With nearly 3 billion monthly active users, Facebook has become a primary pillar in eCommerce advertising.¹ Facebook is the world’s most populous social network with the highest potential ad reach. Facebook ads for eCommerce have the potential to reach a whopping 2.08 billion people around the globe and 62.6% of Americans aged 13 and up.²

These figures could explain why nearly a quarter of U.S. consumers start their online shopping search on Facebook.³ Facebook eCommerce advertising accounts for 80% of U.S. social referral share to retail sites, helping to not only point consumers toward online marketplaces and storefronts but also power new, profitable consumer relationships for online business owners.⁴

By the end of 2023, almost 40% of Facebook users will make a purchase on the platform.⁵ If you want to leverage Facebook ads for eCommerce to drive conversions in your favor, you have come to the right place. Here is what you need to know about the ins and outs of Facebook eCommerce advertising, complete with actionable tips for an eCommerce Facebook ads strategy that converts. 

Click-Through Rates and Conversions for Facebook eCommerce Ads

Like any social network, there is considerable competition for Facebook eCommerce advertising — as in, there is a projected $71.32 billion worth of ad revenue to be spent on Facebook this year alone.⁶ To gauge your progress with Facebook ads for eCommerce and compare your benchmarks to industry standards, check out the following click-through and conversion rates. 

eCommerce Facebook Ads Click-Through Rates

With all this talk of Facebook ads for eCommerce, you might be curious about how your current efforts stack up, particularly for click-through rates (CTR). The average CTR for Facebook ads is 0.89%, with the highest average CTR for pets and animal-based retailers (1.68%) and the lowest average CTR for finance, science, and educational companies (approximately 0.50%).⁷

What is a good CTR for Facebook ads? While achieving above the industry average is always best, a good CTR for Facebook ads is between 0.90% and 1.20% or beyond. If your current CTR is below the industry average, it may signal that your eCommerce campaign is underperforming. There can be a few reasons why this is the case, including:

• You are targeting the wrong audience. Facebook users with conflicting consumer behavior, interests, or website and app activity are the wrong audience and can tank your CTR.
• You are not retargeting leads. Failing to target Facebook users who have previously visited your website or interacted with your marketing excludes leads with conversion potential. 
• Your ad copy and imagery are not compelling. Facebook users rely on visuals to encourage a click, so wordy copy or boring images tend to signal a user to keep scrolling. 

Strategies we will discuss to ramp up CTR for Facebook ads for eCommerce campaigns include: 

• Custom and lookalike audiences
• Intent-based targeting
• Conversion tracking
• Retargeting techniques
• Compelling ad creative

Facebook Ads Conversion Rates

Where click-through rate is a ratio of how many Facebook users clicked on your ad compared to how many saw it, conversion rate refers to the percentage of users who convert from your ad — either by making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or just visiting your eCommerce website. So, what is a reasonable Facebook ads conversion rate compared to the average CTR?

On average, the Facebook ads conversion rate is approximately 9.21%, with the highest conversion potential for fitness retailers (14.29%) and the lowest average conversion rate for the travel industry (2.82%).⁸ Therefore, a good conversion rate for eCommerce campaigns is around 10%. If your current conversion rate is below 10% (or not even at 2%), it may be due to reasons such as: 

• Your Facebook ads for eCommerce are misleading. Facebook users who encounter an ad with misleading details on the value proposition, such as a current sale, will not convert.
• Your landing page was insufficient. Facebook users who click through to a landing page anticipate that the page’s subject matter will fulfill the promise in the ad to convert.
• Your calls to action (CTAs) are dull. Facebook users require a call to action that encourages them to take action, to drive a higher conversion rate. 

Strategies we will discuss for high-converting eCommerce Facebook ads include: 

• Understanding your audience
• Leveraging visual ads backed by written content
• Placing your value proposition in the ad image
• Building landing pages optimized for conversions
• Creating compelling calls to action (CTAs)

Facebook eCommerce Strategy to Increase Sales

Now that you are more familiar with the average performance of Facebook ads for eCommerce, it is time to narrow in on a Facebook eCommerce strategy to increase sales. We will start with tactics to drive a higher CTR, which in turn, advances the number of potential conversions. However, the most critical aspect of a Facebook eCommerce strategy is the very first step: defining an audience. 

Your audience refers to a specific group of consumers with the same demographics, behaviors, views, and attitudes. One key tactic to increase sales is to ensure that you target the right individuals for your Facebook ads strategy through custom audiences. Custom audiences are users who meet specified criteria based on data from in-app engagement, Facebook pages or interactions, and even customer files generated by email lists or phone numbers. 

For instance, if your eCommerce Facebook page uploaded a video 1,000 users watched, you can target the same users with a second related video through a custom audience. Similarly, you can utilize lookalike audiences on Facebook, which identifies users who are likely to be interested in your eCommerce business because they share similar characteristics to your custom audience. 

Beyond defining your audience, Facebook ads for eCommerce rely on two types of targeting: 

1. Intent-based targeting refers to the Intent-Driven Audiences (IDA) option found in Facebook Advertising that enables businesses to directly target ads to specific audiences that have indicated interest on Facebook, Google, and Google’s partner sites, such as those who have downloaded an app, signed up for an email list or viewed a website. 
2. Retargeting refers to the process of directly targeting Facebook ads to users who have already visited your website or are in your database, either by pixel-based retargeting (adding a piece of code to your site to track actions taken on the webpage) or list-based retargeting (defining an audience based on the contact information in your database). 

Lastly, invest in high-quality creative if you want to leverage Facebook ads for eCommerce. Creative refers to the copy and imagery (as in the photo, video, or media collection) used in your Facebook ad. With intense competition on Facebook, your ad creative must be compelling to grab users’ attention. Read on to learn the different types of available campaigns. 

Facebook eCommerce Campaigns That Work

When it comes to Facebook ads for eCommerce, there are a variety of creative types that can drive conversions. In particular, your Facebook ads strategy should include a blend of five different eCommerce advertisements: dynamic ads, collection ads, video ads, lead ads, and Instant Experience ads. Take a look at the role each plays in a Facebook eCommerce campaign. 

Dynamic ads explicitly target users on their past behavior on your eCommerce website based on data from your Facebook pixel. To launch a dynamic ad, an ad template will automatically pull imagery and details you would like to advertise from your specified Facebook product feed and catalog. 

Collection ads are mobile-only Facebook ads for eCommerce that feature images, videos, or slideshows above a standard carousel of product images. Collection ads help encompass your entire eCommerce brand or line of products and can be organized similarly to a dynamic ad. 

Video ads refer to Facebook ads for eCommerce that leverage a video file as the primary creative. Videos enable eCommerce brands to tell their story sequentially or in a way that allows them to showcase products, build an audience of video viewers, and then retarget them. 

Lead ads are a type of display ad (or advertisement that combines imagery, copy, and a URL to learn more) that can be viewed in a user’s newsfeed or story and include Instant Forms to seamlessly gather contact information details, such as email address or phone number, for further targeting.

Instant Experience ads appear like a standard video or image ad in a user’s newsfeed but can open into full-page, fully interactive advertisements on mobile devices. Formerly known as Canvas Ads, Instant Experiences combine tagged products, product carousels, and more in a single ad. 

High-Converting eCommerce Facebook Ads

With tips for Facebook eCommerce strategy and eCommerce campaigns on lock, we can discuss high-converting eCommerce Facebook ads. What details should be included in Facebook ads that convert? To start, you must understand your audience. Then, use all consumer data you have on file, including your email list, to create a basic buyer persona that encapsulates your Facebook audience. 

Once you have defined your audience — with the necessary details for demographics and buying behavior — you can begin to craft your Facebook ads for eCommerce. Remember, visual ads rule on Facebook, but written content can give you an edge. An astounding 92% of U.S. consumers view video ads with the sound off, so written content will help convey your message.⁹ Plus, millions of Facebook users require accessibility features that cater more effectively to written content. 

To create high-converting eCommerce Facebook ads, focus on these two elements:

1. Write compelling calls to action (CTAs). The CTA encourages users to take your desired action, whether clicking through to your website or making a purchase. Entice users with CTAs that are time-focused (like “act soon while supplies last”), savings-focused (like “order now for 10% off”), or social-focused (like “join thousands who subscribed”). 
2. Place your value proposition in the image. Your value proposition describes why a user should engage with your Facebook advertisement. It is what they will receive or what makes your eCommerce product or offers better than the rest. Place your value proposition in the image to convey these details immediately before the user can scroll. 

Last but certainly not least, build landing pages optimized for conversions. A landing page is a URL where you will direct traffic from a Facebook ad for eCommerce, like a product collection page. To be optimized for conversions, a landing page must explicitly correlate to the subject matter of the ad, clearly outline the value proposition of the offer, and include a simple way to convert, like a brightly-labeled button that is placed above the fold (positioned in the upper half of the page). 

Drive Conversions with Facebook Ads for eCommerce

With numerous campaign types and tactics to master, marketing eCommerce on Facebook is not for the faint of heart. To succeed with a Facebook ads strategy, eCommerce operators must clearly define an audience, leverage multiple methods of targeting, and craft messages across multiple campaign formats. In other words, eCommerce campaigns are quite an undertaking.

If you operate an eCommerce website and have been curious about Facebook ads strategy, consult with a trusted full-service marketing agency. Our multifaceted team at Bullseye Strategy can help specify your desired audience, enable pixel- and list-based targeting, and develop robust, eye-catching eCommerce campaigns. Contact us today to drive conversions with Facebook ads. 

Sources: 

1. https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/ 
2. https://www.hootsuite.com/resources/digital-trends-q4-update 
3. https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/what-s-behind-social-commerce-surge-5-charts 
4. https://www.insiderintelligence.com/chart/227803/us-social-referral-share-ecommerce-sites-by-platform-q1-2019-of-total 
5. https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/tiktok-will-match-facebook-social-buyer-penetration 
6. https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/facebook-still-generates-most-meta-ad-revenues-instagram-drives-growth
7. https://scalecrush.io/blog/average-ctr-facebook-ads 
8. https://trustmary.com/conversion-rate/conversion-rate-for-facebook-ads-what-to-expect/ 
9. https://www.nexttv.com/news/mobile-videos-often-watched-without-audio-study-finds