Social media retargeting
Social media retargeting refers to the practice of delivering personalized advertisements through social media platforms to individuals who have previously engaged with your brand.
The occurrence could have taken place after individuals clicked on your ad, visited your website, added items to their cart, or made previous purchases. The main objective is to reconnect with individuals who are acquainted with your brand and may have displayed some inclination towards purchasing your products.
How social media retargeting works
Retargeting on social media functions through the installation of a pixel provided by the social media platform onto your website, which enables the collection of visitor data. Primarily, this data emphasizes the manner in which visitors engage with various pages on your site. Subsequently, this information is utilized to present customized advertisements based on these interactions, resulting in greater relevance for individual users and enhancing the likelihood of successful conversions.
If a person has been looking at the men’s watches category, you can show them a Facebook retargeting ad that features popular watches from that category.
The ad can offer an exclusive discount for specific products if customers examine them closely. Alternatively, if someone adds an item to their cart but does not complete the purchase, the ad will serve as a reminder about the item left behind in the cart.
Why retarget your audience on social media
From the current observations, it is evident that social media retargeting ads can bring notable advantages for businesses. However, how can your brand specifically gain benefits from social media retargeting? Here, we will examine a few key reasons that highlight the importance of retargeting your audience on social media.
Increase the number of conversions generated from the drive.
At present, social commerce is extremely popular, as an increasing number of individuals utilize social media for discovering purchasing ideas or even carrying out direct purchases. In reality, a majority of 82% of shoppers have found a product on social media and proceeded to make a direct purchase on their mobile devices.
By effectively improving your conversion rates, it can be concluded that the channel influences purchase decisions and drives conversions when using social media to target your audience with tailored ads.
When using social media retargeting, it is important to remember that the ads should specifically cater to the needs, interests, and buying behaviors of your audience. This personalized approach ensures that the ads displayed are highly relevant to them, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
Encourage customers to make further purchases
It is possible that you have had many customers who did not become repeat customers. This may not be due to a negative experience or dislike for your brand. It could simply be because they forgot about your brand, and a simple reminder is all that is needed to re-engage them.
Social media retargeting ads play a significant role in ensuring that you remain in the forefront of the minds of previous customers by reminding them of your presence.
One effective strategy to attract previous customers is by utilizing retargeting ads on social media. These ads can incorporate enticing discounts and offers, thereby urging them to revisit your platform. Moreover, leveraging their browsing habits and previous purchases enables you to showcase new products in categories that align with their preferences. By tailoring the ad to their specific needs and interests, the likelihood of them returning is increased.
Minimize the occurrence of customers leaving their carts without completing a purchase.
According to the most recent shopping cart abandonment statistics, approximately 80% of mobile shoppers in the U.K. and the U.S. who add items to their carts do not complete their purchases.
There could be various reasons why individuals choose to do this, ranging from unforeseen shipping expenses to delayed delivery times. Certain individuals may even abandon their shopping carts because the website insists on creating an account.
However, some individuals might just be saving the items with the intention of purchasing them at a later point in time. According to the aforementioned statistics, approximately one-third of shoppers in the U.K. eventually make their purchase from the same website after some time has passed. Nevertheless, it is important to note that not all shoppers will remember to return and finalize their purchase.
Social media retargeting proves to be a successful method for reminding shoppers about their remaining items in carts and decreasing abandonment rates. Additionally, certain retailers may enhance the offer by providing discount codes to encourage shoppers to return and complete their purchases.
Social media retargeting strategies
1. Target specific audiences
It is crucial to ensure that the customer experience aligns with the preferences of a particular audience, regardless of the advertising campaign. For instance, it would be unwise to present a hamburger advertisement to a vegetarian individual.
To come up with effective social media retargeting strategies, marketers must meticulously consider the specific group of customers they are targeting in terms of what creative elements (messaging and imagery) will be appealing to them.
Instead of targeting all website visitors in a general manner, consider dividing the audiences into separate groups based on their interests. This will enable you to tailor your messages and advertisements to suit the preferences of each specific group. On Facebook, brands have the option to create a custom audience by selecting individuals who:
In order to maintain the same meaning while thinking step by step, the text “Visit their website” could be rephrased as “Go to their website.”
Make sure to visit the designated pages.
Only go to certain pages and avoid others.
If it has been a certain amount of time since you last visited.
Please rephrase the text below while maintaining the same meaning. Do not add new information or remove any information, or use a combination of the four options. Original Text: “To bake a cake, you first preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then, in a mixing bowl, you combine the flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix the ingredients until well combined. Next, pour the batter into a greased cake pan and place it in the preheated oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Finally, remove the cake from the oven and let it cool before frosting.” Possible rephrased text: 1. The first step in baking a cake is to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 2. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. 3. Mix the ingredients thoroughly until well combined. 4. After that, pour the batter into a greased cake pan and place it in the preheated oven. 5. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 6. Lastly, remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool before applying frosting.
By providing highly relevant content to audiences, you can enhance the customer experience. The experience becomes more personalized as the targeting becomes more specific. As a result, ad engagement increases and your bottom line receives a boost.
Retargeting ad examples
To run retargeting ads successfully, it is crucial to ensure relevance to the viewer as there are various types available.
In the case of an ecommerce example, when someone visits a product page for sunglasses, it is optimal to display ads with sunglass choices for that person. Similarly, if a different visitor buys jeans, it would be more effective to present them with an ad for complementary belts. Additional examples of retargeting ads involve:
Deal seekers can be targeted with ads that offer discounts if they have previously visited a clearance section.
Target ads featuring new or complementary products towards past customers who have already made a purchase.
To those who left during checkout, display the contents of their cart.
2. Simplify ad messaging + A/B test
Creating eye-catching advertisements with enticing calls-to-action is the key to avoiding ignored ads. The goal is to make advertising memorable by using minimal copy and simple design, allowing the audience to quickly absorb the message and take action.
In order to maintain the same meaning, the text can be rephrased as follows: A continuous process of optimization and experimentation is necessary for digital marketing, as it is not simply a set-it-and-forget-it exercise. A/B testing is a method used in this process. It involves creating a duplicate of an ad or piece of content with one alteration. The original (test A) is then compared with the duplicate (test B) to determine which yields better results. Elements commonly modified in A/B testing include:
Subject lines in emails.
Please rephrase the following ad copy while maintaining the same meaning, without adding or removing any information: “Experience the thrill of skydiving with us as we take you on an unforgettable adventure high above the ground. Our expert instructors will guide you every step of the way, ensuring your safety and comfort throughout the entire experience. Feel the rush of adrenaline as you leap from the plane and freefall through the air, taking in breathtaking views of the landscape below. Whether you’re an experienced skydiver or a first-timer, our dedicated team is here to provide you with an exhilarating and safe skydiving experience. Book your adventure with us today and make memories that will last a lifetime.”
Buttons that prompt users to take a specific action
Images should be thought about step by step.
In order to effectively implement A/B testing in your campaigns, it is essential to create two versions of an ad and run them simultaneously until a definite winner is determined. A/B testing plays a crucial role in the success of retargeting strategies.
First, pause the loser and then create a new version of the winner to continue improving gradually. This continuous improvement helps to gain insights into your audience’s response to specific messages and enables you to make educated refinements to your ad creative.
3. Use multiple methods to build custom audiences
Without constructing an ideal customer profile (ICP), it is impossible for any marketing strategy, including a social media retargeting campaign, to achieve true success.
ICPs are essential in B2B marketing and should also be employed by direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands to gain a better understanding of their target audience. ICPs cover various aspects like customer demographics, geographics, preferred marketing channels, and pain points.
When you have a comprehensive understanding of your target customers, you can effectively utilize data to tailor ad campaigns. For instance, brands can utilize customer data to form audience segments and deliver ads that address a specific problem or concern.
Listed below are a few examples of how to acquire data from reliable sources in order to create custom audience segments.
To enhance audience engagement, improve the customer experience, and increase customer lifetime value (LTV), it is recommended to export customer information from your CRM and create lists using phone numbers, email addresses, and other identifiers. This enables personalized messaging based on customer behavior, as mentioned earlier.
By creating custom audiences, brands can target specific groups of users who have interacted with their social profiles, posts, and ads. Facebook provides the opportunity to build audiences based on various behaviors, such as engaging with any ad, following the brand’s Facebook page or Instagram profile, or sending messages. These options can be used to conduct tests and identify the audiences that demonstrate the highest level of engagement.
4. Use smart software to track and analyze retargeting efforts
Managing ad campaigns and tracking retargeting efforts across various channels or campaigns can be a challenging and time-consuming task. However, utilizing business growth platforms that utilize data and AI-driven technology can be beneficial in effectively managing ad spend and minimizing costs.
In addition, utilizing the data-oriented method of these platforms simplifies the process of monitoring, evaluating, and consistently enhancing social media retargeting campaigns to achieve vital marketing goals. This eliminates the need to spend time harmonizing reports from different sources and dashboards.
5. Time campaigns based on your goals
To prevent ad fatigue and achieve your objectives, it is crucial to consider the timing of your campaigns. This requires a careful balance that depends on factors such as your audience, offer, and desired results. Nonetheless, there are instances where it is beneficial to increase the intensity. For instance, when running a campaign with a time-limited offer, it is advisable to display ads to interested audiences without any frequency limitations.
