by If you’ve read our guide on how to retarget audiences to promote your next event, you might be wondering how Facebook retargeting for events works.
You’re in luck, because that’s what we’re about to cover right now.
This article will walk you through…
- What the Facebook Pixel is
- How to create one and install it
- What Custom Audiences are
- How to create your own
- Common Custom Audiences you can use
- General tips for optimising your retargeting campaign
What is Facebook Pixel?
Imagine that you’ve created a Facebook ad for your event and included a button that directs people to your event website.
Once they’ve visited your event website, they might have a look around and decide to get back to it later. But what happens when life distracts them and they forget about your event?
That’s where the Facebook Pixel comes in. It’s a small piece of code you can install on your event website to retarget visitors who’ve not yet booked their tickets.
Once they’ve visited your site and moved on with their life, they’ll begin to see your retargeting ads everywhere they go online.
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How to install the Facebook Pixel
It’s very quick and easy to create a Facebook Pixel, but how easy it’ll be to integrate into your website depends on how it is set up. We’ll get to that in a bit.
For now, go to the Facebook Ads Manager and click on “Business Manager” tab in the upper left corner. Choose “Pixels” under “Measure & Report”.
Click “Add New Data Source” and choose “Facebook Pixel”.
Now enter the name for your Facebook Pixel and click “Create”.
You’ll now be presented with three options for installing your Facebook Pixel.
As you can see, Facebook supports a range of different platforms. If you’re using a ticketing platform like Billetto, then you’ll be able to connect your Facebook Pixel to the event listing.
Another way to use Facebook Pixel is to install it on your website manually. If you’re using a website platform like WordPress, it should be smooth sailing.
Watch the video below to see how you install the Facebook Pixel on a WordPress site:
The last option is to send the Facebook Pixel code on to your website developer. That’s by far the easiest option and will leave you more time to focus on marketing your event.
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What are Custom Audiences on Facebook?
Facebook allows you to create audiences of all kinds when you set up an ad to promote your event. You can, for example, target people who live close to the location of your event.
Tip: Read our guide on how to segment your event audiences to get a better idea of how to create audiences on Facebook.
Custom Audiences work a bit differently from your run-of-the-mill Facebook audiences. Here, you can create audiences based on data that you feed into Facebook.
One way to do that is to upload your mailing list to Facebook and create a Custom Audience based on that. Another way is to use the data gathered from the Facebook Pixel.
How to create Custom Audiences on Facebook
Go back to the main dashboard of the Facebook Ads Manager and click on “Business Manager” tab in the upper left corner. Choose “Audiences” under “Assets”.
Now click the “Create Audience” tab and select “Custom Audience”
You’ll now be presented with five different options for how to create your Custom Audience.
The “Customer File” option will allow you to upload your mailing list, as described earlier. That way, you can retarget people you’re already emailing to remind them of your event.
The “Website Traffic” option will allow you to create a Custom Audience based on the visitors to your website once your Facebook Pixel is installed and running.
Click the option, and you’ll see a window that lets you to customise what kind of website traffic you want to retarget with your ads.
The last option we’ll look at is “Engagement”.
If you’ve been promoting your event on Facebook and Instagram with a promo video or images, you can retarget people who’ve engaged with that content.
You can also target people who’ve been engaging with your Facebook event page. Below, you can see some options for what kind of engagement you want to retarget.
You may want to create a few different Custom Audiences on Facebook and experiment with each one to see what works best.
Facebook allows you to create as many Custom Audiences as you want. You can also run campaigns where you exclude certain audiences (people who’ve already bought tickets, for example).
The 5 most common Facebook retargeting audiences
Stuck on what kind of Custom Audiences to create? Let’s go through some of the most common Custom Audiences other marketers use to maximise conversions.
- Abandoned checkouts: people that were close to buying a ticket on your website but abandoned their shopping cart at the last moment.
- Email subscribers: anyone subscribed to your event newsletter that hasn’t yet decided whether they’re attending.
- Video viewers: anyone who has watched your event promo video (3 seconds, 25%, 75%, or 95% of it) or engaged with it by liking, commenting, or sharing.
- Past event attendees: export your customer data from your event management system or ticketing platform and feed it into Facebook.
- Facebook Messenger: retarget anyone who’s messaged your event page via Facebook Messenger.
Tips for retargeting on Facebook
It can be time-consuming to become comfortable with using the Facebook Pixel, creating Custom Audiences, and Facebook ads in general.
Here are some tips to help you speed up the process and become a power user:
1. Limit retargeting to recent website visitors
You don’t want to keep hounding people who’ve visited your event website months ago with ads for an event they’re not interested in.
Facebook allows you to set a time limit when you create your Custom Audience for “Website Traffic.” Make sure you only target people who’ve recently visited your event site.
2. Segment your website visitors
Not everyone who visits your event website will be equally interested. Some will look at every page on your website, while others will cast a glance at the home page and leave.
Retarget the most interested people by segmenting your visitors by how many pages they’ve visited, or focus on people who’ve visited specific pages (like your “Checkout” page).
3. Experiment with your ad creative
Sometimes, it’s not about the audience you’re retargeting but the kind of ad you’re retargeting them with. Experiment with different ad types to see what works best.
Try to change the copy of your ad, or the images, or the promo video you’ve put together. You can even ask your existing attendees what gets them most interested in your event.
Start retargeting
You now have a much better idea of how Facebook retargeting for events works. But every event is unique, so you’ll have to experiment a lot to find the right formula.
Test every aspect of your retargeting campaign, including your audiences and the creative in your Facebook ad.
Drop us a comment and let us know how you get on!