Platforms like Instagram and TikTok are getting increasingly popular among younger users, but no one can dispute one simple fact – Facebook is still by far the most dominant social media marketing tool.
Businesses spend more than $1.5 billion on Facebook advertising because the platform offers unparalleled targeting functionalities. If you know that 74% of Facebook users are high-income earners, then it’s clear that the network deserves your attention.
Custom audiences play a particularly important role here as you can exploit the feature in countless ways. Custom audiences refer to the people who already established some sort of contact with your company via website, mobile app, email, or any other communication channel.
Such users are on the brink of becoming your full-time customers, but they need the extra push to engage with the brand. If you don’t know how to take advantage of it, keep reading to learn 10 ways to create Facebook custom audiences that convert every time. Let’s check it out!
1. Start with Website Custom Audience Options
If you are new to Facebook custom audiences, we recommend starting with website visitor targeting. It’s a common solution that concentrates on all website visitors by default, but you can – and should – customize the program in order to make it more productive.
Facebook Business Manager gives you all sorts of customization features, so you can focus on audience indicators that really matter to your company at a given moment. For example, it is possible to target custom audiences based on their time spent on your site or a specific webpage.
Pro tip: Customize the audience based on their position in the sales funnel. Visitors at the top of the funnel are still looking for generic guidelines only, while verified leads expect you to display a specific offer.
2. Tailor Campaigns According to Search Intent
Another way to tailor custom audiences is to use Google Analytics for user research. The thing we love the most is to focus on pages that actually drive conversions and pair them with advertising campaigns.
You can find these pages in Google Analytics ? Conversions ? Goals ? Goal URLs
As soon as you notice common browsing patterns and conversion opportunities, you can focus on users who seem to be interested in your products. By definition, these are the people who read your posts, analyze products, and explore your pricing plans.
Pro tip: You can create goals for multiple criteria. For instance, it is possible to target visitors who interact with two sections of your website such as the blog and product pages.
3. Choose Lookalike Audiences Based on Your Custom Audience
Custom and lookalike audiences are different things, but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t augment each other. The tactic is particularly valuable if you are trying to expand the customer base and approach new buyers.
When you select the source of the lookalike audience, you can simply set the most relevant custom audience segment. That way, Facebook ads will appear in front of the users who are highly likely to behave like the members of your custom audience group.
Pro tip: In order to boost conversions, we suggest selecting the audience size of 3% or less.
4. Use Additional Criteria for Precise Targeting
Some marketers don’t have fun with Facebook custom audiences because they target too broad audience groups, but you can overcome the obstacle using additional criteria for ultra-precise targeting.
Let’s say you are trying to reach students who want to buy custom essay. In this case, you can specify details such as age, language, and probably even locations. After that, you can target potential customers interested in your competitors, too.
There is also the option of excluding certain audience segments. For example, you can eliminate PhD students from the custom audience group or low-income students who cannot afford to hire a professional writing agency.
The number of options is limitless, so do your best to set the right parameters as it will help you boost conversions.
Pro tip: Some brands find it useful to filter consumers based on their education levels. If you are targeting a highly specific group of clients, you can use the same tactic.
5. Create Video Custom Audiences
Video content is dominating Facebook and other social media networks, so you can concentrate on video consumers and make them a special custom audience segment.
This tactic is very useful if you want to design a two-fold sales funnel on Facebook. Namely, you can pinpoint users who watched your awareness-focused videos and then retarget the same people with direct video offers or free trials.
Of course, the point is to target prospects who watched at least 25% or 50% of your video because it makes all the difference between random viewers and verified leads.
Pro tip: Users who watch the entire video are likely to convert, so we recommend targeting people who have watched at least 95% of your video.
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6. Use Custom Audiences for Cross-Selling and Upselling
Are you aware of the fact that 65% of a company’s business comes from existing customers? Loyal consumers are the way to keep your business profitable in the long run, so you should not neglect cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
If you are selling services, perhaps you could build custom audiences to try and upsell annual plans instead of monthly packages. Another option is to target the same group of users and provide them with complementary offers based on previous purchases.
Pro tip: You can also focus on pages and/or products not found in website searches. That way, you can target users with ads that offer similar products or SKUs.
7. Insert LinkedIn Connections to Facebook Custom Audiences
B2B marketers love this function because it enables them to integrate LinkedIn and Facebook effortlessly. It’s a quick process with a few simple steps: Go to LinkedIn, select My Network, go to Connections, and click the gear icon.
One of the options you’ll find there is to Export Connections. Your LinkedIn connections will add to the Facebook Custom Audience along with their emails and other contact details.
Pro tip: Make sure to segment your LinkedIn contacts even further according to additional criteria such as the seniority level.
8. Think About Location Preferences
A lot of businesses with brick and mortar stores are interested in users’ real locations and they want to customize their ads accordingly. You can do the same thing by optimizing custom audiences so as to target precisely defined location preferences.
Although the strategy limits the reach of your ads, it can make miracles for companies eager to nurture relationships with local consumers. It’s a matter of building trust and loyalty, but it can also earn you a greater conversion rate if you craft the message properly.
Pro tip: Create event-related ads rather than product-oriented content if you want to boost participation and build relationships with the local community.
9. Retarget Users Who Watch Your Live Videos
If live videos are the best thing you have to offer on Facebook, you might as well exploit this fact by retargeting users who consume your content regularly.
Adding frequent viewers to the custom audience list will drastically increase the conversion odds. You can find this option at Ads Manager ? Audiences ? Custom Audience ? Engagement on Facebook ? Videos
Pro tip: Try to reach out to users who watched and commented on your live video because they are probably interested in your content and offers.
10. Target Active Email Subscribers
Email marketing is a powerful weapon when you pair it with Facebook custom audiences.
The idea is to discover highly engaged subscribers who read your emails and perhaps even follow your call to action from time to time.
An email automation tool such as MailChimp or similar will help you to identify email subscribers interested in your business. After that, you can use Facebook custom audiences and craft ads to promote a contest or a special offer.
It doesn’t have to work every time, but it’s enough to slightly grow conversions and make a big thing for your company.
Pro tip: Once again, it is essential to use the same sort of email segmentation and transfer it to Facebook Ads targeting. It will make your ads more relevant and help you to maximize conversions with the minimum reach.
The Bottom Line
If you don’t know how to turn prospects into verified leads, we encourage you to test Facebook custom audiences. We discussed the 10 most important targeting strategies:
- Start with Website Custom Audience Options
- Tailor Campaigns According to Search Intent
- Choose Lookalike Audiences Based on Your Custom Audience
- Use Additional Criteria for Precise Targeting
- Create Video Custom Audiences
- Use Custom Audiences for Cross-Selling and Upselling
- Insert LinkedIn Connections to Facebook Custom Audiences
- Think About Location Preferences
- Retarget Users Who Watch Your Live Videos
- Target Active Email Subscribers
Using the 10 tips we mentioned above, you can grow business efficiency and maximize the conversion rate through Facebook. What stops you from doing so?
About the Author
Paul White is a digital marketer and a part-time blogger at the best essay writing service UK. His favorite topics include social media, email campaigns, and digital advertising. Paul is a communicative and curious person with a serious passion to meet new places and cultures. You can find him on Facebook.
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