Home Mobile Facebook Messenger Wants To Give Retargeting A Makeover

Facebook Messenger Wants To Give Retargeting A Makeover

SHARE:

Retargeting is largely associated with product ads that stalk users across the internet.

But Facebook sees retargeting as a tactic that can open the door to ongoing engagement within Messenger.

Ted Helwick, the Facebook product manager leading monetization efforts on Messenger, told AdExchanger that “the KPI advertisers tell us they care about most right now is getting users to reply and engage in messages.”

Starting this week, advertisers have the ability to target Messenger ads, which Facebook began testing in July, to optimize for replies and conversations.

Targeting by objective fits with Facebook’s plan to insinuate Messenger into more of the customer journey, from awareness and acquisition to customer service and re-engagement.

In addition to Messenger ads that click directly into conversations, Messenger’s expanding suite of advertising products includes sponsored messages that retarget users and bring them back into existing chats.

But brands also are starting to look at Messenger as a channel for transactions.

American Eagle Outfitters, which created two bots to drum up awareness and sales during the back-to-school and holiday seasons, for example, was mostly focused on generating engagement within Messenger.

The hope now is to move on from the “softer sell” and start driving actual sales, said Kristen D’Arcy, head of performance digital marketing at American Eagle Outfitters.

That’s why the Messenger monetization team is particularly “bullish” on sponsored messages, Helwick said. Brands like American Eagle can start to capitalize on the equity and engagement they’ve built with their audience on Messenger over time.

When brands make the effort to build relationships with their customers and provide helpful customer service within Messenger, it gives them “the right to actually push new products,” said David Marcus, Facebook’s VP of messaging products.

Subscribe

AdExchanger Daily

Get our editors’ roundup delivered to your inbox every weekday.

Because it’s one thing to open a conversation with consumers on Messenger, and it’s another thing to keep that conversation going, Marcus said.

Which is where retargeting comes in.

Retargeting is “a way to get your business objective delivered to you,” Marcus said. “You can talk to your customer until you get to the finish line.”

Must Read

The Trade Desk Maintains Its High Growth Rate And Touts New Channels

“It’s hard not to be bullish about CTV when it’s both our largest channel and our fastest growing,” said The Trade Desk Founder and CEO Green during the company’s earnings report on Thursday.

After The Election, News Corp Has Harsh Words For Advertisers Who Avoided News

News Corp’s chief exec blasted “the blatant biases of ad agencies and ad associations,” which are “boycotting certain media properties” due to “personal political prejudices.”

LiveRamp Outperforms On Earnings And Lays Out Its Data Network Ambitions

LiveRamp reported an unexpected boost to Q3 revenue, from $160 million last year to $185 million in 2024, during its quarterly call with investors on Wednesday.

Privacy! Commerce! Connected TV! Read all about it. Subscribe to AdExchanger Newsletters
Google in the antitrust crosshairs (Law concept. Single line draw design. Full length animation illustration. High quality 4k footage)

Google And The DOJ Recap Their Cases In The Countdown To Closing Arguments

If you’re trying to read more than 1,000 pages of legal documents about the US v. Google ad tech antitrust case on Election Day, you’ve come to the right place.

NYT’s Ad And Subscription Revenue Surge As WaPo Flails

While WaPo recently lost 250,000 subscribers due to concerns over its journalistic independence, NYT added 260,000 subscriptions in Q3 thanks largely to the popularity of its non-news offerings.

Mark Proulx, global director of media quality & responsibility, Kenvue

How Kenvue Avoided $3 Million In Wasted Media Spend

Stop thinking about brand safety verification as “insurance” – a way to avoid undesirable content – and start thinking about it as an opportunity to build positive brand associations, says Kenvue’s Mark Proulx.