Retargeting with Facebook Exchange (FBX)

Why you need to jump on the Facebook Exchange Bandwagon right now

In a previous post, Remarketing using Facebook’s Ad Exchange, we gave a quick briefing on Facebook Exchange. I looked at the basics of FBX, factors in choosing a partner and how to target your audience.

In this follow-up, I’ll provide you with a more in-depth and advanced look at retargeting with Facebook Exchange, some early performance numbers and why you need to take advantage of FBX right now.

• Conversion Numbers, Off to a strong start

If you haven’t been paying attention to Facebook lately, it’s time for a wake-up call. The early conversion numbers on Facebook’s new ad exchange, FBX, are going to cause some jaws to drop in Internet marketing land.

FBX is bought on a dynamic CPM basis, and if you want to use Facebook’s treasure trove of data, you’re out of luck. That’s the downside of FBX.

The upside is that if you have your own data, you can bring it to the table and take retargeting to new heights by delivering display impressions to the Facebook users who are most likely to convert.

Another drawback: Not everyone has been invited to this party just yet. Facebook is only working with a limited number of DSPs. But when it comes to your skill set, both display and search marketers should feel right at home on FBX. In most respects, FBX is pretty similar to other major ad exchanges.

Real-time bidding is at the heart of the process, and that’s something that search marketers should know a thing or two about.

• Targeting Intent Inside Facebook

But that’s not the only way search marketers can mark their territory on FBX. Three months after Facebook launched FBX, it partnered with my company, Chango, to bring Search Retargeting to the exchange. That means that you can now target your impressions to Facebook users based on the searches they’ve made on Google, Bing, and Yahoo!. In other words, the intent signal that makes search marketing so insanely effective is now working its magic on Facebook. And since you’re targeting based on search terms, you don’t have to limit yourself to your existing site visitors. This is good old fashion prospecting we’re talking about.

So, how do you take advantage? A good first step it take your existing retargeting programs and extend them to FBX — the price alone is going to make your campaign more efficient. And don’t forget that on FBX you can do most of the same things you can do on other exchanges. Take Geo-targeting: FBX doesn’t come with built-in geo-targeting options, but partner platforms can work around this by leveraging an individual’s last known geo-location. And, as long as your platform partner is at it, have it target by time of day and day of the week as well.

There's No Better Time to Get Started Than Right Now

So, what’s it all mean? In a nutshell, it means that you can’t sit around and complain that Facebook isn’t providing data. Find the DSP with the best data and get your campaigns running on Facebook now. These low CPMs aren’t going to last forever.

Ben Plomion is VP of Marketing & Partnerships at Chango, where he heads up marketing and is also responsible for expanding the company’s data and media partnerships. Prior to joining Chango, Ben worked with GE Capital for four years to establish and lead the digital media practice. This led to the development of GE Capital’s digital value proposition and its execution worldwide. The new venture re-energized paid, owned and earned media across 70+ web sites. Ben graduated from GE’s Experienced Commercial Leadership program after completing his MBA at McGill University. Before GE, Ben held a variety of Marketing & Business Development roles in the e-payments industry, while working at Gemalto in London. Ben writes frequently for Digiday, CMO.com and Search Engine Watch. Thanks to Ben for sharing his advice and opinions in this post. You can follow him on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.