Dynamic Product Ads – the most effective way to retarget your Facebook customers
Ok, so you’re sold on the idea of advertising your wares on Facebook (and if you’re not please see blog 1 of this series for all my arguments as to why you should be).
Now you want to know how to do it – right.
Enter retargeting, the most effective way to advertise on Facebook.
But, what is it and why/how should you be doing it?
In a nutshell, retargeting is a form of digital advertising that is aimed specifically at shoppers who have already visited your site. As an approach, it is particularly effective because the target is already aware of, and has engaged with, your brand – which means they are more likely to do so again. It also means they have left a digital data trail which, when used properly, can tell you how to best entice them back.
For example, a shopper called Dave (my go-to name in any example) visits your store, he takes a look around, he even looks at a few of your products in more detail but then… he leaves.
Bad news for you but not entirely surprising considering that, on average, 97% of visitors to your shop will do exactly that.
If this was a rom-com it would be the point when you have to decide whether to make the mad dash to the airport and proclaim your love or risk losing your sweetheart forever.
So, what do you do?
Do you just let Dave walk away?
NO.
But it isn’t enough to blindly chase after him, you have to think about what you want to say when you get there. Are you going to blend in with the crowd, standing there with a placard? Which, by the way, if we were to remain accurate to the behavior of most stores would have yours and not his name on it (effective huh?!). Or are you going to make an impassioned speech, tailored to include everything that you know he wants in a man/woman/shop?
This is, in terms of retargeting, is the equivalent to Dynamic Product Ads…
What is a Dynamic Product Ad?
Dynamic product ads highlight individual items from your store, targeting shoppers with the most relevant products according to their individual browsing and buying behavior, automatically and in real-time.
Because tempting someone to return is much easier when you know why they fell for you in the first place
They are sometimes found as single product ads but most commonly utilize carousel design to allow you to showcase multiple products in one ad space. This creates a swipeable advert especially crafted for mobile users, with separate product images.
And in terms of providing the happy ending you are looking for, it is very effective. In fact, at Nosto we have seen dynamic product ads provide 12x ROAS.
Why should you use Facebook Dynamic Product ads?
They are tailored:
Standard Facebook adverts take a blanket approach, showing all customers the same items, irrespective of their individual tastes. Remember, those companies stood at the airport with their identical placards? This is them. Dynamic Product Ads however, are populated on the basis of continual analysis of the individual’s personal data profile, showing products that they have viewed or other related items. By making the adverts far more relevant, the shopper is not only more likely to click but also to convert.
Highlight items from your store:
Since they work at a product level, this form of advert drives traffic to your product pages, instead of other areas of your site. This means that they attract customers who are geared more towards purchasing, rather than simply engaged with the idea of your brand. Because you’re proclaiming your love to get them on a first date, you want to seal the deal.
Automatically updated in real time:
Requiring only initial set up, Dynamic Product Ads evolve as your knowledge of the individual does – as opposed to standard ads that require constant updating and can quickly become outdated. This makes for stronger relationships with your customer. You will always appear to be the in the attentive, hanging-off-every-word-they-say stage of the honeymoon period – meaning you remember that thing they said they like last week, not just once upon a time. Depending on the technology you use to implement them, they may reflect changes on your store automatically so that products that are out of stock are never promoted.
Cross-device:
People often don’t follow a linear buying journey, instead busy lives see them shopping across multiple channels and devices, meaning you must take a customer-centric approach. Or in other words, you need to employ another relationship-friendly quality; consistency. Imagine that you are dating someone and you behave completely differently depending on how and when you see them – when they text you, you are flirty, but if you see them in person, you act like you’ve never met before. With such a fractured it is unlikely you are ever going to build the foundations you need to move past the first stage.
The same is true in ecommerce – for the buying journey to continue uninterrupted you need to keep the experience consistent wherever your shoppers are. Facebook dynamic product ads gather information from all touch points, targeting customers with the same items however they are browsing.
Next week:
Three types of product ads you should be using and examples of it being done right.
