Unless a consumer is making an impulse purchase, they will rarely hit the "Buy" button on their first visit to your website. In fact, research has found that 96 percent of website visitors won't convert on a first visit. More and more marketers are starting to use retargeting as a way to bring these "window shoppers" back to the store in hopes they will turn into buyers. Facebook retargeting is one of the most effective ways to reach customers with customized content and get them to purchase or re-engage with your brand. However, many marketing teams have shied away from Facebook retargeting because it seems complex and daunting. If you don't feel like you're using this advertising tactic to its full potential, read on to find out just how easy it can be to set up a successful Facebook retargeting campaign.
If you're unfamiliar with the concept of retargeting, it is basically a way to pursue and serve ads to people who have visited your website without purchasing anything. When they hit your website, they are "cookied" or tagged based on criteria that you determine (for example, those who had items in the cart but didn't purchase, those who visited a specific product page, those who clicked to a landing page, and so on). The cookies will then trigger your ads to follow that user as they surf other places on the web. For instance, if you visit the Nike website and click on a specific pair of running shoes, Nike can arrange for ads for that particular shoe to be served to your own websites across the Google Display Network.
Facebook retargeting is similar to basic Google retargeting, except that instead of showing your ads across sites within the GDN, your ads are shown to users on Facebook. Facebook refers to retargeting as "Custom Audiences," but the idea is the same. A user visits your site or interacts with your brand, gets tagged with the custom code you developed to track them, and then while they're browsing through Facebook they are served with your ad to remind them of the product or service they just checked out.
With over 2.38 billion monthly active users, Facebook gives you the opportunity to be where your potential customers are already spending their time. It is one of the best channels for retargeting because it serves ads to an audience that is in a comfortable element. You have probably had the experience of seeing a retargeted ad on Facebook while you are scrolling through your feed. It's a smart time to appeal to the users in this massive, ever-expanding global market, and put relevant ads right in front of them to remind them of the purchase they haven't yet made. Plus, now that Facebook owns Instagram, you can also use the Facebook marketing system on that platform as well.
Facebook's Custom Audiences feature allows you to install a snippet of code on your website that puts a cookie on the computers of your visitors. The code will send information back to Facebook, telling them which pages each visitor viewed on your site. You use your Custom Audiences preferences to retarget different segments of your audience. You can target anyone who visited your site, those who visited a certain product page, or those who took another action but did not convert. Each segment is then served with a customized ad you have created to re-engage them and up your chances of making a sale.
When you're ready to get started with your Facebook Retargeting Campaign, just follow these simple steps within your Facebook Account.
The first step is to log in into your Facebook Business Account and head to your Facebook Ads Manager. Then click on Business Manager at the top left-hand side of the screen in order to find Audiences in the drop-down menu. Click on Create Audience at the top left of your screen. For retargeting, select Custom Audience. For this example, let's focus on website traffic so you can reach the people who visited your site.
At this point, you can select your target audience from the drop-down menu. You will see the following options:
You can create multiple Custom Audiences and give each one an Audience name. Going forward, these will be your individual campaigns.
A pixel code is necessary in order to begin Facebook retargeting. It is a code that you have to put on your website to track visitors, much like the code/tag you use in Google retargeting. It's called a pixel code because it inserts a tiny 1x1 pixel on your website that tracks visitors (don't worry, it's so small that users can't actually see it). This informs you that they have been to a certain page of your site or have taken a particular action (moved an item to the cart, browsed a page for more than two minutes, and so on).
To get the pixel code, head to the Audiences section of Ads Manager to find the retargeting campaign you created. Select your retargeting campaign and click View Panel in the drop-down menu. This will bring up a pixel base code, which you can copy and place on your website. Or, ask your developer to put it there if you don't have access to the backend of your site.
Now that you have your code set up, you can keep track of who visits your site. But what if a user is surfing on multiple devices and/or ends up purchasing in your store? And how do you address the fact that devices such as laptops and tablets are often shared among multiple users? At least 60 percent of users share devices, according to recent studies -- State of Mobile Commerce by Criteo and Multi-Device Usage Study of GFK commissioned by Facebook. One of the best aspects of Facebook Pixel is a functionality called advanced matching. This allows a pixel code to be attached to a specific user with attributes like phone number or email address that you collect via sign-in or check-out. That way you can optimize ads even further by understanding exactly who is purchasing.
Once you start running your ads, make sure that you are conducting A/B testing to find out which ads work the best. Getting the pixel set up is the initial step, but it's critical to track conversions properly in order to continuously improve your campaigns for each audience. Check out this guide to Facebook conversion tracking to help you choose the best method for your business and get it set up.
If you want to get started with Facebook retargeting, we can help you integrate it into your marketing strategy. Contact Eniture today.
Eniture Technology specializes in helping e-Commerce merchants grow by providing useful information, digital marketing services, off-the-shelf apps that solve common problems, and custom programming services. Please contact us if you need help growing your online business or implementing the concepts presented in this blog post.
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