketing/matched-audiences/create-and-manage-list-uploads), checked 2026-10-20) 5. LinkedIn Campaign Manager → Plan → Audiences → Create audience → Matched Audience → Company/Contact → Contact list → upload. ([LinkedIn help](https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a421822), checked 2026-10-20) **Rules** - LinkedIn needs at least 300 **matched** members before a list can run in an ad set. That is 300 matched people, not 300 rows uploaded. LinkedIn recommends uploading at least 10,000 emails (personal or work) to get there. Small lists will not serve; you can combine audience segments to pass 300. ([LinkedIn help](https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a1489764), [best practices](https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/106247), checked 2026-10-20) - Refresh weekly. Stale engagers cool off fast. **Ads to run:** a useful asset (guide, teardown, webinar replay) that matches the topic they engaged with. Not a "book a demo" ad on day one. **Measure:** cost per lead or meeting from this audience vs your normal job-title targeting. Run both for 2 to 4 weeks with the same ad. --- ## Play 2. Company-level audience (no emails needed) **Idea:** If you don't want to buy emails, target the **companies** whose people are engaging, then narrow by job title inside LinkedIn. **Setup** 1. Export Cornersight leads (ICP filtered). Keep company name and website. 2. Remove duplicates so each company appears once. 3. Upload as a company list in Campaign Manager, using LinkedIn's company list template (don't change its headers). Each row needs at least one of: company name, company website, company email domain, LinkedIn Company Page URL, or stock symbol. You can also add industry, city, state, country and zip code. Adding the Company Page URL (with the company name in the URL, not a number) gives the best match. At least 300 rows, max 300,000 companies or 20 MB; 1,000+ recommended. The list must still match 300+ members to run. ([LinkedIn help](https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a423102), checked 2026-10-20) 4. Layer job titles or functions on top in the campaign targeting. **When to use:** account-based marketing (targeting a named list of companies), small teams, or when email match rates are low. **Trade-off:** you reach the account, not the exact person who engaged. --- ## Play 3. Competitor-engager conquest campaign **Idea:** People who comment on or like your competitor's posts are comparing options. Show them why you're different. **Setup** 1. Track your competitors' company pages and founders in Cornersight. 2. ICP filter, then build the audience as in Play 1 or 2. 3. Ad: a fair comparison, a "switching from X" guide, or a customer story. **Rules** - Neither platform bans naming a competitor outright, but both limit it. LinkedIn: no third-party trademarks without the owner's permission (or unless the law allows it), no deceptive or inaccurate claims about competing products, and don't imply a link or endorsement you don't have ([LinkedIn ads policy](https://www.linkedin.com/legal/ads-policy)). Meta: ads must not infringe anyone's trademark or other IP ([Meta ad standards](https://transparency.meta.com/policies/ad-standards/intellectual-property-infringement/third-party-infringement/)). Safest: keep comparisons factual and provable, and don't use their logo. (checked 2026-10-20) - Do not mention in the ad that you saw them engage. Relevant, not creepy. Meta also bans ads that assert or imply personal traits about the viewer ([Meta ad standards](https://transparency.meta.com/policies/ad-standards/), checked 2026-10-20). --- ## Play 4. Ads + outbound together (surround sound) **Idea:** Same people, two channels. They see your ad this week, then get your email or LinkedIn message next week. The name feels familiar. **Setup** 1. One Cornersight source → Clay. 2. Branch A: push to your sequencer (PlusVibe, Instantly, Smartlead, HeyReach). See EVERGREEN_SIGNAL_CAMPAIGN_CLAY_PLUSVIBE.md. 3. Branch B: add the same people to the LinkedIn audience (Play 1). 4. Start ads 5 to 7 days before the first message. **Measure:** reply rate for people who were in the ad audience vs people who weren't. Split the list 50/50 to test it fairly. --- ## Play 5. Boost the posts your buyers already engage with **Idea:** Use Cornersight's keyword tracking to see which topics your ICP engages with most. Write a post on the winning topic from a founder's or employee's profile, then pay to boost it to your warm audience. **Setup** 1. Keyword tracking with authors on (see CONTENT_PLAYS.md, Play 1). 2. Pick the topic with the most ICP engagers this week. 3. Post it from a person's profile. Boost it with LinkedIn's Thought Leader Ads to the audience from Play 1. The person does not have to be an employee: you can sponsor posts from employees, creators, and other members (1st, 2nd or 3rd-degree+ connections). The author must approve each request (or turn on auto-approve). The post must be public and the author's profile must show their full name. Text, single image, video, article and newsletter posts work; celebrations, documents, polls, multi-image posts and reposts don't. You need super admin, content admin or Sponsored Content poster rights on the company Page. ([LinkedIn help](https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a1399568), checked 2026-10-20) **Why:** posts from people usually feel less like an ad than company-page ads. --- ## Play 6. Meta and Google audiences (test only) **Idea:** Upload the same list to Meta (Facebook/Instagram) Custom Audiences or Google Customer Match for cheaper reach. **Warning:** most people sign up to Facebook and Google with a personal email, so expect work emails to match poorly. This is our expectation: neither Meta nor Google publishes a match rate for work emails. Treat this as a small test, not the main plan. - **Meta:** you can upload emails, phone numbers, names, dates of birth, gender, location and mobile ad IDs; more fields means better matching. You must accept Meta's Custom Audience terms first. ([Meta developer docs](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/ads-commerce/marketing-api/audiences/guides/custom-audiences), checked 2026-10-20) Minimum size: Meta's help pages don't state a minimum list size, so check in Ads Manager when you upload. - **Google Customer Match:** your account needs a good policy and payment history. Any such account can use lists for observation and exclusions only. To **target** a list, you need 90+ days of Google Ads history and more than USD 50,000 lifetime spend. Many small accounts won't qualify, so check this first. ([Google policy](https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6299717), checked 2026-10-20) Files need at least 100 records, and a list needs 100+ active users to serve. Members expire after 540 days. Columns: Email, Phone, First Name, Last Name, Country, Zip, Mobile Device ID. ([small lists](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7474166), [About Customer Match](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6379332), [file format](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7659867), checked 2026-10-20) --- ## Automating the refresh - **Manual (works today):** weekly CSV export → email finder → upload. About 20 to 30 minutes a week. (Estimate, not measured.) - **Automated:** Cornersight webhook → Clay or Zapier/Make/n8n → ad platform. What each tool supports (checked 2026-10-20). Test end to end before calling it working. - **Zapier:** LinkedIn Ads has Add Contact to Audience, Add Company to Audience, Create Audience, Remove Email from Audience ([Zapier](https://zapier.com/apps/linkedin-ads/integrations)). Facebook Custom Audiences has Add Email to Custom Audience, Remove Email, Create Custom Audience ([Zapier](https://zapier.com/apps/facebook-custom-audiences/integrations)). Google Ads has Add Contact to Customer List and Remove Contact, via Google's Data Manager API, which Zapier says is in beta ([Zapier](https://zapier.com/apps/google-ads/integrations)). - **Make:** LinkedIn Matched Audiences app has Add Users, Add Companies, Remove Users, Remove Companies ([Make](https://www.make.com/en/integrations/linkedin-matched-audiences)). Facebook Custom Audiences app has Add Emails / Add Users to a Custom Audience ([Make](https://www.make.com/en/integrations/facebook-custom-audiences)). Google Ads Customer Match app: the add and remove contact modules are marked deprecated; only create/get/search lists remain ([Make docs](https://apps.make.com/google-ads-customer-match)). So no supported way to add people to Google lists in Make today. - **n8n:** no built-in node for any of these. The LinkedIn node only creates posts, the Google Ads node only reads campaigns, and the Facebook Graph API node is a generic API caller ([LinkedIn node](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/app-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.linkedin/), [Google Ads node](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/app-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.googleads/), [Graph API node](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/app-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.facebookgraphapi/)). You'd have to call the platform APIs yourself with the HTTP Request node. LinkedIn's audience API is only open to developers LinkedIn approves ([LinkedIn API docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/marketing/matched-audiences/create-and-manage-list-uploads)), and new Google Customer Match integrations must use Google's Data Manager API since 1 April 2026 ([Google Ads Developer Blog](https://ads-developers.googleblog.com/2026/03/changes-to-customer-match-support-in.html)). ## Privacy - Upload only people you have a lawful reason to market to. Check GDPR and the platform's terms in your region. - Don't tell people in ads or messages that you tracked their engagement. ## Sources (checked 2026-10-20) - LinkedIn contact lists: https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a1489764 - LinkedIn company lists: https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a423102 - LinkedIn list upload steps: https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a421822 - LinkedIn Matched Audiences best practices: https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/106247 - LinkedIn list upload API (column names): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/marketing/matched-audiences/create-and-manage-list-uploads - LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads: https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a1399568 - LinkedIn advertising policies: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/ads-policy - Meta ad standards: https://transparency.meta.com/policies/ad-standards/ - Meta Custom Audiences (customer file): https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/ads-commerce/marketing-api/audiences/guides/custom-audiences - Google Customer Match policy: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6299717 - Google Customer Match help: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6379332 and https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7474166 - Zapier, Make and n8n app pages: linked inline above.