Facebook retargeting is the art of the gentle nudge. It’s a reminder to a Facebook user of an ad they had some level of interaction with. Facebook retargeting also happens to be the key to your success as a Facebook ad manager. 

Learning how to execute this advertising skill can be the difference maker for your ad campaigns.

Facebook retargeting is also referred to as Facebook remarketing. Whatever you call it, it’s how you get potential customers from casual browsers who show a little bit of interest, to ones who are ready to complete a purchase — or whatever your end goal is. 

No matter what your objective is with your ads, Facebook retargeting could be the secret sauce for your marketing success.

The Facebook landscape

In case you hadn’t heard, Facebook is everywhere. It’s a powerful social media tool that is too big for advertisers to ignore. Whatever demographic you are targeting, chances are Facebook offers a targeted approach to interacting with customers. 

Even though we all already know how huge Facebook is, there are a few statistics that further illustrate this point. 

• It is the third-most visited site in the world
• There are 2.74 billion active users per month
• 63% of the U.S. population over age 12 uses Facebook
• The average Facebook user clicks on an ad 11 times per month
• Facebook is still the second-most downloaded app

Even though Facebook is now 17 years old, which is ancient in the app world, it is as relevant today as it was years ago. All this points to the fact that Facebook is a powerhouse and advertising with this platform (the right way) provides you an avenue to reach customers you might never be able to.

What exactly is Facebook retargeting?

You know why you need to be on Facebook, but what makes you get noticed when you run an ad campaign? How do you stand out among the sea of other businesses vying for attention as people aimlessly scroll?

Facebook remarketing means targeting customers who have already interacted with your ads in some form or another. They could have browsed on your website, scrolled through your mobile app, clicked on the ad you ran in Marketplace, or clicked a link in Instagram Shopping. 

These are only a handful of ways someone could have taken action with your ad. And Facebook retargeting uses this to your advantage.

Why Facebook retargeting is critical

Retargeting those customers who have shown a small amount of interest is critica. With the number of distractions facing everyone, you have to do something to stand out and get attention. 

Think about how easily distracted you are during the day. Of course you want to complete your purchase you left in a shopping cart, but your kids need to be fed, your work completed, your house cleaned, etc.

Not only do you experience this in your own life, but there is data showing how much of an issue this is for sales and marketing online. Even when someone puts an item in their shopping cart, 7 out of 10 abandon the purchase for a variety of reasons. 

The top reasons cited for abandonment are:

• Price is too high/shipping costs too high – 50%
• Site wanted me to create an account – 28%
• Complicated checkout process – 21%

And this is only the tip of the iceberg. 

Retargeting provides the reminder we all need to learn more about your product. Whether it’s asking someone to download, learn more, complete their purchase, or to keep browsing. Whatever your goal is, you can retarget your customer and capture their attention once again. 

It’s frustrating because 7 out of 10 people were interested enough to browse and pick out products, yet something took them away. You’ll never know exactly why, but maybe all the shopper needs is to have their interest piqued a little more.

Think of retargeting ads as your wingman, helping you get the attention of the person you really want to talk to.

Getting started with Facebook retargeting

To start a Facebook remarketing campaign and to see who is reacting with your ads, you have to install Facebook pixel. 

Facebook Pixel is a free analytics tool Facebook provides to you. Once installed, you can track and monitor the various ways others are responding to it.

The pixel literally tracks every interaction with the ad and then you view the information in the Events Manager located in the pixel dashboard.

Once you have the pixel installed, you need to know what to do with the wealth of information at your fingertips. 

Choosing the right strategy with Facebook retargeting

Once you know how to access your insights, now it’s time to retarget these customers and win them back. But this doesn’t mean blasting them with any message. There are different tactics for different goals. 

1. Slow and steady

This approach is when you want to send the gentle nudge. The caring reminder just to say hi. You’re not yelling at them. You’re sending them an ad to tell them “thanks for stopping by” and without additional pressure. It’s really a brand building 

This is great from a brand awareness perspective. This is the slow drip approach, where you want to simply remind your customers who you are. And then one day, when they finally reach the point of purchase in the buying cycle, your business will be top-of-mind for them. 

With this strategy, you’re targeting people who either briefly interacted with your site, either by accident or on purpose. This strategy covers both groups while slowly helping you build name recognition.

2. The product push

Perhaps you don’t want to build brand awareness, but rather focus on one specific product your business is offering. Maybe it’s an ebook, a service plan or package deal you’re offering. Whatever your product is, you want to remind visitors about the specific item. 

If you don’t want to waste your ad dollars on customers who have already made a purchase, then you can exclude those who received your confirmation of purchase. This way, you’re only targeting potential buyers. 

3. The Evergreen approach

You can create retargeting ads where the messaging rarely changes. If you have the same products or services day in and day out. You can also have multiple campaigns, one for each of the unique products you offer.

If your message or offer doesn’t need to be updated frequently, then this approach works. You are targeting potential new customers with the same message over a long and steady period of time. 

Related: How Much Do Facebook Ads Cost?

4. “We miss you”

If you want your retargeting message to be bold and straight to the point, retarget customers who visited your site a few weeks ago, months ago, even years ago. Let the message be how much you miss them and look at what they’ve missed.

This tactic works because it’s targeting the people who visited your site, or interacted with an ad, but then simply got distracted. It’s not that they don’t like you, it’s simply because life happens. By appealing to the personal side with your message about missing them, you can recapture their interest. 

5. Remind a customer of what’s in their cart

Another bold tactic is to send a message clearly reminding someone they left an item in their cart on your site. You’re not beating around the bush with this one. You’re letting them know up front “Hey, you forgot about something!” 

Of course you should tailor the message to sound a little more convincing than that, but simply reminding someone of an item they almost purchased can result in higher conversion rates. 

Your message may be straightforward, only reminding them there is an item in the cart. Or you can change it up and offer a discount code or free shipping to seal the deal. 

Related: 7 Great Facebook Ads Examples and How to Replicate Them

6. A sequence campaign

With extra effort, you can create a sequence campaign and change up the message throughout a period of time. This is an effective strategy to use for the tough customers. The ones who make you really work for the conversion.

A sequence campaign is a series of ads you run over a period of time.

For example, if your business is a shoe store and you’re trying to convince someone to purchase an expensive pair of Italian leather shoes. The first two or three days would feature ads focused on the most expensive leather shoes. But then, after a few days, if someone hasn’t made a purchase, you can tweak the message. Perhaps you show a less expensive, but equally attractive pair.

If the less expensive pair of shoes still doesn’t convince them, you can end the campaign with a discount code or other incentive. This would all take place over a 7 or 8 day campaign. 

Sequence campaigns take a bit of work since you’re changing your messaging throughout. Plus you have to monitor the results each day and then make changes. But the result is a personalized approach that can result in higher conversion rates.

The bottom line on Facebook retargeting

When it comes to Facebook advertising, the key to conversions is retargeting. But retargeting involves strategy. Otherwise, you could end up wasting your hard-earned advertising dollars on ads that don’t recapture someone’s attention. These customers have shown interest once before, now it’s up to your Facebook retargeting campaign to close the deal.
If you’d like to learn how to best run Facebook ads, check out our course here.