Facebook Ads Training - Lookalike Audiences
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So today we're looking at Facebook look-alike audiences.
Super exciting right?
Now at this point in our series we have already gone over how to setup a Facebook pixel, how to set up your ads account and how to start your first campaign. Now we're getting into building your audiences and expanding into cold prospecting.
Let’s Dive right in….
What are lookalike audiences?
Lookalike audiences are Facebook's way of developing new followers for your brand based off of your old customers.
How does it do this? You either tell Facebook to use your pixel to find people who has engaged with your post or viewed products on your website, or you upload your own list of email addresses of past or potential customers, email subscribers, etc.
I recommend not using passive engagement metrics like website views or “people who have engaged with your past posts”. I recommend developing a lookalike audience based only on people who have added to cart, come into your retail store and left their information with a sales rep or past customers. Developing a list based on these actual potential customers will give you far better results 99% of the time.
However, it is always important to test! And, keep in mind that if your only goal is to gain a new following faster (instead of new customers), a lookalike audience based on one of the passive metrics I mentioned above (like website views for engagement with one of your posts) could be perfect. But if your goal is customers, stick with only using past customer lists and people who have added to cart on your website, as the base for your lookalike audience.
When To Think About Using Lookalike Audiences
Lookalike audiences are something you will want to create early on in your Facebook ads career; but may not be utilized until you start getting customers in the door. Usually a business will turn to lookalike audiences when they want to expand beyond their existing customer base.
Maybe you're getting sales online or in-store but you're saying, “ Hey I want to increase things a bit. Where do I find new people? How do I find new people?”
What's an easy way to get new people interested in your brand, products and services?…..look-alike audiences with Facebook.
**Now Facebook Audiences are not as sure fire as the Gurus make them out to be, but they are pretty good at finding new eyeballs for your brand. That means new people you can add into your funnels; hopefully turning them into a customer down the road. Don’t expect look alike audiences to bring in new customers right away. Most will still need to be carried through your buying funnels before they become a customer.
Who might use Facebook lookalike audiences
A Facebook lookalike audience is really something that only people who are running Facebook ads will benefit from. While it might be a good idea to create these lists (lookalike audiences) ahead of time it is really something you are only going to utilize once you start running ads.
If you have a small business, whether it is a retail store an e-commerce store or a service business or maybe some combination of those and you are running Facebook ads make sure you are collecting customer email addresses. You can then use them in your first lookalike audience. Until you start running ads on Facebook, you probably do not need to worry about creating these lists.
BUT COLLECT THOSE EMAIL SUBSCRIBER & CUSTOMER EMAILS STARTING TODAY!
How To Use Look Alike Audiences The Right Way
You want to only use Facebook Lookalike audiences after you have customers; in my opinion.
Your best bet at attracting the right customer with LLA’s (lookalike audiences) is using a customer list of your past customers to create the LLA.
You'll take that customer list and upload it into Facebook. Facebook will then use that information to match profiles to the customer emails you provide now that it has the profiles it will try to find new profiles that match those customer profiles. In essence, it is finding people who are mirror images of your past customers.
Sure, there Are some who will tell you that you can use lookalike audiences based on page views or engagement on your posts. While this is true, (and I explain above when you might want to do this) I don't recommend it. Creating lookalike audiences based on passive metrics like product views or engagement on your posts may not attract the right type of customer. And, it might just result in a more expensive Cost per click!
If you do not have customers yet, I would wait to create lookalike audience lists; or try open audiences to attract more followers instead; open audiences will often be cheaper in cost per click while still finding great followers.
Expect your look alike audiences to only bring in the same type of person they started from. Don’t expect your LLA’s to create new customers for you right away, unless you created your look alike audience with a customer list! And even then, most will not buy on day 1. That is just a fact jack!
How many customers do I need before I create a lookalike audience?
I believe Facebook recommends around 50 to 100 people on any customer list (this list will be the base for creating a lookalike audience. I'd recommend more around 500 to 1000 people, minimum. The more people you have in your list, potentially, the better your lookalike audience will be at finding you easy to win over potential customers.
RECAP
So, look alike audiences are as simple as creating a customer list and uploading it into Facebook. You then let Facebook do all the technical work of finding new customers for you. They create that list of new Mirror copies of your past customers. Then you run ads to this list; hopefully turning the new viewers into customers.
even better, the LLA’s you create never stops growing.In fact, Facebook will continue to find new people based on the original customer list you uploaded FOREVER. As a side note, it is a good idea to create new look like audiences every so often; 1 REASON, so you can test them against your old ones; SECOND REASON → so you can keep feeding Facebook new data about your newest customers.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for listening. Have a great day!