Facebook Ads For eCommerce: How to Grow Sales [Guide]

May 31, 2024
- Ad Setup

In a 2022 survey, 73% of marketers worldwide used social media to promote their products, 53% used email marketing, and 51% used paid social media ads.

Running successful Facebook Ads for eCommerce can be challenging, as even minor errors can lead to low impressions and conversions. Simply put, the profitability of your campaign can be greatly influenced by numerous variables during setup. To help you strategize more effectively, we've created this guide on using Facebook ads to boost your eCommerce sales. Let’s begin!

4 Steps To Grow Sales for eCommerce With Facebook Ads

Facebook ads can be incredibly cost-effective, but success hinges on using them correctly.

To help you maximize their potential, here are some steps you can implement.

1. Optimize Landing Pages

If your site is buggy, unclear, confusing, or loads too slowly, it can frustrate potential customers and drive them away. A slow-loading page, for instance, can cause 53% of consumers to leave, resulting in lost opportunities and decreased sales. Additionally, inconsistency between your ads and landing pages, a lack of clear answers to customer questions, and an absence of compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) can all contribute to lower conversion rates.

To fix these issues and create optimized landing pages, you can follow some of these steps:

1️⃣ Improve Load Times: Ensure your pages load in less than three seconds to retain mobile users.

2️⃣ Maintain Continuity: Align your landing page's design, messaging, and offers with those in your ads for a seamless user experience.

3️⃣ Answer Common Questions: Address customer inquiries directly on the landing page to prevent them from having to navigate away.

4️⃣ Adopt Mobile-Friendly Design: Design with a responsive layout that adapts to different devices, enhancing usability for mobile users.

5️⃣ Incorporate High-Quality Visuals: Use eye-catching, relevant visuals without overwhelming the page to keep users engaged.

6️⃣ Include Clear CTAs: Use compelling, noticeable CTAs that guide users on the next steps.

A great example of effective landing page optimization is Satechi's rewards program page.

This page excels with a clear, user-friendly design that highlights the benefits of joining their rewards program.

Key points, such as earning credit on purchases, free shipping, and birthday rewards, are presented succinctly.

The call-to-action (CTA) is straightforward, encouraging users to join or sign in easily.

The page also builds trust by clearly breaking down membership tiers and benefits, making it easy for users to understand and engage with the rewards program.

2. Enhance Targeted Segmentation And Retarget Audience

When your ads are shown to the wrong audience, they fail to generate interest or engagement, leading to wasted ad spend and lower conversion rates.

Misplaced ads can frustrate users, damage your brand reputation, and ultimately reduce your return on investment (ROI).

Without accurate targeting, even the most compelling ads can fall flat, failing to attract the right customers who are genuinely interested in your products.

To properly target potential customers with Facebook ads, follow these steps:

Identify Your Core Audience: Start with basic demographics such as age, gender, and location. This helps you narrow down who you want to reach.
Utilize Detailed Targeting: Use Facebook’s detailed targeting features to refine your audience based on interests, behaviors, and demographics. For example, selling fitness gear might target people interested in fitness, wellness, and sports.
Leverage Facebook’s Automated Tools: Utilize tools like "lookalike audiences" to find users similar to your existing customers. This helps you reach a wider audience that shares characteristics with those who have already shown interest in your products.
Monitor and Adjust: Regularly analyze performance metrics like clicks, conversions, and cost-per-click (CPC) to identify which segments perform well and adjust your targeting strategy accordingly.

Let's say you run an e-commerce store specializing in eco-friendly home goods.

You want to promote your new line of reusable kitchen products, including silicone food storage bags, beeswax wraps, and stainless steel straws.

Here's how you can effectively target your Facebook ad to reach the right audience:

1️⃣ Demographics:

Age: 25-45
Gender: All genders
Location: United States

2️⃣ Interests:

People interested in sustainability, zero-waste living, and eco-friendly products.
People who follow pages related to green living, environmental organizations, and popular eco-friendly brands.

3️⃣ Behaviors:

People who have shown a purchase behavior or interest in home improvement, kitchen gadgets, and lifestyle changes towards sustainability.
Users who frequently engage with online shopping and show an interest in new and innovative products.

4️⃣ Lookalike Audiences:

Create a lookalike audience based on existing customers who purchased eco-friendly products from your store. This helps you find new potential customers with characteristics and interests similar to your current customer base.

Additionally, you can retarget or exclude your audience by creating custom audiences that focus on specific user behaviors.

For example, you can target:

Users who have visited your website in the past 30 days but haven’t made a purchase; these individuals have already shown interest in your products and are more likely to convert with a little nudge.
Create a custom audience of people who added items to their shopping cart but did not complete the purchase. Offering them a discount or free shipping can encourage them to finalize their purchase.
Promote your new product line and offer customers who have previously bought from your store an exclusive discount as a reward for their loyalty.
Exclude users who have recently made a purchase, ensuring that your ads are not wasted on individuals less likely to make another purchase immediately.

📢 Pro Tip

Input your web address, and AdTools will analyze it and simplify precise audience targeting by allowing you to select specific regions for your ad placements, ranging from entire countries to as granular as individual postal codes.

You can add multiple regions, including cities, districts, or postal codes, ensuring your ads reach the most relevant audience in their respective locations.

This level of granularity guarantees that your advertising efforts are optimized to connect with the right audience in precisely targeted areas.

3. Utilize Dynamic Creative

Facebook Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs), now known as Meta Advantage+ catalog ads, are a powerful advertising tool that allows you to target potential customers who have shown interest in your products but have yet to complete a purchase.

These ads dynamically display the exact products a user has viewed on your website, serving as personalized reminders that can nudge them toward completing their purchase.

By utilizing the data collected through the Meta Pixel and Conversions API, these ads ensure that users see the most relevant products, thereby increasing the likelihood of conversion.

To use Dynamic Product Ads effectively, follow these steps:

1️⃣ Access Meta Ads Manager: Navigate to the Campaign tab and click the green 'Create' button.

2️⃣ Select Your Campaign Objective: Choose your campaign objective, such as ‘Sales.’ Different objectives may have slightly different setups. After selecting the objective, give your campaign an indicative name and click ‘Continue.’

3️⃣ Choose Manual Campaign Setup: Opt for the manual campaign setup and click ‘Continue.’

4️⃣ Name Your Campaign and Select Ad Category: Enter a name for your campaign. If your ads fall under categories like housing, credit, employment, social issues, elections, or politics, select the appropriate ad category. If not, simply click ‘Next’ to proceed.

5️⃣ Use a Catalog: Toggle the option to use a catalog. From the dropdown menu, select your preferred catalog, such as a Shopify store catalog.

6️⃣ Name Your Ad Set and Set Performance Goals: Provide a name for your ad set and specify your performance goals.

7️⃣ Select a Product Set: Choose a product set from your catalog.

8️⃣ Choose Your Audience Type and Location: Decide whether you want to retarget existing customers and store visitors or target a broader audience to attract new potential customers. Adjust the audience location if necessary. After making your choice, click ‘Next.’

9️⃣ Select Ad Format: Choose between Single Image or video, Carousel, and Collection formats. Carousel ads are popular for Dynamic Product Ads and can include an attractive video as the opening card. Collection ads are mobile-only and offer a full-screen experience showcasing several products.

1️⃣0️⃣ Create Your Ad: Write a catchy headline, primary text, and a call-to-action and Publish your ad.

For example, SportsDirect recently launched a campaign for sports shoes with multiple catalogs.

Using Meta Advantage+ catalog ads, SportsDirect can target visitors who viewed these shoes but didn't complete the purchase. The ad would showcase the exact shoes the potential customer viewed, along with a few other recommended items, such as similar shoes or different colors.

📢 Pro Tip

AdTools simplifies the creation of visually captivating ads by providing the option to incorporate photos that elevate your campaigns.

You can select images from our vast library or upload your own, ensuring they align seamlessly with your ad's message.

For campaigns focused on individual products or services rather than overall brand promotion, consider switching to product-by-product mode for optimal outcomes.

Moreover, AdTools offers a visual preview of your campaigns, streamlining the process of preparing efficient materials.

Lastly, our one-click ad campaign creation feature enables swift generation, publication, and aggregation of campaigns across various platforms, saving time and empowering your creative vision.

4. Optimize The Times of Running Your Campaigns

Timing can significantly impact the effectiveness of your Facebook ads. A well-timed ad can catch your target audience when they're most receptive, leading to higher engagement and conversions. By understanding your business's sales patterns, peak traffic times, and customer behavior, you can strategically schedule your ads to maximize their impact.

To determine and set a schedule, you can follow these steps:

1️⃣ Define Your Objective and Audience Targeting: Before setting up your ad schedule, clearly define your campaign objective and identify your target audience based on demographics, interests, and behavior.

2️⃣ Navigate to the Scheduling Section: In Facebook's ad creation tool, navigate to the scheduling section after defining your campaign objective and audience targeting.

3️⃣ Select "Run Ads on a Schedule": Instead of running ads continuously, choose to run ads on a schedule.

4️⃣ Specify Days and Hours: Specify the days and hours you want your ads to be active, considering factors like the highest-earning days of the week and peak traffic times for your business.

5️⃣ Utilize Viewer's Time Zone: Use Facebook's feature to display ads according to the viewer's time zone to ensure optimal reach regardless of location.

Note: For instance, you can schedule your ads for weekdays when consumer spending tends to be higher, focusing on peak shopping hours like lunchtime and early evening.

Additionally, you can use Facebook's feature to display ads according to the viewer's time zone, ensuring that your ads reach your audience at optimal times regardless of location.

Conclusion

Crafting impactful Facebook ad campaigns for eCommerce presents a unique set of challenges, with users frequently skimming past ads without interaction.

Yet, by implementing our proven tactics, like customizing ads for specific audiences and timing your campaigns properly, you can greatly amplify their effectiveness.

Adopting these strategies elevates your ad performance, leading to increased engagement levels and conversions, ultimately driving significant growth in sales for your eCommerce business.

Why Use AdTools for Your eCommerce Facebook Campaigns?

AdTools is a user-friendly digital advertising platform tailored to help small businesses create and optimize their Facebook ads to boost sales. With AdTools, you can:

Automate the ad campaign process: Save time and resources while ensuring precise audience targeting and effective ad delivery.
Optimize target region selection: Select the best ad locations to reach the most relevant audiences and maximize campaign impact.
Create ads across multiple platforms: Design ads effortlessly without switching interfaces, allowing for efficient multi-channel advertising.
Monitor campaign performance: Track key metrics within a unified dashboard and gain valuable insights for informed optimization decisions.