Digital Marketing

Facebook Ads: 7 Essential Tips for More Ecom Sales

Social media platforms are constantly updating their algorithms to personalize what users see in their feeds.

As a business, the chance of your target audience seeing your organic content on social media is lower than ever before.

It’s becoming increasingly necessary to pay to play.

When it comes to using Facebook to boost your e-commerce sales, you should consider Facebook Ads.

That means paying money for ads.

But I don’t want to throw money at ads that won’t convert to sales. I bet you don’t either, right?

Facebook Ads are good for more than getting targeted traffic to a site. E-commerce businesses can use Facebook Ads at any stage of their sales funnel:

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I’ll share with you 7 essential, straightforward tips that you can easily implement to drive more sales.

I’m not talking the basics. I’m talking how to really make your ads the best that they can be.

1. Use stunning images in your ads

Make sure you always use high-quality images in your ads.

You should pick images that follow these guidelines:

  • The pictures should be bright, full of color and eye-catching.
  • Avoid images that are the same colors as Facebook (blue and white) because they can blend in, and users won’t notice them.
  • Try to incorporate images of happy people. It’s even better if they are actually shown using your product.
  • Typically, pictures of women perform better than photos of men.
  • Make sure you choose an image that is the right size for the ad type you’ve selected.

Worldwide Breast Cancer had one of the best-performing ads of 2017. It had quite a few things going for it.

Check out the bright, vibrant, eye-catching colors.

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Remember that people tend to scroll through their Facebook feeds quickly.

You need an image that will stand out among everything else.

Facebook does let you put text in your ad images. The text can’t take up more than 20% of the total area, though.

Photos can produce a lot of engagement all by themselves. But adding powerful words, phrases, or numbers can make them even more attention-grabbing.

Worldwide Breast Cancer does this well with the hot pink headline at the top of their image.

Showing images of happy people in your ads can help create an emotional connection. I find this makes people more likely to click on my ads.

That’s why I often feature my own images in my ads.

I recommend using images of yourself and other people, as long as they’re smiling, laughing, or happy.

And try to select images of attractive people.

I know it sounds shallow, and the term “attractive” is very subjective, but it’s definitely a factor in getting clicks.

You’ll want to use an image of an attractive woman if you’re advertising to a male demographic.

If you’re targeting a female demographic, try to choose a photo of an attractive man.

Keep in mind that most people are used to seeing real pictures of their friends and family on Facebook, so cheesy stock photos won’t cut it.

Try to use real images or real people. They tend to get more clicks.

2. Get Facebook Pixel for your website

Install Facebook Pixel so you can see Facebook customer actions on your website.

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This way, Facebook can create ads that directly target your customers.

First, create a pixel by logging into Facebook, going to Events Manager, and then going to your Pixels tab. Click ‘Create a Pixel.’

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Next, add the pixel to your website.

I’ll walk you through how to do this for Shopify.

If you use any other site type, click here to find the steps needed to install your pixel.

For Shopify, do the following:

  1. In Facebook, go to Ads Manager.
  2. Go into the Pixels section.
  3. Click “set up pixel.”
  4. Click “use integration or tag manager.”
  5. Click “Shopify.”
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  1. Click “enter your pixel ID.”
  2. Copy your pixel ID.
  3. Now go log in to Shopify.
  4. Go to your Shopify Admin panel.
  5. Paste your pixel ID in the Facebook pixel section.
  6. Click “Save.”
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Now you can use the pixel to track activity and events on your website that you want Facebook to be aware of for ad targeting.

Types of events you can choose to track are:

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3. Use the interests field to target your die-hard fans

People generally use Facebook to socialize, not to shop.

This means it’s important to put your product in front of a laser-targeted audience for it to get results.

If you target the wrong audience, who are only mildly receptive to your product, it’s going to be much harder to consistently drive conversions.

If you’re selling a niche product, experimenting with the “Interests” field is crucial.

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After typing in an interest, you’ll see categories and pages that are relevant to this audience.

If you pick too broad of an interest, the categories and pages that show up won’t tie closely to your target audience.

Try to select a more narrow interest, until you find the results are all closely related to your interest.

For example, “women’s running magazine” is much more specific, and will have more consistent results than just “running.”

By combining multiple narrow interests, you’ll be able to create an audience of die-hard fans.

Make sure that you’re being as specific as possible. It’s tempting to try to target a wider audience, but it doesn’t work.

If you try to please everyone, you’ll please no one.

The reach on Facebook is ridiculously large. Narrow it down as much as you can. Shrinking your target audience will actually increase your chances of conversions.

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4. Create a custom audience for people who’ve already viewed your product page

Very few people will purchase your product the first time they arrive on your site.

Data suggests that 98% of visitors on your website won’t purchase during their first visit.

Even if you create a highly persuasive Facebook Ad and target the perfect audience, there can be a million reasons why people won’t purchase on their first visit.

That’s OK.

As long as someone has checked out your product page, you know they have some interest in your product.

Creating a custom audience just for people who have viewed your product page can help turn these visitors into buyers.

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When creating this custom audience, exclude people who are already customers.

This means you’ll be targeting only people who have viewed your product, but who haven’t made a purchase yet.

Then you can use this custom audience to provide a custom ad targeted only at them.

For example, offer a small discount like 10% off, and make it for a limited time only. This can really boost conversion rates.

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5. Target cart abandonment

To take remarketing one step further, you can target people who not only visited your product page, but who also added the product to their cart, only to abandon checkout before completion.

Why bother targeting cart abandonment?

Almost 70% of visitors who get as far as adding an item to their cart will abandon it before checking out.

That’s a huge pool of potential sales!

You already know these people were considering buying your product.

People who abandon their carts may only need a small nudge to complete their order.

You can easily create an ad asking them if they’ve forgotten to buy your item.

Make sure you design the ad to include a picture of the item and link it to the product so they can finish the order easily.

You’ll notice in this Red Balloon ad that they take it even further by including a discount offer.

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Keep in mind that someone who abandoned their cart yesterday will be easier to convert than someone who abandoned their cart several weeks ago.

If you’re going to target people who abandoned their cart awhile ago, you will need to offer larger discounts to lure them back.

6. Upsell to your current customers

Many businesses segment their emails to try and sell additional products to their existing customers.

But did you know that the same principle works for Facebook advertising?

Upselling is an easy way to increase your sales by targeting people you already know have an interest in your product.

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Someone who has purchased from you already is more likely to trust you and your brand.

This is an easier sell than a new customer.

After all, 65% of a company’s business comes from existing customers.

You can boost sales and get a great return on your ad spend by doing upselling ads.

7. Create and target a lookalike audience

If you already have a customer list of at least several hundred people you can build a lookalike audience on Facebook.

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This is a group of people who resemble your current or previous buyers.

The larger and more detailed your customer list is, the more accurate your lookalike audience will be.

If you have repeat customers and brand advocates already, make sure you include them in the list you use to build your lookalike audience.

Why is a lookalike audience valuable?

This audience is a group of people Facebook believes is similar to your customers.

This means that the chances are good that they’ll also like your brand and product. You can get a lot of great leads from a lookalike audience.

If your content has been successful with your customers, it will probably work with your lookalike audience, too.

Knowing this allows you to personalize your content for them. Considering that personalizing your campaigns leads to an 89% increased reach in social media, you should be doing this as much as possible.

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Conclusion

The ideal ad varies by company, customer, and business goal.

If you follow these tips and adjust to your business, expect your sales to increase.

Just remember that you need to be flexible. Play around and see what works best.

Start with images and make sure they’re appealing.

Then dive in by installing Facebook Pixel. Target customers based on their interests, actions on your site, or even those who abandoned their cart.

Create ads for your current customers to upsell them or tell them about your referral program.

Or target Facebook users like your customers.

And promote your own content. It’s a great way to drive more traffic to your latest blog post.

Track which tips boost sales the most. Then replan your strategy around what works.

What Facebook Ad tips have you found that have boosted your sales?

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