More than a quarter of the world uses Facebook. In the US alone, Facebook has over 180 million monthly active users.
With Instagram under its wing, a massive userbase, unmatched targeting capabilities, a broad extended ad network and more, it should come as no surprise that Facebook's platforms are great for marketing.
Regarding product marketing specifically, Facebook’s dynamic product ads have the potential to massively benefit any online store.
Let's talk about the targeting capabilities of Facebook's dynamic advertising and how you can cover a lot of ground with just one simple ad campaign.
Facebook retargeting
Retargeting is a form of online advertising that targets site visitors that didn’t convert on a sale or objective.
People quit out of interactions at all stages of the buyer’s journey, often for simple reasons (user experience, distraction, timing, etc.). Sometimes all a customer needs is a subtle reminder. Where better to remind them than on the world’s most popular online hangout spot?
On Facebook, retargeting is an audience type that you can assign to the ads of a sales-driven campaign.
A campaign with this audience will target your "almost-customers" with behavior-relevant product ads across Facebook platforms – Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, as well as the Facebook Audience Network.
All it takes is a product catalog, a tracking pixel, and some testing to start seeing results.
Check out our guide on setting up dynamic product ads.
Retargeting is the easiest effective way to combat lost sales, but that’s not all the good that can come from having your products on Facebook.
Broad audience targeting
Once your product catalog is linked to Facebook and you have dynamic product ads running, the next thing you’ll want to set up is broad audience targeting.
When targeting a broad audience, Facebook pushes your ads to people “who’ve expressed interest in your products (or products similar to yours), even if they haven’t visited your website or app yet.” The key bit being “or products similar to yours.”
Broad audience ads go beyond retargeting by honing in on prospective customers that aren’t yet aware of you. A perfect addition to your retargeting efforts.
Best practices
Retargeting is fairly narrow, it targets those who've expressed interest in your products. Broad targeting is... well, broad.
But both are low-effort, high-priority strategies to close lost sales. You definitely don't want to stop there though! Facebook can yield tremendous marketing value if you push the right buttons and pull the right levers.
Campaign structure
Campaigns segment ad groups that work towards the same goal. Ad sets segment ads for different audiences.
For the sake of getting started, budget control, and also because both strategies work towards the same goal in a similar way, one campaign with a retargeting ad set and broad targeting ad set is ideal.
Set a safe daily budget and take time to plan out your next move. You can get more creative once you’re more comfortable managing your ads.
Eventually, you might want to separate these two ad sets and build them into their own campaigns. Retargeting campaigns can get much more detailed, and broad targeting is particularly useful in awareness campaigns.
You might want to do your testing in a new campaign with a dedicated budget, or you might find a more innovative management style that suits your needs.
Campaign structure is one of those things that marketers are always discussing. Look into different perspectives to hone your understanding.
Optimized product data
Dynamic ads are made from your product data. Other than audience parameters, the only other part of your dynamic ads that you can directly alter is your ads’ primary text.
Otherwise, the effectiveness of your dynamic product ads relies on optimized data (titles, pricing, product images, product landing pages, etc.).
If you feel your product data is strong enough that your ads would be viable, you can have your products up in no time. Otherwise, sharpen your catalog before automating product ads in any way.
For true control over your product data, effective scaling, automatic updates, and overall catalog sustainability — especially the larger your catalog gets — you should really consider a product feed solutions platform.
A/B testing
These two basic target audiences (retargeting and broad targeting) are the tip of the iceberg.
Once you’re comfortable with the platform, you’ll want to experiment with your audiences. Facebook makes it particularly easy to A/B test ads.
Broad targeting can be refined in a number of ways, that's where detailed broad targeting comes in. It may be tempting to start crafting “ideal” audiences, but don’t go in blind. Unlike basic retargeting and basic broad targeting, you want to test your experimental audiences extensively.
Your best bet is to start by going broad and slightly limiting your reach.
Facebook works well with unrefined, broad audiences. A good first step would be to test a broad audience that is only narrowed by a general, market-relevant interest.
You can also make different product sets for your different audiences. Even with the presentation limitations of dynamic product ads, there’s a lot you can tweak.
Just remember to test your ads.
Final thoughts
If you sell products online, you really don't want to ignore Facebook dynamic ads.
Too many sales get lost to distractions, inconveniences, and so much else. Some of those would-be customers just need a little push in the right direction.
With a product feed and a tracking pixel, you're only a few clicks away from helping buyers find their way to your products.
