Facebook Marketing - MGR Blog

One of the most effective methods to ensure that your ads are seen by your target audience is to put them in front of people who have interacted with your company in the past.  In other words, people that are already part of your contact list. It’s always easier and less costly to sell to current customers than to look for new ones.

If you use Facebook as one of your advertising platforms, you can reach a great majority of your leads and contacts via their Custom Audience tool.  Whether your list is from previous customers, guests, buyers, subscribers on your website, or emails gathered at a trade show, Facebook will be able to compare your data with theirs and help you reach the people you want on Facebook.

According to Facebook, “once you create your Custom Audience, your information will be encrypted to protect customer relationships.”

If you’re ready to get started, here’s how to do it.

Creating your Custom Audience

Getting started is easy. Just follow these steps:

  1. Create a list of either email addresses or phone numbers using your customer data
  2. Save your list in CSV or TXT format. If you’re using MS Excel, you can simply open your list and select “save us” one of the above formats.
  3. Go to the Audiences tab in Ads Manager
  4. Click the Create Audiencebutton, select the Custom Audience option and then choose Customer List
  5. Upload the CSV or TXT file list you previously saved or easily drag and drop your file to the Custom Audience box
  6. Your Custom Audience will be ready in about 30 minutes

Using your Custom Audience

Now that you’ve uploaded your list, you’re ready to start using it for your next ad campaign.

  1. Create an ad using the ads create tool. You can set it to show in News Feed or the right-hand column and on any device.
  2. Choose your Custom Audience and select targeting options like location, age, gender and interests.
  3. Set a budget and place your order. Your ad will be served to the audience you’ve chosen to target.

Expanding your Custom Audience

As with all forms of marketing, the larger your database, the more potential conversions you will have.  All things being equal, if your conversion rate is around 3%, you can reach a higher number of converters if your list includes 10,000 people than if it only has 1,000.  If you want to grow your list, there are a few things that you may want to consider implementing.

  • Choose CPM bidding to ensure your ads are served to the group you want to reach
  • Increase your maximum CPM bid. A slightly higher bid will help you reach your Custom Audience.
  • Test different creative elements to see which ones audiences respond to best
  • Update your Custom Audience as your list grows. This ensures your ads reach new customers as they find your business.
  • Create a lookalike audience from your Custom Audience to help your ads reach people

If you need help with your Social Media Marketing strategies or simply implementing your campaigns, be sure to contact our MGR Team for assistance.  We can manage all of your campaigns for you, while you keep full control of all of your Social Media accounts.

Thank you for reading.  Until next time, this is Manuel Gil del Real (MGR)

Source: Facebook