How to Run a Results-Driven Facebook Retargeting Campaign

Most people use their mobile devices to browse products and services. They may find something they’re interested in, but they may not make a purchase immediately. Similarly, some consumers may see your brand but decide to compare prices with other brands before making a purchase.

In both cases, you have potential buyers unwilling to convert. At least not yet. 

That’s where Facebook retargeting comes in. Facebook retargeting ads help you sell your products by targeting people who have already expressed an interest in your brand based on their online behavior. Since they have already expressed an interest in you, they are more likely to convert.

So, how do you launch a Facebook retargeting campaign? Read on to find out.

How to get started 

Any business can utilize Facebook retargeting to find people who have previously browsed or purchased from their website, mobile app, marketplace, or another online platform. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Set up the Facebook Custom Audiences Pixel

The Facebook custom audiences pixel is a small snippet of code that you copy and paste into the code of your Facebook Business page. This code tracks the actions people take when they engage with your brand. The code will give you information on the people who checked your Facebook ads before proceeding to your website to check products or make a purchase. 

You can also set up the Pixel on your website to track site visitors so that you can reach out to them later. You can find detailed instructions on how to set up Facebook Pixels here.

Some of the information tracked includes the number of people who add an item to their shopping cart to make a purchase. You can access this information on Facebook’s Events Manager and use it for retargeting the customers abandoning their carts.

2. Identify your target audience 

A successful Facebook retargeting campaign requires you to identify the parameters to categorize your target audience. 

The standard parameters are:

• Cart abandoners: Cart abandoners are those visitors who put things on their virtual cart but don't complete the purchase. Retargeting cart abandoners increases online sales by 20% and reduces cart abandonment by 6.5%. 
• New site visitors: You can retarget new site visitors with products they looked at while on your site.
• Previous site visitors: Customers who have purchased from you are likely to do so again. Retarget them by alerting them of other product offers and discounts.

Custom audiences are essential if you want to use social media to build your brand. Go to the ads center and proceed to the audience section of Facebook Business Manager. Click on the create audience section and, after that, the custom audience feature. You'll see the audience creation button. 

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The next step is to give your audience a name (and a description if you like). Click on create an audience. When you finish setting up the custom audience, you can select it during ad set creation so you can reach this audience with the right ad. 

After identifying your target audience, set your Facebook key performance indicators before starting your campaign. We’ll talk about Facebook KPIs later. 

4 tips for running a retargeting ad campaign

Writing better ad copy is crucial. However, you must do more than that for your retargeting ads and campaign to succeed. Below are four tips you should follow for a result-driven Facebook retargeting campaign:

1. Leverage dynamic product ads

Dynamic product ads display specific products based on what a potential customer has already shown interest in. Let’s say you went to an eCommerce store and browsed through ladies' shoes. The store could retarget you with the exact or related shoes you looked at. 

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Unlike ordinary Facebook ads, dynamic ads automatically use images and details from your data feed for those services or products you’d like to advertise. 

You can set up a dynamic product ad by going to business settings on your Facebook Business page. Select data sources and catalog. Choose a catalog, followed by how you want to manage your catalog. 

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Select the pixels you want to connect to your catalog and save them. You can also create a dynamic ad template. The template lets you choose whether you want to create a single product catalog or multiple products at once.

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Choose the custom audience and decide which pixels you want to target. 

The ads will automatically run once you complete the setup.

2. Offer a lead magnet

A lead magnet is a free item or service you give your audience in exchange for contact details. e.g., a trial version of a software tool, ebook or miniguide, product samples, or trials. You need those contact details to run an effective email marketing campaign. 

You can run retargeting Facebook ads offering a lead magnet:

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In the example above, the software company PandaDoc sets up a Facebook retargeting campaign that uses a 14-day trial of their product as a lead magnet. The ad even comes with a video that complements the written content. The video shows how easy it is to complete paperwork and send it to clients using their product. 

When you click the sign-up icon, you’ll be taken to a landing page where you’ll be required to input your email address to sign up. 

Once you have your audience’s email addresses, you can send them emails that can help you convert them into paying customers. In the PandaDoc example, they can generate a sale in another way. The clients can move to a paid plan if the free trial delivers. 

3. Cross-sell and upsell 

Cross-selling and up-selling are two bottom-of-the-funnel strategies you can use to retarget warm audiences on Facebook. 

Cross-selling entails selling a related or complementary product to your customer. Conversely, upselling is persuading a customer to purchase something more expensive from you. 

Facebook lets you cross-sell and upsell. You’ll have to set up two product sets within your campaign. One campaign should have the products to be included; the next campaign should be for retargeting. 

Follow the steps below to set up your campaign:

• Go to ad creation. 
• At the campaign level, select catalog sales as your objective. Next, select the catalog you want to promote. 
• Choose the product set you want to be viewed in the product section. 
• Scroll the audience section and select whether you want to upsell products or cross-sell.

Here’s how that looks:

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Then add a look-back window for product views. Now all you need to do is pick the product set to be used for retargeting and finish setting up your ad.

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Check out this ad from the Green Blender company, which sells smoothies. They can use this ad to upsell and retarget an audience that already bought a pre-portioned ingredient packet from them, for example. They even offer a discount to increase their chances of generating a sale. 

4. Market the product launches

If people can take the time to check what you’re selling on Facebook or your website, chances are they would like to know when your new products go live.

You can set up product launches using a Facebook retargeting campaign. This campaign can lead to repeat purchases. 

Here’s an example of a product launch ad from Razer, a gaming lifestyle brand:

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Razer may use this to retarget a customer who just went to their website to browse products. In the ad, they communicate the value of their new product to convince the audience to buy. 

Going live

You need to set your budget first before going live. Facebook lets you start with any amount for your campaigns. You can start with $5 a week or as much as $50,000. 

The important thing is for you to monitor your campaigns as soon as you go live. So, go back to the Facebook KPIs you set before the start of your campaign and see if you’re meeting those. Also, analyze your sales figures against the ad dates to spot the changes in revenue. When you monitor your campaigns, you can determine the changes you need to make for these campaigns to yield better results.

Facebook also lets you expand your campaigns for the retargeting strategies that work for your business. You can do that by:

• Increasing your budget 
• Including more products in your campaign. 
• Segmenting your audience further. 

Keep an eye out for things you can improve, like creating the correct copy or a compelling lead magnet that your target audience will find irresistible. 

Remember also to focus on social media optimization to boost your marketing efforts. The more you drive quality web traffic to your site, the higher the likelihood of more conversions.

Conclusion 

Through retargeting ads, Facebook can help your business reach customers (or potential customers) who have already expressed an interest in your brand. These are the people, after all, who are likely to convert. 

To start your campaign, just set up your Facebook Pixel and create custom audiences. You can retarget your audience in many ways. Use lead magnets or cross-sell and upsell. You can also use dynamic product ads. Once your campaign is running, check the performance of your retargeting ads against your KPIs so you can make the necessary adjustments to improve your campaigns. Then scale your campaigns.

With an effective results-driven Facebook retargeting ad campaign, you can quickly drive more conversions your way. Good luck!