As a business owner, there’s nothing worse than watching a would-be customer inch their way to conversion, only to have them change their mind at the last second and back out. It feels like you’re saying goodbye to them forever, and farewell to all the efforts put into nurturing them in the process.

The good news is all is not lost. There’s a way to recapture their attention and remind them why they were interested in the first place. It’s a strategy that’s lower in cost and easier to implement than the marketing that first brought them into your funnel.

You’re going to get them back with Facebook retargeting, and here are the 5 strategies that you need to try.

Wait, What’s Facebook Retargeting?

There are some unfortunate truths of doing business. One of them is the fact that most people don’t convert the first time they visit your site. They might browse or even fill a cart, but odds are they won’t reach the order confirmation page – at least not yet.

You tried, so now what do you do?

You leverage Facebook’s retargeting tools to recapture their attention via ads aimed at a custom audience. Facebook allows businesses the ability to track the behaviors of visitors to their site and approach them on Facebook with a targeted ad strategy.

In case you’re wondering – yes, retargeting really works and it is worth the effort. Statistics tell us that website visitors who are retargeted with display ads are 70% more likely to convert, and that a 726% increase in site visitation can be seen after just 4 weeks of retargeted ad exposure.

Not too shabby, right? Now let’s talk about you can make this happen.

Keeping the Window of Opportunity Open

This first strategy works for businesses that have a distinct customer buying cycle, however it can be adapted for any brand that’s in tune with its customers’ shopping habits.

The window of opportunity is used to describe the moment when a buyer is considering a purchase. They’ve visited your site and browsed, but for whatever reason didn’t complete a purchase. For businesses that depend on fulfilling immediate customer needs, this can spell trouble.

If they don’t convert right now, then you’ve lost them. Except, that you really haven’t.

Let’s use the example of an oil change business with online scheduling capabilities. Most customers don’t browse leisurely for an oil change. It’s on their mind because they’ve notice the odometer is creeping past the number on the sticker. This type of service is time sensitive.

If a customer doesn’t book an appointment today, or in the next few days, then they’ve probably chosen a competitor. It seems pointless to invest in paid ads that will reach them next week since their need has already passed.

But, what about next time? You have a good idea of when they’ll need the service again, so you start retargeting them close to that time, but before they need it. To do this, you can custom create an ad targeted to visitors from the last 3 months, and then pull out those who have visited in the last 2 months to produce a gap that defines your “window of opportunity” audience.

The Art of Temptation

Sometimes, buyers just need a little bit more encouragement to take the plunge. This is especially true for “luxury” items, regardless of the price. For example, a great pair of boots can feel like a frivolous purchase in the summer, no matter how great the deal.

What these buyers need is just a little more encouragement from you, and retargeted ads are a great way to deliver.

To accomplish this, you want to retarget people that visited specific pages of your site, while excluding those that made a purchase. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t exclude abandoned cart visitors, especially since they’re often the ones that are the easiest to convert.

The Build Up

Very few long-term customer relationships are born during the first encounter with your brand. These types of relationships take cultivation, nurturing and a respect for the buyer’s process of getting acquainted with you.

Facebook retargeting ads can be used inform, engage and nurture social media users along the funnel. You can do this by creating custom audiences based on their level of exposure and engagement with previous ads.

Say, you’ve invested in a video ad to build brand awareness. You obviously want the highest possible ROI out of this, so instead of hitting them once and letting them fall away, go in and look at how long different segments of the audience remained engaged.

Then use this information to your advantage by retargeting ads for those who watched 2 seconds differently than for those who watched nearly to completion. Build up exposure to your brand naturally through your ad strategy.

Win Them Back

You know those subscribers or customers that just seem to vanish into thin air and never be seen or heard from again? It’s time to win them back with retargeted ads.

Not only can you create custom audiences based on site visits, you can also transport users from your email list that have been a little too quiet. The goal is to remind them that you’re still there, even if they’re not all that interested in opening your emails.

Facebook makes this easy by allowing you to copy user data or upload it directly from MailChimp. Then all you need to do is create an ad that lures them back and lets them know how much you’ve missed them.

Build Off of Content Downloads

Finally, if building customer relationships with downloadable content is your game, you’re going to love how Facebook retargeting ads move customers through your funnel.

Say you start with an initial piece of content that serves to inform. Within that content is another offer to download content, except this time its purpose to encourage serious consideration. The process goes on as you tailor content to specific points on the buyer journey.

Facebook retargeting ads can be aligned to these points along the journey that are already defined. For example, you can custom create an audience for all downloads, and then further define it by users that downloaded specific files.

Say Hello to Conversions

Are you ready to stop losing customers during their journey through your funnel? Facebook retargeting ads are one of the best tools for reeling them back in and encouraging their journey with your brand. We’d love to show you how and what it can mean for bottom line. Contact Prestige Pro Media today and speak with one of our digital marketing experts. We’re here to produce results for you.