By Anthony Tat | @TatAnthony

Targeting users at different stages of the sales or marketing funnel is crucial for effectively driving purchases or conversions. Typical Facebook audience targeting (i.e. targeting based on demographics, interests, and behaviors) is great for increasing brand awareness and drawing new users into the broadest end of your funnel. If you want to reach users who have shown some form of purchase intent, you will need to use Facebook Custom Audiences.

“It’s easier to sell to current customers than to look for new ones, so strengthen your existing connections by using Custom Audiences.”

Facebook Custom Audiences are used to reach people you already know. These are people who have already given you their email addresses or phone numbers - you simply upload this data into Facebook to deliver your ads to them. Of course, the emails and phone numbers in your list have to match the information on Facebook in order for there to be a customer match. Luckily, a large database will have many matches and can create a very useful Custom Audience.

The easiest way to use this is to target current customers. You may know the 80/20 rule of sales. It states that 20% of your customers produce 80% of your sales. These users have already invested in your brand, and placing your product in front of them again is an effective way to drive repeat purchases.

Below are two ads I came across on my news feed. These brands were able to reach me because I have made direct purchases from both of them in the past. The first ad below is announcing a new sales promotion, while the second is showcasing a new model of one of their popular products. You can also use your data lists for exclusions. If you have a promotion for new customers only, you don’t want to pay to have ads delivered to existing customers who don’t qualify. Instead, you can create an audience and select the option to exclude the users on your list.

Other ways to use Facebook Custom Audiences include:

Reaching users with high interest in your brand by targeting newsletter recipients.
Driving traffic to your page or website by targeting LinkedIn connections to reach users on a different platform.
Offering special promotions to your top customers.
Retargeting or remarketing website visitors by using a Facebook Pixel.

Using a Facebook Pixel to retarget users who have recently visited your website can bring you enormous advertising success. Someone who visits your website for the first time is very likely to bounce before making it all the way through the sales funnel. However, they are already far along the funnel if they have visited your website, browsed specific products, or added items to their cart. Ads delivered to this audience can give them the extra push needed to complete a sale.

There are many ways to mix and match Facebook Custom Audience and remarketing strategies. What are some methods that worked really well for you? Tell us in the comments below!

Facebook Custom Audiences and Remarketing