StitcherAds co-founder and CIO Conor Ryan offers last-minute tips to win more shoppers on Facebook this holiday season.

It’s November, and that means your shoppers have already started checking items off their holiday shopping lists. However, it’s not too late to optimize your Facebook holiday marketing strategy.

According to the National Retail Federation, holiday spending is expected to increase this year by 4.1 per cent. Given the increase in spending, you’ll want to make sure that you’re connecting with the right customers.

Ask yourself: is my Facebook holiday marketing strategy targeted enough? If you’re unsure, consider the tactics below to reach holiday shoppers who are searching for gifts. These tactics work to reach a range of customers, from people who are unfamiliar with your brand to those who are diehard customers. By incorporating the following ideas into your strategy, you’ll ensure that your message is personalized to all of your targeted audiences.

Audience targeting
Facebook provides several ways to prospect for new customers through tactics such as broad audience targeting and lookalike audience targeting. With broad audience targeting, Facebook helps you connect with customers who may not know your brand but would be interested in your products. Several brands have seen success with this tool, such as Finish Line, who saw a 9x return on ad spend and a 49x increase in sales.

While targeting is important during the holiday season, your ad’s creative is just as essential. A study from Yotpo shows that fair pricing and free shipping are the top two reasons that people try a new brand. Consider highlighting deals or offers in your ads to secure purchases with new customers.

Another targeting strategy to consider with new customers is value-based lookalike audience targeting. This will allow you to reach new customers who are similar to valuable ones who have already purchased from you. By understanding which products your current customers love, you gain an advantage into what your lookalikes might appreciate. To build value-based lookalikes, create seed audiences of shoppers who bought your products last holiday, frequent purchasers and customers with the highest average order values.

Lookalike audience targeting also provides an excellent opportunity to feature user-generated content. Your lookalikes already have similar tastes to your current customers, so share UGC that highlights your customers enjoying your products in authentic settings.

Retargeting
As customers have more and more options between brands, making a final purchase decision can be difficult. However, by using dynamic audiences you can push uncertain shoppers over the line. Use this offering to retarget customers who may have conducted several tasks on your site, such as searching for specific products, adding items to their cart, but later abandoning it or favoriting items on your site. For those who are in close proximity to stores, use radius targeting to let them know they have the opportunity to buy those products in person.

To help turn doubtful shoppers into confident purchasers, utilize an Instant Experience (formally known as Canvas) powered by a collection ad. With these Facebook ad formats, you can create an ad that resembles a holiday gift guide. Categorize products by price or category to create an interactive experience and help your customers find the perfect gift in seconds.

Don’t forget your loyal customers
Your interest in new customers is valid, but remember that your loyal customers can help generate more than 40 per cent of your store’s revenue. To target your loyal customers, develop custom audiences of people that have already purchased from you, signed up for your emails or engaged with your social accounts. You can take this tactic one step further by segmenting people by how much they have spent with your brand this year. Then, set your campaign bid and budget accordingly.

Don’t forget your customers who prefer to shop in store. This segment has been largely disregarded by digital marketers in the past. However, with Facebook’s offline conversions and store sales optimization capabilities, you can effectively reach in-store shoppers. Do this by highlighting in-store only promotions, such as BOGOF (Buy one get one free) or strikethrough pricing offers. By incorporating these promotions into your ads, your customers will be inclined to go in store and will be more likely to impulse shop for last-minute items.

It’s not too late
This is not the time to put your Facebook and Instagram campaigns on the backburner. Consumer confidence is at an 18-year high, making this an opportune time to gain new customers and build your customer base. Without a targeted strategy in place, you risk the chance of losing market share to your competitors.