There are plenty of digital marketing myths floating around these days and they’re holding back businesses in virtually every industry. Many of those myths are old ‘best practices’ that haven’t been challenged in some time. Each week, we’ll dive into some of the most common marketing myths and analyze them to see if they still hold up to today’s fast-paced digital world.
When it comes to retargeting marketing, it’s easy to see why some people – consumers and marketers alike – might consider it a bit stalker-ish. After all, it can feel a bit ‘Big Brother is Watching’ when images and links to items shoppers have viewed start popping up on their social media news feed.
But, with 69.23% of consumers choosing to abandon their cart at the transaction stage, the potential to reach users with retargeting marketing is often too big to ignore. But how can you do it in a way that works to encourage instead of putting them off?
Three words immediately spring to mind:
- Personalization
- Relevance
- Engaging
If you can incorporate those three things into your retargeting marketing strategy, your conversion rates are sure to benefit. That could make working on a new retargeting marketing style very worthwhile.
Make it More Personal
For most businesses, the biggest pool of potential customers comes from cart abandoners. But, there are other users who could respond to remarketing too. The key is to split your retargeting lists into different categories and craft retargeting ads, images and copy for each specific group.
If you’re in a position to initially contact one group with your retargeting efforts, then going for the biggest group is usually the best plan. But, make sure you’re sending them the right emails and giving them copy and ads that are congruent with the stage they left your site.
If a potential customer has left your site at the payment stage – using pixels on key pages will help you determine this – then start there. An email asking if they’ve forgotten something combined with images of the items and similar items on social media are both great ideas. You’re not treating them as a new visitor and you’re reminding them of something they were reasonably interested in.
Another way to keep your retargeting marketing style tailored to that group is through the length of time you attempt to engage with them. While the default option on some programs recommend three months, for most consumer-related items that’s simply too long. We recommend no longer than 30 days, or even less if they’re shopping for discounted items where the sale date ends soon.
Remember, data shows that retargeting ads are 76% more likely to be clicked on than regular catchall ads, so make that rate count. Put in a bit extra and create ads specific to each remarketing group you plan on engaging with.
Make your Business Relevant for your Retargetees
Personalization has covered some of this, but there’s more you can do to make your retargeting marketing ads relevant for potential customers. In some cases, users will have visited a couple of pages on your website and even considered making a purchase, before they left.
If your business has a particular ethos or message, rather than simply asking the potential customer to return to their shopping cart, you could educate them a bit more about your background. Do this by sending them to your added value pages. Send retargeting links or ads that direct potential customers to blog pages or an about us page.
These details will show your previous visitors, who have not yet turned into customers, what matters to your business. And, in some cases, this additional information on your company, employees or origin, could make your firm more relevant to your audience.
Knowing where a product is a made, where the parts are sourced or where employees come from is important to some customers. For others, charity or community support or a family background can make a difference.
Don’t lay it on too thick. But, by sharing a bit more information about your business, you could convert a few more of those retargeted visitors and create some useful marketing material that can be re-purposed in the future, too.
Take the Time to Create Engaging Retargeting Content
Creating engaging retargeting marketing content is a very important detail. You already have their details and can email and show them ads. But, you want to do all you can to ensure potential customers are really seeing and taking in what you’re showing them.
Ways to do this include:
- Create and show a variety of images.
- Re-word your core message for each image.
- Don’t just make sales-related ads, educate too.
- Make specific ads for specific formats.
Data shows that consumers’ attention span has shrunk to just eight seconds, make that time count. Don’t just re-send the same old ad in your retargeting marketing campaigns. Create new and different imagery and although you want to send the same message, do so with different words and phrases. Really show potential customers who you are and what you’ve got to say.
Of course, you don’t want to make your retargeting ads and emails overly complicated as that could put more people off than you attract. But, with the right tweaks, your retargeting marketing strategy should encourage more engagement and – hopefully – conversions.
Make Retargeting Marketing Work for You
As you can see, it shouldn’t take a lot of change to transform your remarketing strategy into something that’s engaging and successful. Make that effort count by doing it thoroughly and monitoring the results closely, too.
Once you’re in the habit of responding to your customers’ needs and wants, it should be an easy habit to keep. Hopefully, that will turn your business into a habit your customers enjoy sticking with too!
Have you ever been ‘creeped out’ by a retargeted ad? Maybe you’ve seen a company doing it in a way is less stalker, and more helper. Either way, let us know in the comments.