Email re-targeting is a no-brainer.I bet you didn’t know today, Feb. 27, is known as “No-Brainer Day.” In honor of this oh-so-well-known day, I’d like to discuss something that really is a no-brainer for marketers: email re-targeting.

As marketers we ALL know it costs less to retain a customer than to acquire a new one. Acquisition strategies are important and a key component of any email marketing program.

However, today we will be discussing the best ways to retain those customers you have already acquired. Now that’s a no-brainer!

Email retargeting campaigns are designed to persuade a customer to purchase, complete an online transaction they began but didn’t finish, replenish a previously purchased item, or purchase a complementary item.

When done correctly, these campaigns are the most targeted and engaging messages you can deploy, as they’re not only based on profiling attributes, but also on precise customer behavior.

Here are three popular email re-targeting campaigns that are a no-brainers.

Abandonment Campaigns

Whether a site visitor has abandoned a shopping cart, a category page or even a specific product page, he or she has shown interest in what your company has to offer.

Re-targeting that visitor with relevant content in a timely manner can be impactful to your bottom line. Abandonment emails are known to be huge revenue drivers and can make up a large percentage of your overall email channel revenue.

Recent studies confirm shopping cart abandonment rates are as high as 70 percent. Not leaving that potential revenue on the table is definitely a no-brainer.

Here

Replenishment Campaigns

You’ve overcome the biggest hurdle: you got the order! Now your goal should be to turn this one-time buyer into a repeat loyal customer.

Replenishment emails help you re-target that customer with relevant messaging that relates to their purchase. Based on data you can calculate how long it takes customers to run out of your products, when they should upgrade or be ripe to purchase a similar product.

Remind your buyers to buy from YOU again before they just perform a simple online search and choose the lowest price instead.

An excellent use of a replenishment campaign is this one from Brita.

Product Recommendation Campaigns

Create re-targeting campaigns that cross-sell or up-sell using your own purchase history data or a third-party product recommendation engine. These campaigns are sometimes referred to as product alert messages.

It’s also a good idea to include these recommendations in other email campaigns, too.

For example: Add a right-hand rail of recommended products to your order and shipping confirmation messages or create a product row in your promotional email template where you can advertise these recommended options.

Check out this email re-targeting via a product recommendation campaign.

No matter what type of email retargeting campaign you’re sending, be sure the emails are straightforward and contain one clear objective: complete the conversion.

Successful retargeting email campaigns are reliant on customer data – email metrics, clickstream activity, past-purchase history, and CRM data. Chances are you already have all of the data you need even if you haven’t used it in this way in the past.

In honor of No-Brainer Day, make sure you are sending the best re-targeting email campaigns possible.

I would love to hear which re-targeting campaigns are performing the best for you.