Introduction
Retargeting audiences, often referred to as warm traffic, consist of individuals who have already engaged with your online course brand in some way.
This engagement can include visiting your course website, clicking through your site, following you on social media platforms, or being on your email list.
Setting up your retargeting audiences correctly from the beginning will prove a game-changer for optimizing your advertising efforts and maximizing your return on investment (ROI).
Streamline your workflow and ensure that your ads reach the right people at the right time by investing time upfront to define your target audience and create effective retargeting lists.
Website Custom Audience
In your Meta Business Manager, go to your Audiences section.
Click on the option to create a new custom audience. This will open up a page where you can define the parameters of your audience.
Choose Website to create an audience based on website and pixel data. This allows you to retarget individuals who have visited your online course website.
Ensure that your Facebook pixel is set up correctly. A green color under Source indicates that your pixel is tracking data properly.
Specify the duration for which you want to track website visitors. In this case, opt for 180 days, the maximum duration allowed by Facebook.
Give the audience you’ve just created a descriptive name, such as Website Visitors 180 Days.
Instagram Custom Audience
Within the same Audiences section in your Meta Business Manager, create a new custom audience.
This time select the option to create an audience based on engagement with your Instagram account.
Set the duration to capture everyone who has engaged with your Instagram account within the last 365 days.
Give the new audience a name like IG Engagement 365 Days.
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Facebook Custom Audience
You’re still within the Audiences section in your Meta Business Manager, and you’re now creating a custom audience based on engagement with your Facebook page.
Capture everyone who has actively engaged with your Facebook content related to your online course over the past 365 days.
Name this one something like FB Engagers 365 Days.
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Customer List(s)
All Contacts List
Start by going into your CRM platform (MailChimp, ActiveCampaign etc) and exporting all contacts as a CSV file.
Make sure the file includes essential data such as first and last name and email address.
Then in your Meta Business Manager, create a new audience by selecting Customer List. Upload your CSV file containing all contacts and name it something recognizable like All Contacts List.
Make sure to map the relevant fields such as first name, last name and email before clicking on Import and Create.
Customers Only List
Create a separate export containing only customers who have made a purchase. This list excludes contacts who are only subscribed to your email list and haven’t enrolled in any courses.
Repeat the same steps for creating a customer list, but for this audience, upload your CSV containing only customers who have made purchases.
Name it Customer Only List to distinguish it from the previous one.
Your Core Audiences for Personalized Retargeting
Segmenting your audience based on their interactions with your brand across different platforms and channels allows you to create more relevant and personalized retargeting campaigns, ultimately driving better results for your online course promotion.
To briefly recap the audiences you’ve created for your retargeting campaigns:
1. Customer Only List
This is the audience that includes individuals who have enrolled in and purchased your online courses. You can retarget them with specific offers or promotions tailored to their purchase history.
2. All Contacts List
This audience includes all the contacts in your CRM or email list, regardless of whether they’ve made a purchase. Use this audience for broader retargeting efforts and to reach out to convert subscribers who haven’t enrolled yet.
3. FB Engagers 365 Days
This audience contains individuals who have engaged with your Facebook page over the past year. You can retarget them with ads related to your online course and other relevant content to encourage enrollment.
4. IG Engagement 365 Days
Very similar to the Facebook audience, this group consists of users who have engaged with your Instagram account in the last year. Target them with ads based on their interaction with your Instagram content.
5. Website Visitors 180 Days
This audience includes users who have visited your website within the past 180 days. You can use it to retarget them with ads related to the specific pages they visited or actions they took on your website.
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Leverage Your Warm Audience
Merge all the core audiences you’ve created into a WARM WORLDWIDE audience by going to Saved Audience within your Business Manager.
The naming convention lets you know it includes warm leads from various platforms.
Under the Custom Audiences section, add all the audiences you’ve created:
- Customer Only List
- All Contacts List
- FB Page Engagers 365 Days
- IG Engagement 365 Days
- Website Visitors 180 Days
Now you’ve basically consolidated all your warm leads and engaged users from different platforms into one comprehensive audience.
Exclude this audience from cold traffic targeting to ensure your retargeting efforts remain focused on warm leads while your cold traffic campaigns can effectively target new potential customers.
Just like that you’re well on your way to optimizing your online course promotion strategy.
Conclusion
Use this retargeting audience setup to build a solid foundation for your advertising campaigns.
If you find yourself stuck, we talk more about creating a retargeting audience and optimizing your online course ads in our Online Course Ads Accelerator.
Check it out and follow along. Don’t let minor details slow your progress toward boosting your course sales.