Has a friend ever asked you what you think of their new girlfriend and found yourself at a loss for words because she looks exactly like their ex? You’re not alone. The reason is that people are predictable. As humans, we tend to gravitate toward what is familiar. People who share our values and trends that aren’t too far from what we already know and like. As marketers, though, this is a very good thing.
Lookalike targeting allows you to take advantage of this by marketing to audiences that behave similarly to your most valuable customers. This increases the chances of these customers noticing and engaging with your brand. Because we can’t be everywhere at once, or market to every audience effectively, lookalike targeting allows you to go after your most likely wins first and invest resources in the most likely path of success.
FIRST, WHAT IS LOOKALIKE TARGETING:
Because past performance is the best indication of future success, lookalike targeting serves content to potential customers who are searching, surfing, and interacting in similar ways to your target audience. Similar search patterns won’t necessarily cause customers to purchase your products, but the expectation is that these users are similar enough to your actual customers. This means they might be interested in your brand. Lookalike targeting also seeks out audiences who fall into similar sociodemographic categories that might serve as a benchmark weeding tool to ensure your messaging is reaching the right people. For example, if your brand targets pregnant women, simple lookalike targeting reaches women similar to your customers – likely between the ages of 20-50. They are searching similar baby brands on social media and far more likely to purchase than open advertising campaigns.
IS THIS LEGAL AND HOW CAN I GET IN ON THE ACTION:
Lookalike targeting is completely legal. Facebook’s ads manager allows you to very specifically and effectively engage in lookalike targeting with costs in line along with other advertising options. Thanks to the growing popularity of social sign on (an option where people can sign up for websites or newsletters with their social media accounts rather than entering their email and a password), we have the ability to track who is surfing for what even once they leave your site.
A customer might sign on to their favorite blog using their Facebook account, and then log on to Amazon using that same Facebook account. And Facebook aggregates it all. People are willing to forgo a level of privacy for the convenience and efficiency of social sign on. But there’s nothing nefarious going on here. The more we know about our web traffic, the better, more relevant content we can serve them. Which makes the browsing experience better all around.
HOW WE CAN HELP:
Once you have an amazing, primed audience you need to serve them amazing content. We’ll help you strike a balance between being too similar to your competition, but not so dissimilar that you lose these lookalikes’ interest. Audience is a big part of the equation, but content is still king (and always will be). Lookalike targeting is great for businesses on a budget to ensure you’re getting the most out of your marketing efforts without wasting money talking to people who will likely never buy your products. It’s a way to be everywhere you need to be, without trying to be everywhere at once, and a great way to give yourself a little competitive advantage.
Click here to learn more about the types of content we’ve created for clients like you or set up a free consultation to learn how we can target the right prospective customers.
