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I noticed something happening in my social network while my friends and I were all distancing and stuck at home: apparently everyone’s getting a Peloton. I started to watch friends posting about their favorite instructors and how they “PR’d” again, so I began to sniff around Peloton’s website. What if I might want to have my own witty “handle” on this “leaderboard” thing they’re always talking about?

My online snooping of this highly-coveted stationary bike actually lends to this month’s discussion about social media marketing- specifically, the use of lookalike audiences.

You see, once I visited Peloton’s site, I instantly found my Facebook news feed peppered with other stationary bikes with their own touchscreens, apps, and digital instruction. NordicTrack, Bowflex, and Echelon are three direct competitors in the indoor exercise bike space. Their ads reached me immediately. To them, I was their newest, hottest lead. But how?

In short, my search for a Peloton fast-tracked me into those competitors’ lookalike audiences.

We could spend a lot of time peeling back the layers of the many ways in which these companies utilize the Facebook Pixel tool. However, the most important takeaway is that these companies are able to instantly identify and market to people who exhibit considerably similar behaviors to their core audience. Their core audience simply consists of people who are already following their page, visiting their site, and purchasing their products.

This highly effective marketing approach takes the most important details about companies’ current customers, and works backwards to find more people just like them. They’ll build ad campaigns around these audiences, ensuring that their ad spend only goes toward their warmest leads. They can even make sure they aren’t advertising to people who have already converted to customers.

Your business already has access to this marketing tool. If you’re looking for a way to create a social media ad campaign that reaches people who don’t even know to be looking for you, here are the 7 steps to take:

1. Set up your Facebook Business Manager account.
2. Open your Facebook Ads Manager (keep in mind, using Facebook’s ad network allows you to advertise across other platforms including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger).
3. Go to the Audiences option, select Create Audience, then click on Lookalike Audience.
4. Identify/Select your source audience. This would be one you have created from things like fans of your page, or visitors of your site (if you’re using Pixel).
5. Choose the geographic region you’d like to target.
6. Select your audience size.
7. Create your advertisement! Once you develop your lookalike audience, you’ll have the option to select the link to create your ad.

Not only do we focus on building beautiful websites, we take a holistic approach to your business’ online presence. We know that a polished website that displays at the top of any search is important. Yet, we also know that social media is responsible for a majority of website traffic. It’s still a vastly underutilized marketing tool, and we want to do our best to demystify that for you.

Now, we’d like to take a chance to talk about three businesses who have entrusted their online presence with Jason Hunter Design: