Facebook Abandoned Cart Retargeting [Step-by-Step Blueprint]

How to Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook [Blueprint for an INSANE Conversion Rate]

Ever been shopping on a website and then you come on to Facebook and see that product pop up? They will have been using cart abandonment remarketing with Facebook ads.

Let’s say that you are shopping on Amazon for FIFA 18. You found the product, had a read of the reviews and decided in your mind you’ll buy it later.

Amazon is the largest ecommerce store in the world and has a VERY large marketing team and budget and has a very good understanding of customer psychology.  They know that a large majority of people who browse won’t buy straight away so they will need to install a Facebook Pixel so that they can retarget people who have viewed the product.

Some people will see Ads with just a reminder that Amazon sells FIFA 18, other people will see offers based on their website behaviour.  If somebody has added the game to cart or wishlist then they are further in the buyer journey, but there may be underlining reasons holding them back.  So, Amazon will create Facebook adverts with offers and discounts with the hope that it will tip you over the edge and buy.

Retargeting an abandoned cart effectively really can make the difference between a successful advertising campaign and an unsuccessful campaign. In the following article, abandoned cart retargeting will be explained step by step and will give you a good understanding of how it works but most importantly, you will receive actionable tips you can act on today.

Getting Started

What is a Facebook Pixel and how does it work?

A Facebook Pixel is a snippet of code that you can insert into the coding of your website. You usually insert the snippet of code into the header of your website but you can also insert it in the footer or the body of individual pages.  Note that if you place it in the body of a page it will only work for one page and not the whole website.

When someone visits your website, the Facebook Pixel is triggered and drops a cookie into the visitor’s browsers cache.  The cookies are used so that you can retarget visitors later.  The Facebook Pixel is great for tracking a visitor’s behaviour when they are on your website. If you use Google Display Ads you will recognise a similar concept of retargeting.

Installing the Facebook Pixel

If you have already installed the Facebook Pixel you can skip this step, but if you have not got one set up yet then please follow these steps carefully.

  1. Go to Ads Manager, hover over Facebook Adverts in the top left-hand corner. Go to all tools and then under “Assets” click Pixels.
Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

2. Click “Create a Pixel”

Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

3. Click the second option

Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

4. Copy the code that you are given, it should look something like this:

Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

5. Head over to your website and locate the header tags and paste the code inside the header tags.

Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

6. Test your pixel to make sure it is there and working. You can either follow the photo below or download a Chrome extension called Facebook Pixel Helper.

Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

Retargeting Options

In the following, we are going to go through how to advertise to people who have viewed your product but not added to their Cart first.

Secondly, we will go through how to target people who have added an item to their cart but have not Checkout. This is where you can get SERIOUS cart abandonment retargeting results.

To understand the following you will need:

  • Product pages
  • Cart Page
  • Thank you Page

View – No Add to Cart (Regular Retargeting)

1.Go to “Audiences” under the “Assets” Section.

Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

2. Click “Custom Audience” under the “Create Audience” tab

Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

3. Select “Website Traffic”

Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

4. Select “People who visited specific web pages”

Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

5. Insert the URL of your chosen products in the available field, make sure the URL is formatted correctly. You do not need to include the domain name, just remember to include everything after it. Press enter.


6. Click “And also” then click the arrow next to where it says “contains” and then select “Exclude” in the botton right. Add the URL of your Cart it is usually something like “www.yourdomain.com/cart/”Name the Audience “Your Product + View + No Add to Cart”Click “Create Audience”

Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

Add to Cart – NO Checkout (Advanced Retargeting)

  1. Keep the product the same, delete the cart from the exclusion section and add it under “People who visited specific web pages” (like the image below)

2. Press “Exclude” and type in your Thank You page URL. Note that this is different to your checkout page. Name your Audience “Your Product – Add to Cart – No Checkout”

Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

Create Ads

Head on over to Ads Manager and click “Create Advert” and start a traffic campaign.

Here is what the Product 1 – Add to Cart – No Checkout looks like when you are starting to build an advert on Advert Manager.

Retarget Abandoned Carts on Facebook

Ads for people who have just viewed products

The aim here is to get people to add products to their Cart or convert straightway. To get people to do this try and:

  • Show multiple pictures of the product
  • Display some of the benefits
  • Show some customer reviews
  • Show product demonstrations
  • Cross-sells/Upsells

Ads for people who have added product to cart

At this point, you want to try and get people to push the checkout button. Some people may need extra prompting or a simple offer may just push people to buy. Try and include:

  • Discounts
  • Free shipping offers
  • Cross-sells/Upsells

Uploading a Product Catalogue to Facebook

You will want to use the product catalogue feature on Facebook when you are looking to upload multiple items to Facebook. This saves a lot of time when creating actual ads and importing items.

Shopify

WooCommerce

Summary

It is essential once you have a steady stream of traffic coming to your website, the Facebook Pixel will pick up lots of useful data for retargeting and building lookalike audiences in the future.

Create cart retargeting adverts for people at different stages of buying each of your products and see your conversion rate soar.

What next?

At Fly High Media we build Facebook Advertising strategies that convert visitors into customers.

Get in touch today to see how we can make your business more money through Facebook Advertising.

5 Brand Experience Trends for Spring 2024

Matt Pyke Named North West’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year! 

Welcome Shelley, Our New SEO Assistant!

Get in touch

Let’s find the best solution for your business