Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Facebook has a new advertising option for brick-and-mortar retailers—dynamic ads for retail.
Advertising on the social media site hasn’t been tied to changing in-store inventory data in the past, but the new “dynamic ads for retail will only showcase products that are in-stock at a nearby store and display the price found at that location,” according to Facebook.
How does that work?
“As the ads are linked to the local product catalog, if a product sells out in one store the campaign automatically adjusts so that people in that region will no longer see it advertised,” the social media company states. “Product selection for each ad can be optimized based on people’s online and mobile shopping behavior.”
Greater Flexibility for Better Results
Facebook acknowledges that many retailers already use Facebook ads to promote in-store products, but stores haven’t had much flexibility to continuously update ad content.
“Marketing out-of-stock products or inaccurate local prices can lead to a bad customer experience and wasted impressions,” the company says. “Now, with dynamic ads for retail, campaigns can dynamically showcase products available in the store that’s closest to the person seeing the ad.”
Dynamic ads for retail will give consumers more specifically local information, according to Facebook. That information includes local availability; product summaries, so potential shoppers can read more information without leaving Facebook; different action options, so people can contact a nearby store or save product information for future reference; and recommendations of similar products available at nearby stores.
Currently, large retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Macy’s, Pottery Barn and Target are testing the ads. The objective, though, is for the advertising method to become widely available to other retailers in the coming weeks, Facebook says.
Geo-Targeting to Reach More Likely Customers
Another way Facebook is creating new opportunities for advertisers is by allowing them to make their objective to be to “drive people to their stores or business locations,” a CNBC article explains.
Within the next month, Facebook will introduce the marketing project built specifically to drive more people to stores by building “on the geo-targeting and ad format features of the local awareness ad solution,” according to the social media company.
Facebook is able to improve geo-targeting, so advertisers can “define a targeting radius based on population density and desired reach.”
In the CNBC article, the social media company also says it will offer a solution for businesses that want to know the payoff of their Facebook ad spending.
That information will be “based on the activity of people who have enabled location services on their phones: They determine when they visit certain retailers during business hours,” the article says.
