The Facebook secret is finally out.
As the world’s biggest social media network and second largest traffic source – everybody is using it. I’m using it to drive traffic, you’re using it to drive traffic, even my lovely retired next door neighbor is driving Facebook traffic to her eBay knitwear store.
Okay, the last one was a lie… but you get my point. Everyday more and more businesses are using Facebook Ads. This is bad because:
Numerous reports (here and here) reveal that the cost of a Facebook click is rising. And I’ve got some bad news, this trend is only going to continue.
This is why you need to start creating your own Facebook advertising list using conversion pixels and custom audiences.
These audiences are highly targeted (they’ve interacted with your business before), have a greater intent to take action which results in cheaper advertising costs.
A conversion pixel and custom audience may sound like scary and complex marketing tools, but they are extremely easy to use and understand.
What Is A Conversion Pixel?
Conversion pixel – Is a Facebook ad tool that captures user data when they complete a specific action. The action can be anything from landing on a specific page (thank you page), opting-in to a list or purchasing a product.
A conversion pixel is a small piece of code which you place on a specific webpage (a simple copy and paste). When a visitor who also has a personal Facebook account lands on that page, the pixel collects their data and places them in a list.
For example, you could place a conversion pixel on a thank you page for a lead magnet you offer. If 500 visitors hit your landing page and 150 take the lead magnet who also have a Facebook user account, the conversion pixel will contain 150 prospects.
A Facebook conversion pixel is commonly used to track specific actions or to optimize your sales funnel. For example, if you want to know how many visitors clicked on your advert and went on to purchase, you place a conversion pixel on the thank you page which can only be reached if customers complete a transaction.
Customers who get collected in this conversion pixel are perfect to be pitched an upsell through Facebook.
Pro-tip: Facebook lets you create lookalike audiences from a conversion pixel. Lookalike audience finds potential prospects that have similar interests and behaviors as prospects in your pixel. This is sometimes a much better way to find new prospects than using cold targeting methods through the Facebook Ads Manager.
What Is A Custom Audience?
Custom audience – A custom audience works in the same way as conversion pixels except they collect data from everyone who visits your website. You should place the tracking code in the header or footer of your website to ensure it captures every visitor.
You can set custom audiences to collect data from any of the following:
While it’s possible to have several conversion pixels, you can only have one custom audience per Facebook account. However, you can segment your custom audience into various buyer groups through segmentation later on.
Have you ever scrolled through Facebook and were shown ads from websites your recently visited? That’s a Facebook pixel in action. I recently visited the GetResponse and Pardot blog and guess what, I’ve been tagged in their conversion pixel:
Check out my blog post on how to setup a custom audience to build your own ad inventory today.
Are you still using Facebook the old way?
Setting up a Facebook advert and targeting new prospects will often leave a big hole in your marketing budget. As you may already know, marketing to new prospects is very hard.
However, retargeted prospects are 70% more likely to convert than new prospects, yet only 1 in 5 marketers have a dedicated budget for retargeting.
Start building your own Facebook list today to lower the future cost of advertising. As more marketers and businesses swarm into the Facebook marketplace, even if you don’t have plans for retargeting prospects just yet, you have nothing to lose but everything to gain from setting up these pixels. Conversion pixels and custom audiences are the equivalent of having an email list for Facebook – start yours today.
Nick Bridges
Latest posts by Nick Bridges (see all)
- Facebook Releases 8 New Standard Events - November 14, 2018
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- Writing Compelling Ad Headlines that People Will Click - September 12, 2016
