The majority of businesses now advertise on Facebook and Instagram. However, not all have implemented smart retargeting campaigns. Research shows that retargeting ads are 76% more likely to get clicks than regular display ads. This makes sense as regular ads don’t nurture an audience the way retarget ads do. The more familiar a brand is to a social user, the more likely they will trust them and want to engage.
Social Media Strategist, Colin Peter O’Riordan discusses some of the different retargeting options on Facebook and Instagram that will help businesses move their audience along the all-important sales funnel.
Video views
Businesses can create a custom audience to retarget users who have watched any of their Facebook or Instagram videos. “I recommend targeting users who have watched 50%+ of a video as this suggests that they are interested in your product or service” advises Colin. “This can easily be done by choosing the “engagement” option within the custom audience section and then selecting “video”. Businesses should be strategic with the content that they retarget with and always remember where the user is on the sales funnel.
Web visitors
Every business should have the Facebook Pixel installed on their website. This small piece of code tracks customer behaviors on your site and connects them to your Ads Manager. Once installed, businesses can retarget web visitors at different stage of the funnel and help move them along to the point of sale. Colin says “retargeting users who have been on your site in the past 3 to 4 days is wise as your brand is still fresh in their minds and they may still be on the lookout for a purchase.” To avoid targeting people who already made a purchase, businesses can edit the customer audience to not target visitors who viewed a purchase confirmation page. “By retargeting specific website pages, you can also be more tactical in segmenting audiences and presenting them with more relevant content,” adds Colin.
Email lists
Most businesses already have a list of customer email addresses, but not all are using this data to its full potential. “If you sell a product that often requires repurchase, then it can be very worthwhile to create a custom audience retargeting users who haven’t purchased from you in a while,” says Colin. To encourage repeat purchase, the retarget advert could offer these previous customers a coupon to draw them back in and encourage a sale.
Lookalike audiences
“After uploading to Facebook, marketers should consider creating a Lookalike audience to increase their potential customer base. Facebook will automatically find social users who match the qualities of the people on your email list” Colin explains. This is particularly valuable as they share very similar interests and demographics as the people who have already purchased from you. In turn, it increases the chance of generating new sales from other users who have not come across your business before. Colin points out that brands can also create a lookalike audience of their Facebook page fans.
The bottom line:
Retargeting social users on Facebook and Instagram can be a very rewarding activity for brands who are willing to invest the time and energy. Moving warm audiences along the sales funnel will yield a much higher level of sales than actively reaching cold audiences. Not only that, testing various retargeting routes will help lower the cost per conversion. With a bit of work and some strategic thinking, Facebook and Instagram ads can drive major revenue for your business.
