Facebook is a powerful tool for attracting customers. Millions of people use Facebook daily and a large portion of the platform’s users follow their favorite brands in order to get customer service assistance, see announcements, and find special coupons or discounts. You can use Facebook to attract an audience, but your main goal should be to attract repeat customers. We’ve put together a 3-step process you can use to attract repeat customers on Facebook using their targeted advertising program.
Step 1: Create a Customer Persona and Outline Your Ideal Customer
Look at your company and ask: “What does my ideal customer look like?” Outline which products your ideal customer may need, and what will attract them to your company to buy it. You should also outline how often your customer will need to purchase your product – if you sell consumables, this will be more often than long-lasting products – however you can attain repeat customers in any niche. Ask yourself:
- Will I sell my products year-round, or seasonally (such as holiday decorations or gardening supplies)?
- Could my customers consider my product a weekly or monthly necessity which they will purchase on a regular basis (such as laundry detergent or cleaning supplies)?
- Will your customers purchase your product on a loose schedule, or will the time between each purchase vary?
By answering these questions, you can more easily define your ideal customer. Use your ideal customer outline to determine which type of Facebook ad is best for your company. The idea is to target your ad at customers who haven’t visited your website or Facebook page in a certain period of time – under the assumption they will need your product again.
Step 2: Use Advanced Matching to Reach More Facebook Users
When Facebook users disable cookies, targeting them with your ads becomes a challenge. Many users do disable their cookies or delete them on a regular basis, so you need to use an alternative targeting method to reach them with your ads.
Facebook has a feature known as “Advanced Matching,” which helps you reach users who don’t allow cookies. According to a study by Facebook, Advanced Matching can result in a “10% increase in attributed conversions and 20% increase in reach of re-targeting campaigns.” Simply put, this means you’ll reach more of your target audience, and you’ll see a slight increase in conversions.
An example of Facebook’s Advanced Matching feature may look like the following;
You can change the variables at play to better suit your company’s needs.
Step 3: Use a Variety of Dynamic Ads
Facebook introduced Dynamic Ads in February of 2015, and they’ve been a huge success for many businesses since their launch. Dynamic ads allow you to more effectively reach customers with specific products from your inventory.
Have you ever scrolled through your Facebook feed to see a small list of products from a page you follow, oftentimes with a “Buy Now” option? These are Dynamic ads, and they can help your company tremendously. They’re very easy to set up – it’s as simple as associating your product feed with the ad program and using the Facebook Retargeting Pixel to set the ads up.
Dynamic ads are among the most successful on any social media platform. Dynamic ads can show in your follower’s newsfeed, in the right hand column of the page, or in the Audience Network.
There are two main ways you can use dynamic ads: to cross-sell, and to up-sell. You can use the ads to cross-sell with your website by directing shoppers to your catalog, or you can use the ads to up-sell by offering bigger or more expensive products on your customers timelines. Both methods are highly effective, and do an excellent job of attracting repeat customers.
How do you use Facebook to create repeat customers? How have Facebook ads helped you establish repeat customers? How have your conversion rates changed since using Facebook ads? Let us know in the comments below!
