Remarketing with Facebook Ads

Remarketing refers to the advertising measures to bring a website visitor who has not made a conversion back to the website and to persuade them to make a purchase. Often, ads that are tailored to the interest and needs of the user are used for this purpose. For example, shopping items that have been placed in the shopping basket without completing the purchase can be displayed. Such personalised ads result from the processing of personal data collected during the last visit to the site.

The goal of remarketing is similar to that of conventional marketing campaigns: users are to be directed to the website and conversions are to be achieved as a result. However, REMARKETING particularly targets people who have already interacted with the advertiser's website or mobile app. The great advantage here is that it is very likely that the user is interested in the displayed products or offers. Often, users in e-commerce do not actively decide against buying a product, but are distracted or cannot yet make a final decision. If a suitable advertisement for the product that the user had been looking at then spontaneously appears in the Facebook feed, for example, it serves as a spontaneous reminder and encourages the user to make a purchase. Also possible are sponsored messages that are sent to the user to draw his attention to a particular offer.

Remarketing with the help of Facebook Pixel

Facebook Pixel makes it possible to track users on websites and to collect and store the resulting data. It is a code snippet that is embedded on the website and thus captures all users and their actions who are on the site. Facebook SDK works on the same principle and offers tracking of users on apps. For example, it can be recorded on which sub-pages the user has moved, which products have landed in their shopping cart but have not been purchased, or even which Facebook advertisements were played to them before they came to the page. Facebook sends the collected information to the Ads Creating Tool, where it can be processed accordingly.

Custom Audiences

From the collected data, people can now be segmented into specific target groups, the so-called Custom Audiences. These are primarily compiled on the basis of the actions performed on the website or in the app. Possible custom audiences include, for example, all users who have been on a certain subpage or have placed certain products in their shopping cart. custom audiences can also be used to compile a similar but completely new target group. These so-called Lookalike Audiences are often selected based on the interests and demographics of the other target group or buyer. This increases the likelihood of success with certain advertisment to a new audience.

Dynamic Ads 

Dynamic ads are particularly popular because they make it possible to adapt the ads even more precisely to the user. They can present specific products, services or offers that the user has already actively viewed on the website. This ad model requires the information from Facebook Pixels or SDK to create perfectly customised ads and is therefore more complex than most others. The advertiser then needs to upload their product catalogue into the manager so that Facebook can independently put together the right ads for the users. The Dynamic Ads can then be played out either in Facebook, Instagram, the Audience Network or messenger.

Advantages of remarketing with Facebook

• Users who are already familiar with the company can be reached.
• The loyalty of customers to a particular brand or company can be strengthened.
• Ads can be created according to the customer journey and the actual needs of the user.
• Personalised ads can be produced without manual effort.
• The advertising platform is very large, as several million people are on social networks every day
• Reach of the company and especially conversion rate can be increased
• Users who have made a purchase can be separated from the rest of the target group so that they are no longer presented with ads.
• The probability of unsuccessful clicks is very low with remarketing due to the high interest, which can greatly increase the ROI.

Facebook Remarketing and Data Protection

The actual use of Facebook Remarketing is tied to clear conditions by the GDPR. When tracking users on the websites, personal instead of anonymous data is collected and also passed on to Facebook servers in the USA. For this reason, it is important to obtain the user's consent before tracking is activated. A mere reference in the data protection statement is not sufficient for this, as this is not equivalent to unambiguous consent. . On the other hand, the user should be able to withdraw his or her consent to tracking at any time. If there is still a list with a target group without this consent (e.g. from times before the new data protection guidelines), this should also be deleted immediately and may no longer be used for marketing purposes. Furthermore, the use of Custom Audience and Facebook Pixels must be listed in the privacy policy of the website. This includes the scope, purpose, legal basis and possibility to object to data collection. When collecting data, the IP address must be anonymised and limited to the necessary data for business purposes.

Conclusion

Facebook Pixels is an effective way of directing interested users back to specific offers or products on a website. A major advantage is that the ads displayed are precisely adapted to the interests and needs of the users and are therefore very likely to be successful. However, data protection should not be disregarded under any circumstances. It is certain that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) should be dealt with in detail in advance. Legal advice in connection with the correct use is definitely recommended.