Lookalike Audiences, Should You Be Using Them?
Perspectives and insights on media buying for brands in F&B and Hospitality.
Over the last three months, we have been testing Facebook’s lookalike audiences on our ad buys to see if they work for us. We’ve read reports of them working well with automotive clients, but how about F&B and Hospitality? That’s what we are here to find out.
How we conducted the test:
Where and when we can, we purchased ads for ‘engagement’ using the same budget per day. Between our 5 accounts, over 119 posts were boosted across different objectives.
Types of ads:
Standard interest targeting (benchmark) – keywords related to the brand’s products and services
Lookalike (10%) – people who are 10% similar to your ‘best existing customers’ (official Facebook definition: https://bit.ly/30xgaof )
Lookalike (1%) with Audience File/Re-marketing audience – our Facebook Marketing Expert informed us that starting at 1% before moving to 10% was ideal and should yield better results in the long run, so we ran a test group for this too. To make up for the weaker reach from the 1% Lookalike, we had to combine it with existing audience files and re-marketing audience data (mostly from website traffic in the last 90 days).
We wanted to see what the ROI was on each dollar spent, and that if Lookalike Audiences did in fact deliver on better engagement or more meaningful returns (i.e. opportunities for sales/conversions).
The Results
REACH
If you’re representing an F&B outlet and would like to reach more people, Lookalike Audience (10%) is the way to go.
If you’re representing a hotel and you do target frequent travelers into your country/city, standard targeting will be the way to go if your objective is to reach a wider audience. Despite also including top countries that interact with the brand, Lookalike Audience (10% and 1%) could not reach the highs of our standard targeting models.
IMPRESSIONS
If you’re representing an F&B outlet looking to serve your content at higher impression levels, the Lookalike Audience (10%) is the way forward.
If you’re representing a hotel, standard targeting can net you a higher impression count. However, the Lookalike Audience (1%) is still worth a shout simply because their floor is substantially higher than that of standard targeting.
ENGAGEMENT
Standard targeting gave us a slightly higher ceiling for clicks, but we must give this one to the Lookalike Audience (1%) for delivering the better average. If you’re in the F&B business and looking for clicks, try out Lookalike Audience (1%) supported by your restaurant’s audience file/remarketing list.
If you’re representing a hotel and engagement is your primary objective, go cast your net on people who have a firm interest in the category of products and services that you offer/want to push. Effective standard targeting is miles better than anything the Lookalike Audiences have to offer.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SALES/CONVERSIONS
Although Lookalike Audience (1%) + Audience File gave us the highest link clicks to dollar ratio, Lookalike Audience (10%) produced the most effective turnover. If you’re representing an F&B outlet pushing for sales, try Lookalike Audience (10%).
Effective standard targeting comes up tops once more, and resoundingly so. If you’re representing a hotel and would like to push for sales opportunities, definitely go with a well-tailored interest targeting model.
CONCLUSION
The Lookalike Audience strategy is valid and well alive. Our research has shown that brands (especially those in F&B and Hospitality) will have to incorporate Lookalike strategies to remain competitive and relevant. However, the recommended course of action is never always the same, as we have also proven that a lot of times, nothing beats a well-carved audience target group.
Digital marketing is not difficult but being good at it isn’t easy. That’s where we come in. Drop us a note at info@regal-pines.com and one of our digital marketing experts will be in touch with you soon. Your success is our success.