Retargeting Magic: The Trick to Increasing Conversion Rate
From learning more about a topic, to seeking the answer to a specific question, to simply browse what’s out there, there are many reasons people visit a website, and most of them aren’t to make a purchase. For a business owner, it can be frustrating to find out that not everyone is ready to buy from you right away, but thankfully you can start using this information to your advantage right away.
Enter retargeting, the art (and magic) of reintroducing yourself to and reengaging site visitors so that you become top-of-mind when they are finally ready to buy. Use this method to start turning more of your site visitors into customers and increasing conversion rate!
How Does Retargeting Work?
In the case of website visitors, the process of retargeting starts with placing a piece of code on your website (a pixel) that drops something called a cookie into the browser of your website’s visitors, which tracks their online activity and allows you to continue to engage with them even after they’ve left your site.
Retargeting allows you to pull together a pool of people who are already somewhat interested in your business, but might not have been ready to purchase at that moment. CMO by Adobe reports that retargeted visitors are 70 percent more likely to convert than those who aren’t, which builds a strong case for implementing retargeting activities!
Retargeting = Relationship-Building
The key to online retargeting is to think of it as building a relationship with your customer. Just like you wouldn’t ask someone to marry you on your first date, you probably shouldn’t expect your site visitors to buy from you on their first visit!
Here are some common audiences that you may choose for retargeting and increasing conversion rate with advertising.
Website Visitors: Remember how your website pixel can capture information about who has visited your website over a certain period of time. People who have gone through the step of learning more about you, by way of coming to your site, can be considered “warmer” leads than those who have never heard of you before. With most advertising options, you can create a pool of people based on when they browsed your site, and what specific pages they browsed on your site.
Email List: You don’t just have to rely on site visitors as your audience to retarget. Your email list is another amazing source of customer information that you can use to find people who are already interested in your business. If they took the time to give you their email address, they already feel some type of connection to what you offer.
Customer List: Retargeting doesn’t have to just be about capturing that first purchase from a new customer. In fact, it’s much more cost effective to retain an existing customer. You can use your current customer list to retarget upsell or cross-sell opportunities on your website.
Retargeting is your opportunity to connect with your current and potential customers, allowing them the opportunity to get to know more about you and your offerings better before they commit (or recommit).
Where to Retarget
There are many sites that allow you to the opportunity to retarget. You’ll probably want to look at your current customer base to understand which channels bring your best customers, and start there.
Facebook: Facebook allows you the option to retarget your customers based on website activity, an uploaded list, or people who’ve engaged with your page. You can create different ads for different audiences consisting of images or video, links, and copy. You can even tailor your ads based on where they’ll appear on Facebook, for example in the news feed or stories sections.
Other Websites: You can use Google Ads to create display ads (visual ads) of your business that appear on other sites that your audience is interested in, but not necessarily while they’re searching for your product. For example, if you sell baby monitors, your ad might appear on a family-focused media site like Romper to people who have added your product to their shopping cart but didn’t complete their purchase.
Pinterest: Pinterest offers a pretty robust audience targeting feature which allows you to share promoted pins with site visitors, customer lists, or even people who’ve engaged with your business on the platform.
Search Retargeting: Google’s search retargeting option is slightly different from the others in that it requires the user to take an action before being served your retargeting ad. Through this channel, you indicate an audience, as well as the term/s they need to search before being delivered your ad. For example, you might want to target visitors who went to your site with a special offer when they go back to Google and search “[your product] sale.”
What to Retarget With
When it comes to the content of your ads, there are so many ways you can structure them to get people excited about your business. While the options are really endless, here are a few popular types of messages you can use for your ads.
More Info: First time site visitors might benefit from an opportunity to learn more about what makes your business and brand stand out from the rest. You might consider retargeting a home page visitor with an ad that links to your “About Us” page, or even an assortment of your most popular offerings.
Social Proof: Someone who might not be entirely sold on your brand could benefit from hearing or reading testimonials from people who’ve tried and loved what you have to offer. Consider creating ads that offer social proof that may inspire someone to join the crowd.
Special Offers: People who’ve added an item to their cart but didn’t purchase might be waiting for an incentive to act now. Consider retargeting this group with a special discount code to inspire a purchase. Similarly, you can use retargeting to upsell add-ons at a discounted price to people who recently purchased your product; an example of this could be delivering an ad about weatherproof mats to someone who recently bought a new car from your dealership.
Your Own Unique Business
There are many different types of ads you can create for your retargeting efforts, and many platforms you can serve them on, so it’s important that you research and test in order to discover the combinations that work best for your business and your customers. With a little practice, you’ll be making some retargeting magic in no time!
Looking for ways to build retargeting efforts into your marketing mix, but not sure where to start? The team at Doukas Media would be happy to help you with everything from brainstorming, to strategy, to execution.