4 EFFECTIVE Facebook Retargeting Strategies

Facebook retargeting campaigns aren’t something you’ll want to miss out on. They’re a vital part of any successful Facebook marketing strategy, and they bring a ton of benefits.

Retargeting can actually cost less than a regular campaign, yield a higher conversion rate, and overlooking these benefits is a mistake you don’t want to make. With the Facebook Ads platform, you’ve got the tools you need to run a successful retargeting campaign at your disposal.

Perhaps you don’t know where to begin, that’s fine! This post is going to explain what exactly it means to retarget on Facebook, and the best strategies to use.

What is Facebook Retargeting?

Retargeting, otherwise known as Facebook remarketing, is a way to show ads to people who didn’t engage with your business the first time around.

Say you run a campaign targeting ages 18-24 and you find that while your ads didn’t get a lot of conversions, there was a significant amount of engagement. In that case, you might consider a Facebook retargeting campaign.

It’s clear that a lot of people were considering your ads’ offerings, but something stopped them from going all the way. Retargeting is your second chance. You can target the people who were close to committing and see if you’re able to get them over the finish line.

Still not sure what retargeting is? Have you ever browsed Amazon’s products but never actually bought anything, only to have an email in your inbox days later reminding you that “you’d forgot something”? Congrats, you’ve been retargeted. On Facebook this same tactic can be applied with the ads you run.

Facebook Custom Audiences

On Facebook Ads, retargeting is more commonly known as Custom Audiences. Marketers can create lists of users who have visited your website through a Facebook ad, who have used your mobile app in some way, or who fall into a list of emails, mobile phone numbers, or Facebook account IDs.

Facebook Retargeting Strategies

There are plenty of Facebook retargeting strategies, but we’ve narrowed down the list to just 4 of the strategies we’ve seen work best.

1. Retarget a Specific Action

Customization is very important in marketing. Customers know a broad ad when they see one, and they can appreciate an ad that is directly relatable to them.

Here’s a simple example. Customers click on your ad, check out your website, and maybe 15% of them add something to their basket. A massive 75% of those customers abandon their carts and don’t complete the purchase. Of course, Facebook retargeting is perfect for reminding those people of their previous interest.

So, when you’re creating a retargeting ad, you don’t want to be too broad. You could narrow your audience down into even smaller groups based on what they put in their basket. If you sell clothes, you can have an ad campaign with different ads that separately target people who had hoodies, shoes, or beanies in their basket.

This way, the ads are extremely specific to the user and they don’t see it as “just another ad”.

2. Don’t Forget to Target Past Customers

Retargeting campaigns aren’t just about the ones that got away, you can go after your past customers too. Those people who ordered from you once, but you never heard from again. Or even the loyal customers who return and place an order every so often.

The trick is to not do this too soon. If you had a bunch of orders last week, targeting those customers with Facebook retargeting isn’t going to go well. Give it at least a month, but it’s best if you give it 2-3 months before reminding them to come back.

What’s great about this strategy is that you already know of their interest. They bought from you before so there’s no issue of trust, and they’ve dealt with you before. There’s no reason for them to contemplate whether or not it’s safe to buy from you.

Again, you can get specific with this strategy. Target customers with separate ads based on what type of product they bought and make them feel like a valued customer.

3. Try Lead Generation Ads

This is a relatively new thing you can do directly through Facebook Ads. Lead generation has never been the easiest thing, but Facebook makes it a whole lot easier. It also goes hand in hand with Facebook retargeting.

Think of this as a stepping stone between the customer’s first interaction and them actually making a purchase. Although they aren’t paying for anything, you’re getting valuable information (e.g. an email address and their name) whilst building a consumer relationship with them.

So, retarget people offering a free eBook, guide, or any useful resource. You know they’re interested, so give them a little something for free. This will encourage them to engage with the ad and rekindle their interest in whatever you’re offering.

As an added benefit, you’re going to have their email address from running a lead gen campaign. This list of data can be used in future retargeting campaigns, whether it’s on Facebook or an email retargeting campaign.

4. Track the Retargeting Data

Tracking data is a huge part of any marketing campaign, and this goes for Facebook retargeting too.

You’re going to be sending out a different type of Facebook ad. To begin with, things won’t be clear and you’ll have no idea what retargeting ads will appeal to people. Just like you’re doing with your other Facebook ad campaigns, start keeping track of your data.

Split test ads to see what’s going to work for retargeting, figure out the things that appeal most to your retargeted audience, and find out which retargeting audience is the most responsive. Going back to our earlier example, maybe people who added hoodies to their shopping carts engage with retargeting ads more than anyone else.

The data you get from your ad campaigns is insanely valuable so don’t forget to store and learn from it.

Conclusion

Now that you’re equipped with a better understanding of Facebook retargeting and how to make better use of it, you can branch out your efforts in a different direction.

These retargeting strategies are only part of the battle, putting them into practice is the other. If you’ve not got any past experience running a retargeting campaign, or learning online marketing as a whole is new territory to you, then don’t let it overwhelm you.

Your best bet is to get in touch with a Facebook Ads agency like us, KonvertLab. We’ve been strategizing Facebook campaigns for years and know what works. Book a call with our team and start putting our skills to good use, benefiting your business in ways you can’t imagine!

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