Do you know the number one reason e-commerce businesses fail? It is not because you lack resources or that you are selling an unsellable product. But it is because you quit even before you get started.
The thing is, giving up will deprive you of achieving potential success.
You may think you did everything you can when you are yet to try other tactics to promote your online e-commerce business. One of them is retargeting.
If you haven’t tried retargeting yet, then there’s more reason you shouldn’t give up. But what is it really? And why should you give it a try?
What is Retargeting and Why is it Important
Retargeting is a process of showing relevant ads after a person leaves your website.
For instance, you visited an online clothing store. You browsed for a bit and left without purchasing anything. And then you opened your Facebook account and saw an ad from the same online clothing store.
That ad is called a remarketing ad.
Using retargeting ads to engage a prospective customer that has made contact with your brand in some way can boost ad response to up to 400%. “Ad response” could mean revisiting your website or buying a product.
This explains why it is ideal for running a retargeting ad when you make an e-commerce website. That’s because your ad can draw a customer’s attention to something familiar.
Apart from that, three out of five online buyers notice ads for products they’re searched for on other sites. Yet, surprisingly, only a mere 11% feel negative when seeing these ads.
That’s why retargeting ads are cost-effective in generating 10x higher conversion rates than conventional display ads.
How to Use Retargeting in E-commerce
E-commerce targeting is a process wherein you’ll display ads on other websites to generate leads and sales. In that case, there are two ways you can use retargeting ads:
- Connect with customers. These people may have bought something from you previously, and you want to upsell them with more products. Chances are, you already have their information. So all you need to do is add their email ad in your retargeting ad network, for example. That way, you can show them specific ads based on their purchase behavior.
- Connect with site visitors.
You may site visitors who browsed your website but did not buy anything yet. You can encourage them to purchase that product they are browsing through retargeting ads.
Now that you know the different ways to use retargeting ads, here are 14 tips for doing it effectively:
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Focus on Creating a Better Copy
Without a doubt, visual elements are crucial in a retargeting campaign as these are one of the best ways to entice a customer to stop scrolling.
But images are often useless if they are paired with a dull, uninspiring copy.
The thing is, retargeting ads are only useful if they can deliver results. This is where a compelling ad copy and marketing collateral could come in handy.
This lets you come up with ads that not only earn more clicks but provide shoppers with directions and the motivation to buy.
That’s why your ad copy should be one of the most crucial elements in your retargeting campaign.
An excellent ad copy that allows you to drive conversions lets you accomplish three things:
- Captivates your audience’s attention
- Excites or invoke a particular emotion
- Entices them to take action
Add these factors in your retargeting copy, and you’ll more likely come up with something that not only allows you to reconnect with your buyers but convinces them to take action.
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Retarget Based on the Sensitivity of Pricing
One of the main reasons people abandon their shopping carts is the high shipping costs and finding a better deal elsewhere via a competitor.
For instance, millennials are quite careful about spending on non-essentials and spending less than the generations before them. Now that you know you’re dealing with price-sensitive customers, you can win them over by targeting them based on less.
You can target those people who have left at a specific point in the checkout process. For instance, right before they pick out shipping options. You can then offer them free shipping or give them discounts to entice them to come back and make a purchase.
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Turn Loyal Customers into Brand Advocates
Your e-commerce platform should be able to provide you with a wealth of data. This includes customer and merchandising reports, reporting, and other analytics.
That’s why you should be able to query your customer data regularly. That way, you’ll be able to track who spent the most money on you regularly.
Having this kind of retargeting campaign for your loyal customers can have the same impact as setting up a loyalty program. The only difference is that you are not obliging them to accrue points.
All you need to do is give them a discount on repeat purchases or exclusive promotions.
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Cross-Sell New and Existing Products
This usually depends on the type of products you sell. However, there’s a good chance that some of your products will complement one another.
You can utilize both customer and sales data to come up with a list that targets particular purchases.
Then, you’ll show your audience ads that might be a product that complements their purchase. Your ad should make the value of the purchase clear to their mind. Show them how these purchases will complement one another.
You can leverage retargeting ads to promote a new product that has significant relevance to what you were selling. It would be best if you also used the same strategy for a product launch.
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Inject FOMO to Boost Last-Minute Sales
When set up correctly, retargeting ads can provide you with impressive conversion rates. But there’s still more room to grow.
You can build up your conversion rates to inject FOMO into it, meaning the fear of missing out. You can often see this tactic in a couple of countdown timers, last-minute deals, or offers that are there for a limited time.
If your audience sees that an in-demand product is only available for a limited time, it will tap into their impulse to it. You can also customize your ads with countdown timers, heightening their sense of urgency.
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Show Your Audience What They Love
A great thing about retargeting is its dynamic usage. Using active targeting is a great way to capture your customers’ attention who love your brand, your products, and just browsing. This is also one of the main reasons for cart abandonment.
So, if you have someone that actively engages with a couple of your product pages, then see to it that they don’t forget you. Utilize retargeting to show some of the products which they checked.
If they like it enough but a bit unsure about a purchase, they’ll more likely convert after you offer it again to them.
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Adjust Your Retargeting Ads’ Frequency
Most people are quite receptive to retargeting ads, just as long as you don’t overdo it. If some ads are frequently popping up, this can hurt the relationship between the brand and the customer.
Up to the point where the customer ends up frustrated with these ads because you’re someone intruding into their lives, in an almost creepy way.
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Always Keep Things Fresh
One of the quickest ways to kill your retargeting campaign’s effectiveness is using the same ad copies repeatedly.
If your customers see your ads almost everywhere, it will only be a matter of time until they put down the blinders. If your ad doesn’t easily capture them, the same ad won’t work later on.
Your customers will also develop advertising blindness. It’s the same reason we ignore billboards or speed limit signs. Many customers are suffering from banner blindness.
That’s why it always helps that you keep things fresh from your customers’ perspective.
You need to regularly switch things up from time to time to keep people engaged.
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Tap to People’s Emotions
Humans are highly emotional beings and often make decisions based on feelings.
This can affect buying behaviors, as well. That’s why this is the very reason why you should set your sights on emotional marketing to improve the performance of your retargeting ads.
When it comes to emotional marketing, one should use emotionally charged language to get people to act. This is true, whether you’re listing out the benefits of the product, its features, or writing out descriptions.
This strategy is handy because emotional triggers are usually linked with personal benefits.
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Advertise Your Latest Promotions
Did some visitors visit your site, only to bounce? Or maybe some of them are at the side of your competitors, and you wanted to get their attention.
Incentives that are in the form of offers always work.
They also work best with retargeting because you know that these people are looking for similar products.
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Promote Beyond Your Products
Many e-commerce brands use retargeting ads to promote products to those who made prior interaction on their website. But what if we tell you that you can use retargeting other than promoting your products?
Content marketing, for instance, is a handy tool that you can use to generate inbound traffic. So, why not use retargeting to drive more traffic to your content?
If you have a case study, blog post, or anything downloadable that has done quite well, then you can run retargeted ads. Doing so allows your customers to attract people to the top of the funnel content. In relation to this, tools like Replug.io will enable you to optimize links and pair them with a catchy call-to-action and analytics tracker.
However, ensure to exclude people who have previously read your content. You don’t have to come up with new content, either.
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Retarget New Leads via First-time Ordering Promotions
Do you know what are the most challenging customers to win over for an e-commerce business?
Those who have no experience buying from you yet. Although they might stumble on you on a search with Google or an email campaign, they’ll usually get cold feet when adding something from their cart. To streamline the process, check out ContentStudio’s social media customer service tool.
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Target People Who Open Specific Emails
According to a study, every dollar you spend on marketing will give you an average return of $38. This return is enormous in the e-commerce industry. But the thing is, not every customer will be able to see your email. Open rates may vary from one industry to another.
However, available rates on average are around 24%, with only 4% click-throughs. This is a lot of people missing out on your promotions. That’s why you should utilize retargeting to deliver the same message with other channels out there.
Although you might miss out on email click-throughs, you can segment subscribers who opened a particular email. From there, you can re-target them with relevant content or ads.
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Target People Who Don’t Usually Open Emails
Just like the point we’ve discussed above, you can adapt the same approach for those who didn’t care to open the email you’ve sent. This is usually made up of a good chunk of people on your list, considering that they have a campaign with an open rate of about 24%.
You can come up with a list of people who didn’t open your emails to eliminate that email-open barrier. Then, get your message right in front of them.
Conclusion
Having a robust e-commerce strategy will enable you to promote your business and products effectively. And one thing to include in your strategy is retargeting ads.
For one, it makes your brand a top-of-mind choice, and it compels your prospects and customers to take action. As a result, you can maximize your ad budget and boost your sales.
Author Bio:
Jake Rheude is the Director of Marketing at Red Stag Fulfillment, an ecommerce fulfillment warehouse that was born out of ecommerce. He has years of experience in ecommerce and business development. In his free time, Jake enjoys reading about business and sharing his own experience with others.
