In the world of small business, marketing is the fuel that drives the engine of commerce and growth. But in this day and age, marketing has grown far beyond simply handing out business cards or sending mailers. Society, on a global scale, is high-tech, and businesses must market via the latest technological systems in order to stay current. Facebook has relatively recently jumped on board the remarketing or retargeting bandwagon, and it has proven to be a very valuable system for advertisers. Below are three benefits you can obtain from using Facebook advertising and taking advantage of their retargeting initiatives.

What is Remarketing?
To provide some context, a brief definition of remarketing is warranted. Essentially, remarketing is a four-step process.

1. A customer visits a non-Facebook/external site.
2. A tracking flag, called a cookie, is dropped when they search for an item.
3. The customer visits Facebook.
4. Facebook displays an ad for what the customer had just been searching for.

For instance, if a customer searches for “online florist”, visits a floral site, but never makes a purchase, a tracking cookie is dropped for that site. Then, when the customer visits Facebook, Facebook can use that cookie, or tracker, to display an ad for a florist. Hence, “re”-marketing has occurred because the ad is marketing a product “again” to someone who was considering a purchase but did not complete it. How does this benefit you as an advertiser on Facebook?

Next Stop: You
One of the main benefits of the retargeting campaign used by Facebook is that it aims to reach customers at their next online destination after having considered a particular purchase, which is likely to be social media. By remarketing in close proximity to a customer’s original inquiry, it is more likely they will purchase.

Intent to Purchase
When advertising utilizes the remarketing capability, it targets people who already intended to purchase something. This not only increases the likelihood that the person you’re marketing to will purchase, but it greatly improves the efficiency with which you spend your advertising dollars. Instead of target marketing, in which you narrow down who you think your target audience is and then market to them, remarketing takes it a step further and markets directly to the people actively searching and shopping for what you have to offer.

Reaches People Where They Are
Remarketing efforts in general are very effective, but remarketing on social media sites, such as Facebook, reaches customers right where they are. Not only do people use Facebook on their computers, but most also use Facebook from their mobile devices, so you not only reach a specific audience, who you already know is shopping for your product, but you reach them right where they are.

In Short
In short, Facebook’s retargeting capabilities offers you, the business owner, the following benefits:

1. Reaches your audience soon after they originally search for a product/service
2. Targets people who are actively searching/shopping for what you offer
3. Reaches people where they are: social media

Facebook ads used to be very effective for obtaining “likes” and not much else, but now that they are using retargeting tactics, that has changed. These ads are very beneficial and highly effective, saving time and money for small business owners.