As the need to be competitive has increased, so have the technologies backing some of the most personalized marketing campaigns around. Imagine this – you’re shopping online, checking out your favorite store, add an item to your cart, then get distracted and venture away from the site. Then, a few minutes later, you receive an email asking you to return to your cart and complete your purchase. Sound familiar? It should – what you just experienced is a classic example of a trigger campaign.
So what is a trigger campaign? Trigger campaigns are event-based campaigns that are launched on the occurrence of some specific activity. They are not only helpful to boosting online sales, but have become vital to the success of online businesses everywhere.
Cart abandonment, such as in the anecdote provided, is one of the many types of on-site triggers available to businesses interested in running campaigns. And while it is among the most common, an abandoned cart isn’t the only means of capturing a lead and boosting conversions. Some other factors that trigger on-site and email marketing campaigns include: time on site, device, geolocation, cart, and on-site behavior.
- Time on Site
Time is of the essence, and that couldn’t be truer in the world of ecommerce. In today’s climate, businesses have seconds to capture a user’s attention with an alert, incentive, or tactic. Those seconds make all the difference in how successful a business can be. Setting the parameters of a campaign to be triggered by time factors can not only capture, but boost sales depending on how optimized the strategy is.- Idle Time – Setting a campaign to be triggered by idle time on a page or product can remind customers to take an action. Furthermore, it can give customers a timed incentive to buy before their new offer expires.
- Time on Page – The more time a user spends on a product page, the more likely they are considering a purchase. Move them along the funnel with a time trigger, capturing their interest with an incentive and giving them an extra push to becoming a customer.
- Time on Site – Some users are browsers. They spend time on your site, but never seem to convert. Entice long-time visitors with incentives, create urgency with time-sensitive deals, or simply enable an on-site targeted tactic that shows visitors the benefit of making a purchase.
- Device
With shopping capabilities literally at consumer fingertips, device versatility has become crucial; moreover, mobile optimization and cross-device functionality have become the backbone of many marketing and business strategies. Implementing a trigger campaign that caters to this shift in the consumer journey has proven itself to be successful when done correctly.- Mobile Optimization – Optimizing your site, funnel, and strategies to trigger when you have mobile visitors is essential. It allows customers to conveniently shop from their phones or other devices. You can take it one step further and enable click-to-call functions for appointments, reservations, even customer service, making the opportunities to generate business seamless across all devices.
- Geolocation
Location, location, location! The concept of location is no longer only relevant to real estate. Having valuable information on your consumer’s location makes it possible to market and strategize for the most impact. Setting an on-site trigger to run campaigns based on state, country, region, and even language can take campaign efficiency and conversion rate to the next level.
- Cart
As previously mentioned, cart abandonment is among the most (if not the most) popular form of trigger marketing. When a user abandons a cart, an email is triggered to send if the contact information is readily available; however, abandoned carts are not the only means of increasing conversion rates and meeting sales goals. There’s a multitude of cart factors, such as value threshold and items in cart, that can be leveraged to increase sales and AOV (Average Order Value).- Value Threshold – If a customer’s cart value is at a threshold where they could be eligible for a deal, promo, or incentive, a trigger tactic could be used. This trigger tactic would then show customers the value to them when they meet that number. In turn, this could get them to add items to their carts in order to meet or exceed that cart value and increase AOV. It’s a win-win.
- Suggested Products – Using items in active cart as a means to trigger product recommendation engines could help lead customers to purchase complementary or supplementary products at various stages of the conversion funnel.
- On-Site Behavior
The behavior of your potential customers is very telling of their intent, and it can also help with guiding them to purchase if used properly. Having technology to monitor their on-site journey can make a huge impact on how well your conversion strategies perform. Close attention to scroll percentage, button navigation, and visit frequency can dictate what triggers to gear toward your own campaigns.- Scroll Percentage – Above the fold, below the fold, 30% scroll, the list goes on. Defining a scroll percentage helps define the browsing action a user has to take on your site before seeing your campaign. This helps prevent false launches, as well as keeps your ads from inundating users the moment they enter.
- Back Button – Hitting the back button doesn’t always mean abandonment. As a matter of fact, the back button has become a means of modern day site navigation. Using back button detection to monitor how many times or how quickly a user is hitting the back button can help determine how quickly (or slowly) to launch your on-site campaigns.
- Multiple Visits – If a shopper is on their second or third visit, you can tailor your trigger tactics to monitor these repeat visits and launch. This entices potential customers with loyalty incentives based off frequency on your site.
There are many ways to capture your customers. Which are you willing to try? Considering cart abandonment is among the most popular, it also means customers are becoming less motivated by traditional campaigns. Take your campaigns to the next level with on-site and email trigger technologies.