4 Ways to Drive Brick-and-Mortar Sales Via Facebook and Instagram Ads

The shopper’s experience is vastly different than it was 10 years ago. With multiple ways to shop, consumers are finding and purchasing products both online and in-store. As brick-and-mortar stores come under pressure from the growth online shopping, the truth is that many shoppers appreciate going into a physical store. The immediacy of receiving items, the ability to try things on, and the lack of shipping fees are just some of the benefits of in-store shopping.

If you’re not optimizing your online advertising for online-to-offline commerce, you’re missing the opportunity to maximize revenue. The vast majority of impulse purchases still take place in brick-and-mortar stores.

To help retailers overcome the challenge of online-to-offline, we’ve put together four creative elements on how to leverage your brick-and-mortar stores in Facebook and Instagram ads.

1. Tout the ability to interact with products in person.

Share with your customers how they will benefit from visiting one of your stores. According to a recent study from BigCommerce, the inability to try products in advance is consumers’ least favorite thing about making online purchases. Use ad copy to explain that by going in-store, shoppers can interact with products before making a purchase decision.

One way to do this is by targeting shoppers that viewed a product online and chose not to purchase it. For example, a shopper who viewed jeans on your site but ended up abandoning their cart could be encouraged to go in-store to try them on. Use copy such as “Wanting the perfect fit? Try them on at your nearest store.”

2. Highlight in-store-only promotions.

To drive shoppers to brick-and-mortar locations, many brands are creating in-store-only offers and deals. Use Facebook’s creative options to overlay these deals in your dynamic ads:

• percentage off sale products;
• free shipping offers; and
• strikethrough effect for reduced prices.

Facebook’s overlay options are limited, but working with a Facebook Marketing Partner can help you unlock more advanced creative. You could create custom overlays (e.g., “One-day sale” or “Buy one, get one,”) that completely align with your brand guidelines. By updating your creative with these deals, you'll make it clear that shopping in-store can be a valuable experience.

3. Provide information on a product’s availability.

No one wants a desired item to run out of stock. By sharing real-time inventory information through your ads, you can retarget shoppers who browsed your site for a particular item to inform them how many are left in stock at their local store. If they know that only a limited supply is left, they may feel more inclined to make a purchase.

Another way to use this information is for cross-selling campaigns. If your customer bought new earrings online, you could inform them that there are complementary items — e.g. a necklace or bracelet — available immediately in-store.

4. Share details on your stores’ locations.

By using a map card within carousel ads, shoppers can see your nearest store location without having to conduct a search. The map card is presented as a slide that features a map, store distance, hours and contact information. This will help the shopper realize that your store is within a sensible radius and it won’t require much time or effort to make their purchase.

Maximize In-Store Revenue and Gain Better Insights

These four tactics will help you boost in-store revenue, provide your customers with a better omnichannel experience, and gain a better understanding of your online-to-offline campaigns. You can then use these insights to further optimize your omnichannel strategies.

Declan Kennedy is the CEO and co-founder of StitcherAds, a Facebook Marketing Partner.