Have you ever wondered how you see ads for products that you have recently viewed when browsing Facebook and Instagram? Well… this is not at all a coincidence. It is called retargeting and it’s a new strategy offered to Meta advertisers. Meta, as you may know, is the parent company of both Facebook and Instagram.

In a nutshell, Meta Retargeting is an uber-smart technique deployed by digital marketers to boost sales and conversion. Let’s say you are running an online clothing store and a person visits your website and views a blue shirt. Meta Retargeting enables you to connect with this person on FB and Instagram and gently presents that same shirt that they viewed previously. Think of this as a series of second chances to convert this already interested visitor into a customer. 

Meta Retargeting lets you show data-oriented, tailored ads to the following three types of audiences:

• Those who visited your website in the last 180 days 
• Visitors to your Facebook and Instagram pages
• People on your custom email address list

The work mechanism of Meta Retargeting is meticulous yet simple. It places a tiny code on your website/ social media platforms… which then drops a cookie on visitors. This cookie intelligently remembers what visitors look at on your site and then shows them ads for those exact products/services while they use Facebook or Instagram. 

Additional benefits that make Meta Retargeting an ideal retargeting strategy include: 

• Meta Ads are not blocked by ad blockers 
• Availability of a range of campaigns to achieve your specific business goals 
• You can upload your existing list of customers to generate a “lookalike” audience 

Google vs. Meta Retargeting

Meta Retargeting lets you tap into new markets, expanding your reach beyond what is allowed in Google Retargeting. For example — retargeting ads related to health and legal services are not allowed on Google. For such industries, Meta opens up a new gate of opportunities. If you are, for instance, a health/ legal service provider and want to target people looking for your services, Meta Retargeting can help you do just that. 

INTERESTING FACTOID:

On August 1, 2023, Google axed its similar audience (aka similar segment) feature from all ad groups and campaigns in Google Ads. This move stopped advertisers from targeting a larger group of people having similar interests as their existing audience. However, this option is readily available on Meta by the name of  “lookalike” audience.

Best Practices to Make Your Meta Retargeting Campaigns Work Wonders

Investing in Meta Retargeting, if done smartly, isn’t expensive at all. In fact, it could easily convert many of your casual web visitors to loyal customers. Here are a few Meta Retargeting best practices we suggest our clients follow. 

• Always keep at least one Meta retargeting campaign live
• Exclude leads who are already converted
• Make sure you test several high-value retargeting audiences
• Keep track of the ad frequency 
• Set up dynamic retargeting ads
• Offer special discounts for retargeting audience 

As your trusted technology partners, we offer Meta Retargeting as a part of our comprehensive Pay-Per-Click (PPC) services bundle. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation PPC consultation!