According to the latest data, Facebook is a social media platform with an impressive 3.065 billion monthly active users. And if you consider that 37% of these people use the platform for product discovery and research, investing in Facebook advertising makes plenty of sense — regardless of whether you're trying to reach a local audience or go global.
But the thing about running successful Facebook ads for your business is that there's a lot of competition.
The platform's data suggests that there are three million businesses that actively advertise on the platform at any moment. Moreover, research from Databox suggests that brands spend $1,691 per month, on average, to reach their target audiences.
So, what does this mean for your advertising efforts? Well, it shows that (unless you have an unlimited budget) you need to explore effective ways to attract, engage, and convert customers for your brand. Fortunately, there are several proven tactics you can use to acquire new ecommerce customers through Facebook Ads.
So, if you're looking for ways to use your brand's social media presence to grow your business (and your bottom line), here are the best strategies to optimize your advertising efforts on Facebook.
Identify Your Ideal Customers and Study Their Behavior
The first step toward crafting effective Facebook Ads (or any other type of paid advertising campaign, for that matter) is to have a clear idea of who your target audience is and what they want and need from your business.
In addition to collecting demographic data about your ecommerce business' potential customers, it's also essential that you study their behaviors and identify any pain points you can remove for them. Why? Well, research shows that today's consumers want and expect brands to demonstrate in-depth audience understanding.
According to a 2017 study by Wunderman, 79% of consumers will only buy from brands that prove they care about earning their prospects business. More recent research supports this data as well. Adobe found that:
- 88% of consumers expect brands to go above and beyond in meeting customer expectations.
- 56% of people feel more loyal to businesses that understand customer needs. And;
- 62% of buyers believe great brands need to work to make their lives easier.
The great news is that when advertising on Facebook, collecting and analyzing audience data is as easy as ever.
For one, you can use the platform's automated Audience Optimization feature to maximize your reach. Or, if you want to take more control over whom and how your ads reach, you can use the Audience Insights feature to learn more about the people engaging with your content (and identify potential audience segments you could target to maximize ecommerce conversions).
Optimize Ads
Once you've covered the basics of setting up Facebook Ads to convert new customers for your brand, it's time to start looking for ways to make your ads more effective at acquiring new clients.
Naturally, the most effective ways to do this include small yet powerful optimization tactics that will maximize the appeal and conversion potential of your ads.
Now, there are multiple aspects of Facebook Ads you can try to optimize when aiming to boost conversions. So, let's explore the methods you can use to power up your brand's visibility on the social platform.
Employ Compelling Designs
Optimizing your Facebook Ad visuals is one of the most essential factors for crafting conversion-inspiring campaigns. Why? Because people naturally respond to visual information.
Scientific research suggests that around 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual. (That explains why people process images 60,000 times faster than text.) Moreover, consumer behavior data demonstrates that shoppers pay particular attention to photos and videos, with 75% of buyers saying they rely on product photos when making buying decisions.
So, if you want your Facebook Ads to stand out, start by optimizing your creatives. That is, focus on presenting prospects with attractive, relatable, and authentic visual content they want to interact with.
If you decide to use images for your paid campaigns, the optimal way to do it is to present prospects with aesthetically appealing, aspirational photography.
This is what Moto Machine does for its Hepco & Becker riding luggage systems ad, presenting prospects with a stunning visual that shows the type of riding experience they, too, could unlock if they purchased the right accessories.
Source: facebook.com
Alternatively, you might also opt for short video ads.
According to statistical data, these are equally successful as their image counterparts. Plus, considering that Facebook's findings suggest that 72% of users prefer video over image formats, it's no surprise that one in five advertisers promote video content on the platform.
For example, the Amiri creative below does a marvelous job of emphasizing the brand's unique designs that blend the spirit of old Hollywood with modern, versatile streetwear made for the 21st century.
Source: facebook.com
Finally, if you want the visual aspects of your Facebook ads to stand out — or simply want to promote more than a single item from your ecommerce store — it's a good idea to experiment with Carousels. This format allows you to present prospects with multiple images, maximizing your chances of grabbing their attention with a visual that shows off a product relevant to their needs and aspirations.
Check out how Beauty Bay does it below, advertising an entire collection of Brazil-inspired scents guaranteed to tickle any perfume lover's imagination.
Source: facebook.com
Utilize Conversion-Inspiring Copy
You've perfected your ad creatives. Now, it's time to optimize your copy.
We already mentioned how important it is to convince your prospects that you understand their pain points and have the capacity to remove them. But, as you endeavor to persuade Facebook users to convert into customers, it's not excessive to further emphasize the importance of crafting clear, conversion-inspiring copy.
You see, great Facebook Ad copy (or any ad copy, for that matter) shouldn't be elusive. Instead, it should be clear, concise, and hit the nail right on the head — every time.
One way to do this in your ad campaigns is to address your target audience's wants or pain points very directly. Check out how Hydrow does it below by calling consumers' attention to the core benefits of its Wave Rower.
Source: facebook.com
Or, if you want to prove to your prospects that your brand offers the best customer experience they'll ever get, you could take a page out of Transparent Labs' page. This brand understands that consumers consider several factors when making buying decisions. So, to encourage people to try its Whey Protein product, Transparent Labs offers 10% off and lifetime access to free shipping. Impressive, right?
Source: facebook.com
Track and Adjust for the Right KPIs
Finally, optimizing Facebook Ads in a way that will help you acquire new ecommerce customers requires an agile, data-based approach. In other words, if you want to unlock opportunities to improve your campaigns, you'll need to test and track ad performance in a way that reflects their conversion potential.
In general, there are a few essential KPIs you need to track to gauge the effectiveness of your advertising efforts. These include:
- Click-through rate — A high CTR is one of the best indicators of a well-crafted Facebook Ad. However, if you find that your campaigns aren't performing well enough (average CTRs tend to land around the 1.5% mark), this might be a signal that you need to adjust your ad targeting, creative, or copy.
- Conversion rate — If you're looking for an even better way to measure the effectiveness of your Facebook Ads, look at the conversion rates on your target pages. If they're not what you were expecting, perhaps it's time to test some alternative ad variants to see if you can reach higher-quality leads who are closer to the purchase stage of the buyer's journey.
- Cost-per-acquisition — Finally, to guarantee your Facebook Ads are serving your business, check your CPA metric. A high cost-per-acquisition will show whether you're targeting the right people. It will also indicate potential issues with your ad messaging or reveal a need to optimize your landing pages (especially if you witness high CPA combined with a high landing page bounce rate).
Create Compelling Ecommerce Landing Pages
Perfecting your Facebook Ads is an excellent first step toward acquiring new ecommerce customers. Still, it's not enough to help you boost sales (at least not in itself).
If you want to ensure you're getting the most out of every single penny you invest in PPC ads (regardless of the platform you choose to use), you'll have to create compelling landing pages that will inspire your prospects to pull the trigger and click the "Buy" button.
Fortunately, there are multiple proven tactics you can employ to maximize your website's ability to turn Facebook Ad clicks into newly acquired customers.
Follow Web Design Best Practices
One of the best ways to ensure the people who click on your ads convert into customers is to present them with an exceptional shopping (and browsing) experience once they arrive on your website.
According to scientific research, website quality directly impacts brand trust and purchase intention. So, to inspire visitors to turn into customers, explore ways to make your ecommerce site aesthetically appealing and user-friendly.
Utilizing a minimal design that clearly emphasizes (relevant) above-the-fold CTAs is an excellent start. Furthermore, ensure your site loads quickly and looks and performs well on mobile devices, as 81.8% of Facebook users only browse the social media platform from their mobile phones.
If you need inspiration for an effective look that can boost conversions, check out the Fear of God ecommerce store, which looks and performs amazingly.
Source: fearofgod.com
Align Web Design and Copy with Facebook Ads Creatives
Another important consideration for creating high-converting Facebook campaigns is to ensure your ad creatives and messaging align with what your leads encounter once they land on your website.
For example, WholeWoodPlayhouses uses consistent visuals and copy to help emphasize its special offer for a free kitchen kit with any purchased playhouse. This is an excellent method to reinforce the benefits of buying from this brand and avoid confusion that could stem from inconsistent messaging and visuals.
Source: facebook.com
Furthermore, if you've chosen to enhance your Facebook Ads with storytelling, do your best to expand on and reinforce those narratives throughout your landing pages.
For example, take a look at how Chisos did it below. This brand heavily promotes its dedication to creating high-quality ostrich boots. That's why its social profiles and website feature a ton of content focused on the fact that the products are traditionally crafted, Texas-made, and built to last a lifetime.
Source: facebook.com
Prioritize Earning (and Retaining) Consumer Trust
Finally, as you explore tactics that will help you boost ecommerce sales with Facebook Ads, note that the platform does have a few drawbacks when it comes to attracting and converting new customers.
According to research from 2024, more than one-third of the ads on the platform are fraudulent, costing shoppers up to £60 million in 2023.
With this in mind, it's essential that, when investing in PPC campaigns on this social network (or any other platform, for that matter), you employ strategies that will establish your brand's credibility and authority in a way that will instill shoppers with a sense of safety.
That way, you won't just boost conversions. For every web visitor who doesn't convert on their first visit, you'll still have positioned your brand as a trustworthy entity they will want to buy from once they're closer to making a purchase decision.
There are many ways to earn and retain customer trust — both on and off Facebook.
A good rule of thumb is to always populate your landing pages with high-quality trust signals. This is what Bay Alarm Medical does on its homepage, where it features a variety of social proof, including an embedded Google rating, several instances of UGC, media mentions, and custom trust badges advertising a 30-day risk-free trial.
Source: bayalarmmedical.com
Alternatively, you might also opt to start building brand trust from the very first interaction prospects have with your brand via Facebook Ads. That's what Pela Case did for its new iPhone 16 release.
Source: facebook.com
Over to You
There you have it, the essential tactics for acquiring new ecommerce customers through Facebook Ads.
As you work on attracting and converting new customers, remember that most people don't buy solutions as soon as they find out about them. If you want to get the most out of your paid campaigns, you must also develop a robust retargeting strategy, aiming to re-engage web visitors, email subscribers, and people who abandoned their carts. That way, you won't let any prospects slip from your fingers. Plus, you will significantly reduce the cost of your ad campaigns, allowing you to do more with less.
