9 Reasons to Leverage Facebook Retargeting Ads
Updated: May 29, 2020
by BROCKTON CONWELL
CEO at Kintsugi Digital
CEO at Kintsugi Digital
"Making money on the back end of brand awareness efforts will unlock greater potential to scale revenue with more aggressive budgets."
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First and foremost, Facebook is in the business of providing a great user experience on their platform. Based on individual interests and behaviors on (and off) Facebook, the algorithm serves content likely to be highly relevant and enjoyable to users. That means that users see advertisements based on Facebook Pages they like, websites they interact with, videos they watch, and even products they've purchased in the past. 🛒
Brands using Facebook Advertising have exclusive access to this data collected from their tracking pixel. The opportunity is simply unparalleled—and still underpriced compared with traditional advertising channels. It blows my mind that some websites still don't even have the Facebook Pixel installed.
(If this is you, please stop reading and install it!)
There are two primary functions of the Facebook ad platform:
Many advertisers focus their efforts on the first without investing a dime in retargeting. This is absurd, because the real money is made on the back end! 💰
In a lot of ways, Facebook advertising is a bit like an upside down iceberg. Top-of-funnel ads represent a majority of the impression share but usually produce the lowest Return on Ad Spend (RoAS). However, if a brand has a full-funnel strategy in place, users who engage with top-of-funnel ads will be served more relevant ad creative and messaging. This warmed up audience is much more like to become a customer, so marketing investment here is more likely to drive conversions.
Let's discuss some specific opportunities for leveraging the power of retargeting in maximizing the profitability of an eCommerce business:
Brands using Facebook Advertising have exclusive access to this data collected from their tracking pixel. The opportunity is simply unparalleled—and still underpriced compared with traditional advertising channels. It blows my mind that some websites still don't even have the Facebook Pixel installed.
(If this is you, please stop reading and install it!)
There are two primary functions of the Facebook ad platform:
- Brand Awareness — reaching new people who may not have heard of you (yet)
- Retargeting — reaching users who have already interacted with you at some point
Many advertisers focus their efforts on the first without investing a dime in retargeting. This is absurd, because the real money is made on the back end! 💰
In a lot of ways, Facebook advertising is a bit like an upside down iceberg. Top-of-funnel ads represent a majority of the impression share but usually produce the lowest Return on Ad Spend (RoAS). However, if a brand has a full-funnel strategy in place, users who engage with top-of-funnel ads will be served more relevant ad creative and messaging. This warmed up audience is much more like to become a customer, so marketing investment here is more likely to drive conversions.
Let's discuss some specific opportunities for leveraging the power of retargeting in maximizing the profitability of an eCommerce business:
1. Recapture a recently engaged audience
Individuals rarely make a purchase on their first visit to a brand’s website or social profile.
Serving retargeting content to facilitate a return path keeps them in the purchase funnel.
Some broad examples of recently engaged audiences include:
Individuals rarely make a purchase on their first visit to a brand’s website or social profile.
Serving retargeting content to facilitate a return path keeps them in the purchase funnel.
Some broad examples of recently engaged audiences include:
- Recent visitors to a brand's website
- Individuals who have recently engaged a with a Business Profile on Instagram
- Individuals who "Like" a Facebook Page
Identifying multiple layers within an engaged audience can help to keep marketing copy super relevant. For example, someone who has viewed multiple product pages on a website may be closer to making a purchase than someone who has only been to just the home page. The individual who has viewed multiple products may benefit from an ad that reminds them of free shipping, while the home page viewer could benefit more from a video ad reviewing some product features and benefits.
2. Bring back cart abandoners to complete their purchase
eCommerce brands frequently see cart abandonment rates of 70-90%. 😨
The low-hanging fruit here is often easiest to push across the finish line, resulting in high Return on Ad Spend. In fact, we rarely see a RoAS of less than 10X for Kintsugi Digital client's cart abandonment retargeting campaigns. Ads this deep in the funnel work well in tandem with other cart recovery efforts via Email Marketing and SMS channels, creating an omni-channel experience to remind "almost customers" to pull out their credit cards.
eCommerce brands frequently see cart abandonment rates of 70-90%. 😨
The low-hanging fruit here is often easiest to push across the finish line, resulting in high Return on Ad Spend. In fact, we rarely see a RoAS of less than 10X for Kintsugi Digital client's cart abandonment retargeting campaigns. Ads this deep in the funnel work well in tandem with other cart recovery efforts via Email Marketing and SMS channels, creating an omni-channel experience to remind "almost customers" to pull out their credit cards.
3. Cross-sell to existing customers
Re-acquisition is important for increasing average Customer Lifetime Value.
The opportunities to cross-sell or up-sell can take many forms:
Re-acquisition is important for increasing average Customer Lifetime Value.
The opportunities to cross-sell or up-sell can take many forms:
- Dynamic Product Ads that show recent customers products similar to the items they purchased
- Promotional messaging related to new offers, flash sales, Black Friday deals, etc.
- Highlighting new product releases (especially when similar to products a customer has already purchased)
4. Inherently diversify your ad placements
The Facebook family of apps and services includes Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network—a placement that distributes ads on thousands of additional websites and apps. So—while users spend an average of 58 minutes per day on Facebook alone, it's important to appreciate the holistic effectiveness of multiple placements. Retargeted visitors who see a brand's ads on Instagram, within their Facebook news feed, and placed throughout their favorite mobile apps are inherently exposed to a variety of ad creatives, each with an opportunity to offer new information that may help solidify a purchase decision.
We use the Breakdown tool in Ads Manager to dive deep into data for each ad placement. This offers important insights into opportunities to optimize RoAS.
The Facebook family of apps and services includes Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network—a placement that distributes ads on thousands of additional websites and apps. So—while users spend an average of 58 minutes per day on Facebook alone, it's important to appreciate the holistic effectiveness of multiple placements. Retargeted visitors who see a brand's ads on Instagram, within their Facebook news feed, and placed throughout their favorite mobile apps are inherently exposed to a variety of ad creatives, each with an opportunity to offer new information that may help solidify a purchase decision.
We use the Breakdown tool in Ads Manager to dive deep into data for each ad placement. This offers important insights into opportunities to optimize RoAS.
5. Overcome sales objections
Shoppers don’t purchase right away because they often have reservations.
Serving ads that address unique selling points, mention a money-back guarantee, or offer free shipping can remove those barriers to purchase.
Shoppers don’t purchase right away because they often have reservations.
Serving ads that address unique selling points, mention a money-back guarantee, or offer free shipping can remove those barriers to purchase.
6. Create FOMO (Fear of Missing Out!)
If a user enters the retargeting funnel, that indicates they have some interest in the store or products.
Sharing photos and videos focusing on the specific pain points a product solves helps to ensure a potential customer doesn’t want to miss out.
One tactic we used to produce a 26X Return on Ad Spend for an agency account was to deploy an unboxing video ad for cart abandoners. This showed "almost customers" what they could expect if they purchased.
If a user enters the retargeting funnel, that indicates they have some interest in the store or products.
Sharing photos and videos focusing on the specific pain points a product solves helps to ensure a potential customer doesn’t want to miss out.
One tactic we used to produce a 26X Return on Ad Spend for an agency account was to deploy an unboxing video ad for cart abandoners. This showed "almost customers" what they could expect if they purchased.
7. Leverage reviews as social proof
Sharing other customer experiences (especially ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5-star reviews) to warm traffic can remove barriers to purchase and facilitate opportunity for others to share their experience in the ad comments. 81% of consumers trust the advice of friends and family over the marketing language of a business, so social proof in the form of authentic customer reviews naturally builds buyer confidence.
Our technology partner, Yotpo, offers built-in technology to facilitate review capture, making it easy to build up a library of great product reviews for use in marketing copy—both in Facebook ads and elsewhere. Yotpo's integration with Ads Manager makes it easy to incorporate UGC (user-generated content) into ad creative.
Sharing other customer experiences (especially ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5-star reviews) to warm traffic can remove barriers to purchase and facilitate opportunity for others to share their experience in the ad comments. 81% of consumers trust the advice of friends and family over the marketing language of a business, so social proof in the form of authentic customer reviews naturally builds buyer confidence.
Our technology partner, Yotpo, offers built-in technology to facilitate review capture, making it easy to build up a library of great product reviews for use in marketing copy—both in Facebook ads and elsewhere. Yotpo's integration with Ads Manager makes it easy to incorporate UGC (user-generated content) into ad creative.
8. Search engine optimization (SEO) benefits
Search engines like Google look for social signals to rank websites. Consistent activity and amplification of content with ads can influence search engine rankings.
Search engines like Google look for social signals to rank websites. Consistent activity and amplification of content with ads can influence search engine rankings.
9. Most importantly: budgets are easily justified through ROI
Retargeted traffic is already aware of the brand being advertised, so the focus should be on generating a positive return on investment.
Data-driven attribution can measure results and RoAS in real-time. We see an average of 3-8X return on Facebook Ads for our agency clients.
Developing a strategy for a personalized customer journey is essential in cutting through the noise of other advertisers. This mindset can transform a media buying approach—offering insights for each step of the eCommerce funnel. Of course, this should play into a brand's entire holistic, omni-channel experience. It's equally important to monitor performance from retargeting and measure results against comparable media buys on other platforms like Google, YouTube, and Amazon.
Making money on the back end of brand awareness efforts will unlock greater potential to scale revenue with more aggressive budgets, justified by great ROI.
Retargeted traffic is already aware of the brand being advertised, so the focus should be on generating a positive return on investment.
Data-driven attribution can measure results and RoAS in real-time. We see an average of 3-8X return on Facebook Ads for our agency clients.
Developing a strategy for a personalized customer journey is essential in cutting through the noise of other advertisers. This mindset can transform a media buying approach—offering insights for each step of the eCommerce funnel. Of course, this should play into a brand's entire holistic, omni-channel experience. It's equally important to monitor performance from retargeting and measure results against comparable media buys on other platforms like Google, YouTube, and Amazon.
Making money on the back end of brand awareness efforts will unlock greater potential to scale revenue with more aggressive budgets, justified by great ROI.
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