Facebook Retargeting: Turn Browsers into Buyers

Facebook retargeting: how to turn browsers into buyers

Facebook retargeting shows ads to people who have already visited your website or shown interest in your brand, nudging them towards a purchase. This guide from Tussle Digital, a Sydney and Gurugram digital marketing agency, explains list-based and pixel-based retargeting and the practices that make campaigns work.

Tussle Digital

14 September 2023 · 2 min read

What is Facebook retargeting?

Facebook retargeting is paid social advertising aimed at people who have already shown interest in your brand, products or services. Most visitors are not ready to buy on their first visit. Retargeting gives them a reason to return and buy.

How does retargeting fit the sales funnel?

The sales funnel follows a customer from first awareness of a product to the final purchase. Its stages include Awareness, Consideration and Decision.

Retargeting works on warm leads. Showing targeted ads to them nudges them along the funnel and raises the chance of conversion.

What are the two types of Facebook retargeting?

Type	How it works	Trade-off
List-based	You upload a list of email addresses to Ads Manager.	Builds a highly targeted audience, but is time-consuming.
Pixel-based	Targets people based on actions they took on your website or app.	Removes the manual list work.

How do you write retargeting ads that work?

Headline: keep it short and relevant to the action the visitor took on your site.
Media: use an animation, photograph or video that relates to the ad copy.
Content: keep it brief. If people cannot see the purpose quickly, they move on.
Call to action: use an action-oriented button that tells people the next step.

What are the best practices for retargeting campaigns?

Keep at least one remarketing campaign live at all times.
Test several high-value audiences before committing.
Match the message to the stage of the funnel.
Set up dynamic remarketing ads.
Include special offers for remarketing audiences.
Avoid segmenting audiences too broadly.
Exclude users who have already converted.
Watch ad frequency and insights.

How should you structure a retargeting funnel?

Timing matters. Segment people by their user history and build the strategy around it.

Pair strong creative with answers to common questions, social proof and a reminder of what the person viewed. That moves passive visitors towards becoming active shoppers.

For help with paid social, see growth and performance marketing or social media marketing.

Questions we get asked

What is the difference between list-based and pixel-based retargeting?

List-based retargeting means uploading a list of email addresses to Ads Manager. It builds a highly targeted audience but takes time. Pixel-based retargeting targets people on Facebook based on actions they took on your website or app, so it removes the manual list work.

Why do people not buy on their first visit?

There can be several reasons. Many visitors purchase on a second, third or fourth visit, and some never return. Unless you give them a reason to buy, you may lose the sale. Retargeting ads bring warm visitors back with a relevant message.

Who should I exclude from retargeting campaigns?

Exclude users who have already converted, so you do not spend budget showing ads to people who have bought. Also avoid segmenting audiences too broadly, and keep an eye on ad frequency and insights so people are not shown the same ad too often.

What makes a good retargeting ad?

A short headline that relates to the action taken on your site, media that matches the ad copy, brief content and an action-oriented call to action. Add a special offer for remarketing audiences, as the best-practice list recommends. Keep the headline relevant to what the visitor viewed, and make the next step obvious.