Custom Audiences - Making the Most of Facebook Features, Part 1

In this three part series of blog posts, we will be reviewing key changes to Facebook’s product strategy introduced in Q2 and how users can take advantage of these features to reach potential customers efficiently and effectively. Today, we will focus on how Facebook advertisers can use Custom Audiences to improve their targeting and acquisition efforts.

Today, the best way to establish Custom Audiences is through Power Editor. You will be prompted with a screen that allows you to create an audience segment based on customer data tied back to email IDs, phone numbers or Facebook user IDs. Customer data can be uploaded in CSV or plain text with one entry per line. Facebook will then attempt to match your list across its database to find the appropriate users. On average, advertisers find that the match rates of customer data to Facebook users is about 50-70%. Once Facebook’s match query is complete, your audiences will appear as broad categories. In Marin, you can easily create unlimited combinations of Custom Audiences targets and creative types using Campaign Wizard.

Once you have Custom Audiences configured, there are several ways it can be used strategically to provide segments of customers and prospects with tailored messages, at the times they are most likely to engage with or purchase from your brand:

1.) Nurture Leads Captured on Your Website – If you have a blog, a newsletter or a special offers sign up on your website, chances are you have amassed a large list contact information from your website visitors. If you are running email nurture program, you can run ads on Facebook to engage these leads with industry-related content that complements your nurture emails.

2.) Re-target Users Who Have Abandoned Your Conversion Process – By this point, we’re all familiar with re-targeting through the Facebook Exchange. But did you know you can also use Custom Audiences to re-target your customers on Facebook? If you currently track website visitors that have abandoned your website during the conversion process, use Custom Audiences to re-target this website visitor segment on Facebook and bring them back. In your ad creative, give them a compelling reason to return. For example, offer website visitors a discount or an incentive that makes them feel unique and desired.

3.) Customize Creatives to Include Recently Viewed Products – If you sell less than ten products, Custom Audiences provides you the opportunity to target prospects with tailored messages based on the specific product or service they recently viewed on your website. For example, NetSuite sells Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management and Business Intelligence solutions. Chances are that potential ERP buyers (ie. a CFO) will respond much differently to an advertising message than a CRM buyer (ie. a CRO). Create Custom Audience segments for each buyer, based on the last product they viewed on your website and speak to each segment distinctly.

4.) Drive Mobile Users to Your Brick and Mortar Location – It’s no secret that Facebook mobile app adoption for Facebook is exploding in growth (contributing to the company’s 41% increase in mobile revenue over the past year). Marketers can use Custom Audiences to geo-target customer segments into local retail stores using Unpublished Page Post ads containing a link to a downloadable coupon.

5.) Reward Your Most Loyal Customers – Let’s face it, not every customer is created equal. The cost of acquiring new customers is higher than maintaining new customers, so keep them happy and keep them buying. Spending a few hours mining your CRM database will allow you segment customers based on purchase frequency and average order value. Use Custom Audiences to re-target your loyal, high value customer segments with Facebook ads containing offers, incentives or messages letting them know you appreciate them.

6.) Reach Friends of Your Current Customers – Think about your friends and acquaintances. Chances are you share similar behavioral characteristics and values. If you’re a Facebook marketer, Custom Audiences presents an opportunity to reach the friends of your current customers, who likely also share similar purchase preferences. For example, Disney could target the friends of customers who recently stayed at one of their resorts with a message highlighting the fact that they too can “have their dreams come true.”