Optimize the Value of Existing Customers With Facebook's Built-in Tools Make the most of low-cost options to engage customers, build lookalike lists of promising leads and measure your results.
By Syed Balkhi Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
The Facebook Ads platform is one of the best tools small businesses can use to target specific audiences and promote products at an affordable cost. In fact, 92 percent of marketers use Facebook Ads for their various marketing campaigns.
In addition to boosting posts and creating effective ads, the platform offers other ways to generate more sales while also retaining existing customers.
If you have an email list and a Facebook page, you can start right away. Here's how.
Create custom audiences.
What if you could find your customers on Facebook and create ads specifically for them? Facebook makes this possible with custom audiences. This strategy enables you to reconnect with your existing customers on Facebook instead of targeting strangers with your Facebook ads.
If you already have an email list full of leads, you can upload this email list in the Audience section of Facebook Ads manager. Then, the platform will find your contacts on Facebook and create a custom target audience.
The best part? That custom audience is filled with people who already have shown interest in your product or service. It all combines to simplify direct sales via Facebook.
Facebook Audience Insights provides means to glean additional information about your existing customers. From here, you can learn about your customer base's gender, interests, lifestyle, location and so much more. You can use this data to create more engaging and personalized ad campaigns.
Related: How Clever Retargeting Persuades Customers Who Looked But Didn't Buy
Create lookalike audiences.
Your custom audience becomes the springboard to identify potential customers with interests and lifestyles similar to those of your existing customers. This is called a lookalike audience because the people who make up this pool share certain traits with your customers.
To generate a more effective lookalike audience, Facebook recommends you first spend some time culling your custom email list. Use list segments that describe your best customers instead of uploading your entire contacts list. This will help increase your chances of making a sale with Facebook Ads. As you mark your preferences for the lookalike group, you can tailor not only its size but also members' interests and locations.
Related: 8 Reasons Facebook Will Beat All Other Digital Marketing Channels This Year
Reward loyal customers.
Customers often take proactive steps to search for your brand on social media and follow your business pages on Facebook. Some will engage with your posts, leaving comments and feedback. It's important to let these customers know you care about them and value their input. Rewarding your most loyal customers is a great way to demonstrate that appreciation.
First, identify them (if you haven't already). You can create a campaign by tracking your links or driving traffic from Facebook to a special landing page that allows you to track website visitors and collect leads. Then, send these customers special goodies such as a coupon code for free shipping, a T-shirt or even a sticker. Any of these options can help you build a stronger connection and generate more sales in the future.
Related: 3 Brands Crushing Instant Customer Service
Create a Facebook Messenger bot.
Fast and responsive customer-support service is a major factor in growing a successful business. Your customers will take notice if you're able to quickly answer questions that help them make the right purchase. Facebook Messenger is a convenient way to provide that support. Even better, you don't need to stay online 24/7. A bot can do the job for you.
Many businesses and brands already use bots to provide customer support and drive sales. Messenger bot campaigns have shown open rates as high as 88 percent and click-through rates up to 56 percent. Spotify recently launched a Messenger bot to help people discover music and share song clips with friends.
Related: Facebook Messenger's New Tools Are Game-Changing for Marketers
Measure and repeat.
One of Facebook's biggest advantages is its ability to easily measure and analyze your ad campaign's results. This capability is built directly into the platform. These tools can help you figure out which type of ads work best and which areas need improvements.
While you retarget and retain your customers with Facebook Ads, don't forget to measure the data, take all the good parts of your campaigns, and repeat.
Related: Top 10 Best Chatbot Platform Tools to Build Chatbots for Your Business
