If you’re a business owner in 2018 (or just aren’t living under a rock), you know the importance of Facebook. Facebook announced that they have over 2.19 BILLION active users as of this year’s first quarter. Businesses have been trying to harness the power of Facebook for years now, but one thing many seem to be missing is the use of paid advertisement for retargeting customers. Confused on what this entails and if your business needs to master it? Keep reading, we’ll walk you through just what it is and exactly how you can use effective Facebook ads to increase your companies revenue and ROI.

A Basic Introduction

We’d be willing to bet that if you are a business on Facebook, you’ve run a paid advertisement (or a whole campaign) before. Facebook ads allow businesses to target the exact market they would ideally want to sell to, and have become a vital part of many people’s monthly paid marketing strategy. A huge plus side to Facebook ads are the fact that they are able to be run for any size budget, and businesses don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to see results.

Business owners and marketing teams are now able to take Facebook Ads to the next level by retargeting customers back to their website/cart checkout with ads. This is exactly how it works: Facebook’s API tracks a specific businesses’ website visitors through the use of cookies that are invisible to the customer, but invaluable to Facebook. When a customer leaves a businesses site, the Facebook API kicks and advertises those very same product/service the customer previously viewed on a website, but just in a person’s Facebook feed or sidebar. Doing this allows the customer to be reminded of the product/service they recently viewed, and are prompted to click on the ad to return to the site and complete their purchase.

And guess what? Facebook retargeting ads really work. blog.Spiralytics.com cited a study done by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) which found that “out of 1000 marketers surveyed, 92% found retargeting to perform the same as or better than search, 91% for email, and 92% for other display advertising.” Wow! Are you convinced now of the power of paid Facebook retargeting ads? If so, read on to get some of our best tips for creating successful retargeting ads for your own business on Facebook. You’ll thank us later.

Tip #1: Use Dynamic Retargeting Ads

Have you ever received an email from a store you were previously browsing online, showing you a photo of the exact shirt/TV/book you were considering purchasing? (It’s tempting, right?!) Well, tour business can now utilize this tactic that was once reserved just for email marketing in the form of Facebook retargeting ads.

Retargeting ads of the past on Facebook only pushed consumers to revisit a website’s homepage. However, businesses have found greater success with dynamic retargeting ads. These ads display a photo of the EXACT product a consumer was looking at while spending time shopping on their site. Putting a photo of the product in a consumer’s Facebook feed/sidebar reminds them of what they were interested in, and increases the likelihood of the consumer clicking through. This translates into a higher ROI as your business will see a decrease in abandoned shopping carts and an increase in sales.

Tip #2: Offer an Incentive

In order to close a deal and trigger a customer to click back onto your site to finish a purchase, it’s necessary to “step into their shoes” a little bit and think about why they possibly didn’t purchase the first time around. One of the biggest reasons customers don’t complete a purchase is, (obviously), price. Customers sometimes talk themselves out of a purchase, re-evaluate the want vs. need of a product, etc. So how can you combat this?

Retargeting ads are great for getting your business back in a consumers head, but if something is holding them back, you are going to need to go the extra mile. Consider a Facebook retargeting ad that offers an incentive, like a percentage off or a discount code. This convinces a consumer that they are snagging a great deal that they just can’t pass up…

Tip #3: Don’t Forget About Existing Customers

So far, we’ve discussed retargeting ads best-suited for those customers that abandoned a cart and didn’t complete a purchase. But what about those people that have already bought from your brand/business? Are they exempt from Facebook retargeting ads?

No, they aren’t, and to think so could be a big loss for your business. Previous customers of your business are the perfect audience to retarget ads towards through a process called “cross-selling.” Basically, you can go into your platform and see which products a person has purchased from you in the past, and program Facebook ads to advertise a “complementary” product to the one they already have. Think about it: if they have been a repeat customer of your business, they probably enjoy your products/quality/customer experience/etc. Advertising new products/deals to them is the perfect marketing strategy and businesses have seen huge success with employing this tactic. Putting your brand/website name back in their view will remind them of the positive experience they have had in the past, and will encourage them to click through to shop again.

Conclusion

You now have a basic introduction to the world of Facebook Retargeting Ads, and 3 of our best tips for how to successfully create ads that convert. Just like with any Facebook ad, you may experience a bit of a learning curve and have to go through some A/B testing. However, the end result of an increased ROI, more sales, and less abandoned carts will be worth the extra time! Enjoy Facebook Retargeting and let us know any of your favorite ways to utilize them in the comments.