Online shopping is nothing new. The Internet, smartphones and apps put a new meaning to window shopping a long time ago. Where the game is still evolving is with marketing on social media as posts on sites such as Facebook and Instagram continue to get more targeted. Facebook hopes to strengthen your company’s ability to market and sell on social media with stronger tools that put a premium on what your potential customers want to see. First let’s look at some data that speak to the shopping habits of social media users.
According to Facebook, 60 percent of people on Instagram have discovered new products there. But even more people, 75 percent, have been inspired to take action by a post. Furthermore, during the last holiday shopping season, one out of five purchases was made on mobile. If it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear now: Businesses must keep up with potential clients who are discovering information and products through their social media feeds. Because of the sheer amount of content on these platforms, there’s clearly a pathway for people and their interest, but are you tapping into that potential? To help out with this effort, some product updates have been announced for Facebook and Instagram to help drive sales.
Dynamic Ads
One of the first topics that businesses must examine in this pursuit of relevance on social is if their content is matching up with a potential customer’s interests. Facebook thinks that Dynamic Ads can offer golden opportunities by allowing you to reach out to potential customers with relevant posts. Dynamic Ads have been around on Facebook for a while and are now available on Instagram. To call these ads “dynamic” might be an understatement.
They work by automating products in ads based on what people have expressed interest in. This class of items includes products that the user has viewed before, purchased or showed an interest in by looking at relevant products. In theory, Dynamic Ads will connect businesses with more potential customers through a platform they already love to use. To date, Facebook says that 2.5 billion unique products have been uploaded to its site. That’s exciting because your company can use the data across both Instagram and Facebook. “Now with Dynamic Ads, advertisers can showcase every one of their products automatically with dynamic creative and targeting, so they can show the right product to the right person every time,” Facebook wrote earlier this month. Finding the right person is the key selling point Facebook hopes you will get out of this. It’s almost like seeing the thought bubble above your customer’s head. And that can be a powerful tool.
More options with Custom Audiences
As we know, customers do not fit one mold. Facebook has a tool that will help you differentiate between two types and keep those who may be more valuable to you and your time. If your observations show that someone who visits your website once a week is more likely to purchase something from you in the next 30 days, it makes sense to focus your energy on that kind of customer. The Custom Audiences tool empowers you to do so. The new targeting options will guide you through information that includes frequency, time spent, dynamic date range, aggregated values and devices. The new options allow you to look at a broader picture of customer behavior and not just page visits.
Facebook believes you will be able to see the intensity of your customers’ interest and react accordingly with target advertising. Facebook hopes these new tools will allow you to reach the right customers more regularly by using relevant data and products your customer wants to see. Dynamic ads and the Custom Audience tool can serve as nice additions to your digital marketing strategy. Let us know if you have any questions, we would be happy to chat with you about it.