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How I’m Targeting People Most Engaged with My Reels

Now that I’m putting a greater focus on Reels and short-form video, the next step is figuring out how to leverage this engagement with ads. I want to target the people who are most engaged with my Reels, both on Facebook and Instagram.

It’s clear that these videos are making an impact, even though they don’t drive traffic to my website. I’m getting better engagement than I’ve seen on Facebook and Instagram in years.

But, most importantly, I keep hearing from people who are seeing my content again. They had stopped seeing my stuff, even though I kept sharing links that went into the abyss. Many of the consumers who fall into this group are now buying from me.

So, I need to figure out some creative ways to use this to my advantage. First, I’ll need to figure out the best way to target them.

Create the Audience

Let’s consider our options.

I don’t want to target all people who are engaging with my posts. That’s just too broad. This can be done with both my Facebook page and Instagram account.

Instagram Post Custom Audience

No, I want to focus on my videos. So, let’s use the Video Views Custom Audiences.

Video Views Custom Audiences

I’ll want to focus on those who watched the entire video (or at least 95%).

Video Views Custom Audiences

But, the immediate problem is that we need to select at least one video. So, we could go through and select all of my recent Facebook videos from the past couple of months…

Video Views Custom Audiences

Side note: It’s an obvious bug that all of my Facebook videos show they have 0 3-second views.

You’ll also want to select all of your Instagram videos…

Video Views Custom Audiences

The result is 118 videos, which may be a bit overkill.

Video Views Custom Audiences

I’ve decided that I want to focus on recency since I can’t isolate people who watch the most of these videos. Otherwise, someone who watched one video could be targeted perpetually.

So, let’s use the last 7 days…

Video Views Custom Audiences

Unfortunately, I’ll also need to update this audience every time I create a new video. Not ideal, but the lengths I’ll go to create good targeting.

Video Views Custom Audiences

How to Leverage this Group

There’s obviously plenty we can do with this. I could promote products and opt-ins. But for now, let’s just make sure we can reach these people.

So, I created a video indicating that if you’re seeing it, I have a feeling you’re my people. You’re someone who is watching my Reels to completion, and that seems to be a good indicator.

Since this is a small group (under 1,000 people), I’m using an Awareness campaign optimized for Reach.

Reach Campaign

And since it’s a small but relevant group, I’m using worldwide targeting. You can do this by simply removing any targeting from the location field.

Reach Campaign

I’m targeting the custom audience we just created. But I’m also excluding anyone who watched the video that I’m promoting in this ad. I created that audience after this campaign was published, then updated the targeting in the ad set.

Custom Audience Targeting and Exclusion

I’ve focused on the more relevant video-first placements.

And I’m sticking with the default of 1 impression every 7 days.

Facebook Ads Frequency Cap

The reason for that is I may keep this campaign running a while, and I don’t need to keep showing the same people the ad all the time. The exclusion helps prevent that, but this control helps as well.

Am I Reaching People?

Yeah, I am. Since I started this campaign on Thursday, I’ve reached a grand total of 147 people.

Not a lot, but these are important people. And due to the frequency cap, that size has shrunk pretty fast. I only reached 9 people yesterday and 13 so far today. But, the main thing is that it’s still running.

If delivery becomes an issue, I may need to update the frequency cap to something like 1 impression in every 3 days. But, we’ll worry about that if and when we need to.

One of the nice things is that it’s incredibly cheap to reach this very relevant group. I’ve only spent about $5 so far to run this campaign.

If I were to leverage this audience for something like list building or selling products, it has the potential to be very efficient.

What Could Have Been Better?

It’s fun to experiment with this, but the truth is that this isn’t my preferred approach. Two reasons.

1. Why can’t I target anyone who watched any Reel or video during the past 7 days?

I went to a lot of effort to create this audience based on people who could have watched any of my Reels. Even if I wanted to only focus on the most recent videos, I’d still need to keep updating the videos included as I publish new ones.

That’s far from ideal. Why isn’t there an option to isolate engagement with all videos at 95% during a specific period of time?

2. Why can’t I target people who watched at least 3 Reels during the past two months?

A frequency element would be amazing. That way, we could widen the net and include videos over a longer period of time. But without frequency, a person who watched one video two months ago (when I publish videos every day) isn’t as valuable as someone who watched one recently.

This is actually something that can be done with website custom audiences, so it’s not completely new functionality.

Website Custom Audience by Frequency

I created a video on this, too (because of course I did!). Check it out…

@jonloomer Here’s how Facebook could improve video views custom audiences. #facebookads ♬ Ocean Chill Guitar | Trap Hip Hop Instrumental – xklbeats

Your Turn

If you publish a lot of videos now, this may be a good approach for you. What do you think?

Let me know in the comments below!

The post How I’m Targeting People Most Engaged with My Reels appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

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How I’ve Pivoted to Short-Form Video on TikTok and Reels

If you’ve been following me on any of my primary social channels during the past month or so, you’ve likely noticed a very clear pivot. I am deeply invested in short-form video.

This is a complete 180. I’ve long resisted video creation in every form. Admittedly, the delay was not smart strategically. But there were many reasons behind that delay.

It hasn’t been an easy transformation. It required getting uncomfortable. I was forced to get in front of the camera, something I really haven’t liked doing. Stubbornness, fears, and old habits all needed to be overcome.

I’m doing this not just for me but for the introverted marketers whom I share these struggles with. So far, it’s been a heck of a ride. Not an easy start, but the growth has been energizing.

Oh… And please follow me on TikTok (if you can).

And worth it.

Let’s take a closer look at what held me back, what I’ve done so far, and my future plans for short-form video. I encourage you to take whatever you can from this to help with your own journey.

The Excuses

Let’s face it. This website is more than 11 years old now. I’m an old dog who doesn’t want to be taught new tricks.

We could get into a very long, philosophical discussion about the unique holes I put myself into over the years by trying to streamline and simplify my business. But, that may be for another day.

Ultimately, I am most comfortable writing. I like to write. You don’t see me struggle when I write. I don’t need to worry about lighting, what I’m wearing, or how I deliver a message when I write. I can sit, think, write, delete, and write again.

My video efforts have been few and far between. Sometimes I’d turn a podcast into a video. But I’d do everything I could to keep from pointing the camera at myself.

Some of the excuses I made were for business reasons. I wanted to drive traffic to my website. That’s where business is done. A video on Facebook or Instagram doesn’t help satisfy that goal (or so I told myself).

I convinced myself that I didn’t need to go with the trends. Being different could separate me from the pack.

I was wrong. This, and several other decisions (and non-decisions) hurt my business.

The Pivot

The decision to pivot was late but necessary. It was made for several reasons.

Organic traffic to this website has always been the lifeblood of my business. It fed my list and funnel. It was this “easy” traffic that made profitability nearly effortless.

Of course, it took a ton of effort to get there. But there was a time when I was getting 10,000 organic referrals per day from Google. My list was robust and a high percentage of those on it were opening and clicking my emails.

When these things started drying up, business followed in the same negative direction. I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing.

My content was no longer reaching nearly as many people as it once did. I was no longer top of mind when people had a need for Facebook ads help. My brand had grown stale.

It was time to adjust. I could no longer treat my business like time stood still, hoping I could resist the laws of business physics. I needed to remind people that I was here, reaching them with the types of content people now want to consume.

It didn’t mean my blog would die. But short-form video needed to be a way to build my brand. Remind people that I’m here. And ultimately drive them back to my website and my products.

As recently as mid-September, I was mocking TikTok. Like every other “mature” person resistant to this format, I thought it was all dancing, memes, and junk. And then…

One Month of Production

Lots of fear and uncertainty, but I knew I had to do it. I gave myself grace, knowing that my early efforts would be cringe-worthy. But, I knew that I had to create in order to learn and get better.

On September 30, once I realized this was something I needed to do, I put myself out there with this embarrassing video…

@jonloomer

Create stuff that sucks!

♬ original sound – Jon Loomer

I had no idea how to use the app. I didn’t know how to edit or add music. This was a bad video, but I no longer cared. The effort was the point.

I’d ultimately create 70 videos in the month of October, publishing at least one video nearly every day of the month beginning October 3. I created with a variety of formats, experimenting with themes.

I struggled with efficiency and finding the right tools and processes to create quality content without taking an entire afternoon. I consumed others’ videos and noted what I liked and didn’t like.

Almost exactly a month from that “This Video is Going to Suck” effort, I created this…

@jonloomer Follow me for Facebook ads tips, tutorials, and maybe a little bit of breakdancing. #facebookads #facebookadstips ♬ Old school Hip-hop – Nebikov

I was getting comfortable. I began experimenting with TikTok ads. These videos were also repurposed for Facebook and Instagram Reels. An immediate impact was felt.

“I haven’t seen you in my feed for years!” I’d hear. Some of the comments almost treated me as if I were coming back from the dead (“I never went anywhere!” I wanted to scream…).

My audience on TikTok went from virtually nothing to 3,000 and counting. Confidence is building. Processes are sharpening. Efficiency is in sight.

My Short-Form Video Strategy

More than a month in now, a strategy is coming into shape. It will continue to evolve, but I want to share what I’m doing for the month of November.

1. MULTIPLE PLATFORMS

This experiment started with TikTok videos only. Then I’d download those videos and re-purpose the TikTok branded video for Facebook and Instagram Reels. This approach is now growing and maturing.

TIKTOK: It starts here. I really can’t believe that TikTok is my home base now — I’d never believe it a couple of months ago. But, I see the immediate impact but also the immense potential. I create two videos per day for TikTok.

INSTAGRAM REELS: I now longer use the TikTok branded video to publish to Instagram and Facebook Reels. Now I take the video I created (not within the TikTok app) and add music from Instagram.

FACEBOOK REELS: I don’t know what happened, but until last week I could cross-post from Instagram to Facebook. That option went away from my Instagram app, so I now also upload a unique version to Facebook Reels.

YOUTUBE SHORTS: I resisted. Just last week I told someone it was just too much to do this. But, I’ve started publishing these videos to YouTube Shorts, too. It helps that the format is the same.

LINKEDIN: During the past few days, I’ve started creating a square version for LinkedIn. Originally, I created an entirely new video. Now I just take the original 9:16 and put it on a square canvas. It’s otherwise too much work right now. We’ll see what impact it makes.

2. VIDEO LENGTH

Originally, I didn’t worry much about time. And then I realized that if I wanted to re-purpose to Instagram, it couldn’t be longer than 90 seconds. And if I wanted to push it to Facebook, it couldn’t be longer than 60 seconds.

This was a good thing. It forces me to edit. I am a butcher when it comes to editing (in a good way). The final video will be no more than 60 seconds.

Here’s something I recorded recently about my approach to recording and editing…

@jonloomer

If you ramble and struggle with short form video, this is for you. You can do it.

♬ Zodiac | Seamless Looping Trap Hip Hop Instrumental – xklbeats

3. FORMAT

There are three primary formats that I use:

  • Q&A: I answer questions I find in my comments (easiest and quickest video)
  • Reaction/Talking Head: Typically not edited in the TikTok app
  • Tutorial: Utilizes a screenshare and talking head

The third is surely the most valuable but also the most time intensive. I do enjoy creating them.

4. SUBJECT MATTER

Initially, my focus was going to be on Facebook advertising only (with some relevant Facebook marketing topics). But, I’m starting to share some videos related to my TikTok ads experiences, too.

5. FREQUENCY

For now, I’m aiming at two videos per day. I could see cutting this down to one per day on the weekends. But, I do believe that consistent creation is critical to growth. Avoiding burn-out is also important.

What’s Next?

This pivot is no small feat. It’s not just a new format but it’s an admission. I know that doing things the way I’ve always done them is no longer good enough.

There’s actually something very new and exciting about that. I haven’t experienced that type of feeling in a long time. I do sometimes miss how amazing those initial days of my business were, going from obscurity to an explosion of recognition. There’s a bit of a high achieved by overcoming this.

I’m admittedly not a big long-term planner. October was an important month for my business and my professional growth. November will be just as important. While I have plans for what I’m going to do, everything could change quickly as this evolves.

It’s already looking possible that TikTok advertising may become an additional topic discussed on these pages. No predictions. Stay tuned.

Your Turn

Have you made your pivot to short-form video yet?

Let me know in the comments below!

The post How I’ve Pivoted to Short-Form Video on TikTok and Reels appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

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Meta is Bringing Back Breakdowns for Conversion Reporting

What once was old is new again. After more than a year-and-a-half hiatus, Meta is bringing back breakdowns for conversion reporting.

This update follows a recent theme. After removing functionality in response to iOS 14 restrictions in 2021, Meta is beginning to bring them back. The return of breakdowns for conversions follows closely behind the Compare Attribution Settings feature and 28-day click attribution.

In this post, let’s clarify what Breakdowns are, what specifically went away, what’s back, and why it matters.

What are Breakdowns?

Breakdowns exist in both Ads Manager and Ad Reports, but for the purpose of simplicity let’s focus on Ads Manager.

Breakdowns allow you to take a single campaign, ad set, or ad and break down the results by a single segment. There are four categories of breakdowns: Time, Delivery, Action, and Dynamic Creative Element.

Facebook Ads Breakdowns

Let’s focus on the Delivery category since that’s what’s most impacted by this latest development. There are several ways you can break down your advertising…

Facebook Ads Breakdowns

There are a few more options below the scroll that aren’t picked up in this image.

Let’s say you use the Placement breakdown (admittedly my favorite). When you break down by placement, separate rows will be added to your reporting for each placement that received delivery. This helps advertisers understand, for example, how your advertising performed on Desktop Newsfeed, Facebook Stories, Instagram News Feed, and all the rest.

Facebook Ads Breakdowns

Whether it’s placement, country, age, gender, or something else, this can be incredibly enlightening.

What Went Away and Why?

When Apple announced the iOS 14+ changes related to opt-outs, Facebook made several adjustments in response. One of them was removing access to conversion data when running breakdowns.

Facebook Ads Breakdowns

This means that you could still perform a breakdown by placement, for example, but you wouldn’t get detailed segmentation for any conversion data. You’d only get it for the on-Facebook activity.

Facebook Ads Breakdowns

You’d get the summary row, but that’s it.

I don’t know that Meta has ever been incredibly clear about why this was. We can assume it has something to do with a lack of confidence in the data due to opt-outs. They may know, for example, that a conversion happened, but they are less sure about where.

What is Back?

Breakdowns for conversions are returning for the following (all fall under the “Delivery” category):

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Age and Gender
  • Country
  • Impression Device
  • Platform
  • Platform and Device
  • Placement

Facebook Ads Breakdowns

Here’s a quick video that walks through it.

@jonloomer Meta’s bringing back breakdowns for conversion reporting! #facebookads ♬ Hip Hop Background(814204) – Pavel

This, like every update, is a rollout. I only have it in one ad account, and it’s inactive. There’s been no official announcement from Meta (as far as I’ve seen), beyond messages from ad reps to advertisers.

Why Does it Matter?

These extra data points are so important. They provide necessary context.

Without split testing, you can quickly uncover which placements, ages, countries, and impression devices are performing the best. This might impact how you construct your campaigns going forward.

Loss of context has been significant since iOS changes. We are getting so much of that back with the return of Compare Attribution Settings, 28-day click attribution, and now breakdowns for conversions.

Your Turn

Do you have this yet? What do you think?

Let me know in the comments below!

The post Meta is Bringing Back Breakdowns for Conversion Reporting appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.sydneysocialmediaservices.com/?p=3310

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How to Determine Your Facebook Ads Budget

I’m often asked what a minimum Facebook ads budget should be in order to get results. This is a complex question, and the answer is based on several contributing factors.

But, let’s break this down and focus on running a single campaign with a single ad set.

There’s some math involved (don’t be scared!).

Determine Your Optimization Goal

Before you set a budget you have to figure out what it is you’re trying to accomplish. Why? Because it takes far less budget to make an impact with top-of-the-funnel actions than with the bottom-of-the-funnel.

Do you want to drive purchases? Leads? Website traffic?

Figure this out first.

How Much Will One Action Cost?

If you’ve never advertised before, this could be more difficult. But, instead of thinking about what something will cost, think about what it needs to cost for your advertising to remain profitable.

Actually, not even profitable. Just break even. We want to leave room so that you can cut budget if necessary.

Just as a rule of thumb, let’s consider purchases. A $100 product may cost you $50 per purchase in ads. This is purely hypothetical, but it’s possible. So many factors contribute to that cost.

Leads are often somewhere between $3 and $10, but it really depends on what the offer is and how much information you’re asking for.

Traffic is all over the map, depending on how engaging your link is and how expensive it is to reach people. A single link click might be under 10 cents or it may be over $2.

Do Some Math

In order to properly optimize, you need to get your ad set through the learning phase. This is the period of time once your ad set is published (or you make a significant change) when Facebook is learning from the actions that happen.

This period generally lasts three to seven days and ends once you can get between 25 and 50 optimized actions (not a strict number these days). If you are unable to get enough optimized actions to exit the learning phase, your ad set will move to “learning limited.”

Let’s assume you need 50 actions within a week. So, multiply your projected cost per action by 50 to get your weekly budget. Divide that by seven to get your daily budget.

There’s Wiggle Room

Look, if you’re looking to sell a product, this math could get intimidating fast. If you project a $50 per purchase cost, you’re looking at $2,500 per week ($10,000+ per month). That’s not realistic for many small businesses.

But also remember that we don’t know what that purchase will cost you. It could be less. We also don’t know if you’ll exit the learning phase at 50 actions or fewer.

The budget could end up being half as much. But you should prepare for the high end, just in case.

Do You Need to Exit the Learning Phase?

Of course, even after the wiggle room, you may not even be close. In that case, spend what you can without breaking the bank and see how it goes.

Just know that the learning phase is a real thing. My best results come after I give Facebook enough data to properly learn. Your costs may be higher if you aren’t able to exit the learning phase.

You Have Options

Keep in mind that optimizing for a purchase isn’t required if you want sales. There are other ways to get your client some revenue.

Start with the low-hanging fruit. Run Reach campaigns to target abandoned cart — or people who hit the product landing page, initiate checkout, or add to cart without completing the purchase.

Target just those who did this during the past 14 days. Use a frequency cap of 3 impressions per day. Gave these people a special offer to complete the purchase.

This is a great way to generate sales without spending a bunch of money.

Your Turn

This is a starting point. Your minimum budget is a math equation. Just know that your ultimate costs are reliant on several things that are going to be different from advertiser to advertiser and brand to brand.

What exercises do you use to determine your Facebook ads budget?

Let me know in the comments below!

The post How to Determine Your Facebook Ads Budget appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.sydneysocialmediaservices.com/?p=2983

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Run Ads to Promote Facebook and Instagram Reels

If you’ve been creating videos for Facebook and Instagram Reels, you can increase your reach with ads.

This is a format I’ve been experimenting with extensively of late. Why? Well, Meta has been very clear that Reels are getting priority for distribution. This is their answer to TikTok. They want users to watch them.

Because of that known priority, this can be an advantage for marketers — both organically and with ads. In theory, you should get better distribution with a well-done Reel than you would a link or image post. And if you get increased engagement, that often leads to lower CPM costs in ad spend.

Let’s dig into how you might take advantage of the Reels format with ads.

Quick Overview

First, it’s important to understand what we’re dealing with.

Reels are short-form videos (up to 60 seconds on Facebook and 90 seconds on Instagram) that are typically recorded from a phone. As a result, Reels utilize the 9:16 aspect ratio.

Here’s a visual example of a Reel I’ve published…

Instagram Reel Example

Objective

The objective isn’t particularly relevant here. You could theoretically use several different objectives, assuming your ad could lead to the desired outcome.

The only requirement for this tutorial is that we promote an existing post.

The Ad

We’re going to jump ahead to the ad for a minute.

Make sure that you select both your Facebook page and Instagram business account under “Identity.”

Facebook Ad Identity

Under Ad Setup, select “Use existing post.”

Facebook Ad Setup

Click “Select Post” under Ad Creative.

Select Post

If you are publishing your Reels on Instagram and cross-posting to your Facebook page (you probably should be!), toggle to Instagram at the top and select the Reel that you want to promote.

Promote an Instagram Reel

You should select a Reel that is under a minute long so that it stays within the requirements for both Facebook and Instagram (yes, it would make a lot of sense if the rules were the same for each platform).

Placements

Okay, now let’s go back to the ad set to choose placements (let’s manually select them instead of using all).

What you do here is up to you, but I’d recommend making the most of the 9:16 aspect ratio. First, you’ll probably want to keep all Stories and Reels placements selected since they are all 9:16.

Reels and Stories Placements

If you want to select the Overlay and Post-Loop Ads on Reels placements, you also have to select Facebook In-Stream.

Overlay and Post-Loop Ads Placements

This is unfortunate since In-Stream uses a 16:9 aspect ratio. So, you can either roll the dice here or keep Overlay and Post-Loop unchecked.

Finally, you have to check at least Facebook Feed. Both Facebook and Instagram Feeds use a 4:5 aspect ratio. I’d keep everything else in feeds unchecked.

Feed Placements

Adjust by Placement

Whether you do anything else here is up to you. But, if you want to make sure your ads look good, let’s adjust creative by placement. Go back to your ad. Click to edit by placement.

Facebook Ad Edit by Placement

Something that I like to do is edit the thumbnail.

Edit Thumbnail Facebook Ad

Potential Exclusion

If you really want to get detailed, you could exclude people who already watched your Reel. You’d do that by creating a custom audience based on video views.

Video Views Custom Audience

What you use for view length is up to you. If you use 3 seconds, that should immediately exclude anyone who saw the video due to auto-play. Or, you could go all the way to 95%. I won’t argue with either approach.

Video Views Custom Audience

When you choose the video, you can select multiple videos at once. So, if there are versions on both your Facebook page and Instagram profiles, I’d select them both.

My Experiment

Because I’m creating a lot of Reels right now, I’m actually trying something out with a very narrow audience. Honestly, I have fun with the super narrow audiences — it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go broad. But, this makes it easier for me to have a small, controlled experimented with a limited budget.

I’m using a Reach campaign with a 3:1 frequency cap.

Frequency Cap

The reason it’s so aggressive on the frequency cap is that people are likely to see my ads for up to seven days. The reason for that is I’m targeting my most engaged audience during the past seven days.

Facebook Custom Audience Targeting and Exclusions

Of course, I’m excluding those who already watched the video.

If you’re curious, my “most engaged audience” is defined by people who performed a series of custom events on my website during the past seven days. That includes any of the following:

  • Shared a blog post
  • Started my podcast player
  • Clicked at least two internal links
  • Registered for something
  • Viewed a page for at least two minutes

The result is an audience that Facebook says is about 2,000 people. I’m using only a $5 per day budget, which Facebook says will result in reaching 153 to 443 people per day.

Your Turn

Have you experimented with Reels yet? Are you promoting them with ads?

Let me know in the comments below!

The post Run Ads to Promote Facebook and Instagram Reels appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.sydneysocialmediaservices.com/?p=2814

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How Meta Could Leverage Outbound Clicks

The challenges related to tracking, targeting, and optimization have increased during the past couple of years. And yet, Meta has a solution that is sitting right in front of them. Meta needs to leverage Outbound Clicks.

This isn’t a particularly complex concept. Even the simplest application could be a huge help for advertisers looking to send traffic to their stuff — whether it’s on a website they own or a third-party website.

In this post, we’ll cover the obstacles these advertisers currently face, what Outbound Clicks are, and how they could be leveraged for the advertiser’s benefit.

The Problem

There are a couple of groups of advertisers who could benefit from an expansion of Outbound Clicks.

1. Advertisers who sell on a third-party website. This is one of the most frustrating places to be. If you can’t use your pixel, you aren’t able to track results, optimize for a conversion, or target those who clicked on your ad.

2. Advertisers who are heavily impacted by iOS 14+. If a large percentage of your audience consumes your content while on an iOS device, tracking opt-outs could significantly impact your reporting, optimization, and retargeting.

Outbound Clicks aren’t going to solve all of these advertisers’ problems, but they can absolutely help — assuming Meta leverages them properly.

Outbound Clicks

Before we get to how Meta could leverage Outbound Clicks, it’s important that we explain what they are — and how they’re different from other metrics. Let’s define the various “Click” metrics that are often confused.

Clicks (All): This includes ALL clicks on your ad (like it says). So, link clicks, clicks to your page profile, post reactions, comments, shares, clicks to expand media to full screen, clicks to take action (liking your page or RSVP for an event), and more. Everything.

This also applies to CPC (All) and CTR (All). If you’re following these metrics, you’re looking at total engagement on your ad, and not just clicks on a link to the thing you’re promoting.

Link Clicks: This is the number of clicks on links within the ad that lead to advertiser-specified destinations, on or off Meta technologies. While links away from Facebook are included in these clicks, it can also include clicks to open other experiences within the ad, like click-to-call, click-to-message, lead forms, playable experiences, and more.

This also applies to CPC (Cost Per Link Click) and CTR (Link Click-Through Rate).

Outbound Clicks: The number of clicks that take people away from the Meta family of apps. This includes clicks on links in the displayed ad as well as links to external websites and apps within Instant Experiences, lead forms, and collections.

Landing Page Views: The number of times someone clicked on your ad link and successfully loaded a page of your website with the Meta pixel. This is an Outbound Click, but to a website with your pixel that successfully loads.

Of course, the most valuable of these click metrics for advertisers would be the Landing Page View. We know that someone clicked on our ad, was redirected to our website, and the website loaded. But, of course, this may not be an option if you are sending someone to a website where your pixel doesn’t exist (like Amazon).

Remarketing Solution

As discussed earlier, one of the most annoying challenges for an Amazon seller, for example, is that they can’t target those who clicked their ad and went to Amazon. Their pixel isn’t on Amazon, so a Website Custom Audience wouldn’t be possible.

Let’s say that you have an initial prospecting ad that promotes your product, sending them to Amazon. How do you remarket to those who initially engaged with that ad? Right now, your options are limited. If you used a video, you could target those who watched that video. You could also target a Page Engagement custom audience, which allows you to reach anyone who has clicked on any post or ad. That’s not ideal either.

But, what about a custom audience based on Outbound Clicks? It wouldn’t matter whether your pixel exists on the external website. You could target anyone who clicked on your ads to an external website.

The Page Engagement custom audience was too broad. This limits those clicks to outbound clicks.

Of course, it would be nice to add even further granularity. What if, when creating these audiences, you could select the ads or URLs that you used for these posts or ads? Then you could create audiences based on the specific website pages people went to after clicking your ad.

It would work a lot like the current website custom audience based on URL…

Website custom audience by URL

This could also, potentially, help advertisers who have a high concentration of iOS users who have opted out of tracking. Meta is super unclear about how opt-outs impact targeting (only that these audiences will be smaller), but I assume this to mean that a user who opts out of tracking will no longer be included in website custom audiences.

But, of course, opt-outs do not apply to activity on the Facebook platform. So, an Outbound Click could conceivably be used as the source for a targeting audience.

Optimization Solution

If you’re selling a product on Amazon, you can’t optimize for a conversion because your pixel doesn’t exist there. You also can’t optimize for Landing Page Views for the same reason. Your primary option, if traffic is your goal, is Link Clicks.

Link Click Optimization

What if you could also optimize for Outbound Clicks? This would assure that Meta’s ad systems are looking specifically for people who will click out to an external website or app.

Now, the difference between Link Clicks and Outbound Clicks (discussed above) is subtle, but wouldn’t it make sense to offer an option to optimize for Outbound Clicks? Especially if your ad includes other experiences that could be counted as a Link Click but not an Outbound Click, it would certainly help the advertiser get the specific actions they want.

Your Turn

Do you think Outbound Clicks could be used to fill some holes for advertisers? What other solutions would you add?

Let me know in the comments below!

The post How Meta Could Leverage Outbound Clicks appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

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