What is retargeting?
Retargeting is an online marketing strategy that allows you to showcase your brand to users who have left your website without converting. By adding a tracking pixel to your site, you will be able to see when they leave your site and set up an ad on another independent site, simply to remind them how extraordinary your product or service is, with the ultimate goal of getting them to come back to you. This is generally done through search retargeting, in which ads are served based on previous searches, and email retargeting, in which emails are built based on specific behavioral actions.
For several years now, retargeting has established itself as a very good channel for acquiring leads and customers. To support this, here are some key figures :
- retargeted customers are 3 times more likely to click on your ad, and 70% are ready to convert,
- 50% of marketing strategies increase their retargeting budget within 6 months and 20% plan a budget for it.
1. Content as currency
The goal of retargeting is to generate conversions, but you need to give something in return to make the process easier. Retargeting with content allows you to connect and add value to the interaction with the prospect who is not ready to buy without seeming too intrusive. A white paper or an ebook is good content for someone who is not ready to buy right away but is still interested in your product or service.
To know which resource is the right one to use for your campaign, rely on those that perform best: time spent on the page, number of views/downloads of resources can be good indicators to start with. If a piece of content has already proven itself by converting several times, it will be ideal for your retargeting ads.
You can also segment your content according to your prospects’ buying cycle:
|
Stage of the buying cycle |
Suitable content |
|
Awareness: users are interested in your brand but are not yet engaged. |
Infographics, checklist, presentation, case studies. |
|
Engagement: users have shown their interest by downloading resources or filling out forms, but are still not ready to buy. |
Ebook, white papers, guides, webinars. |
|
Conversion: users are prepared to make a purchase and are comparing you with your competitors. |
Benchmark, comparisons, live demo. |
By segmenting your content in this way, you are ready to convert your prospects into customers!
2. Be careful, think about the right timing!
Even with the right content for the right audiences, your retargeting strategy can collapse if the timing is not right. Wait too long and you risk losing their interest, move too quickly and you risk scaring them away. Establishing a schedule for your retargeting strategy will depend on your audience and the type of product you want to highlight.
A few tips:
- Act fast: Your 1st ad must appear very quickly after the first contact. Capture those first visits before they forget you and turn to your competitor.
- Then slow down: After introducing yourself to your visitor, slow down so as not to be too present. Create frequency caps to control how often your ads appear. And for those who have converted, make sure to remove them from your ad campaigns.
- Synchronize with key events: Opportunities for your business can be a good way to reactivate your audience without seeming too intrusive. Include a pricing promotion in your next event or inform your audience about the upcoming launch of your new product or service.
- Analyze behavior: Use a tool to track visitor behavior on your website to ensure that your retargeting strategy matches the actions taken on it, such as pages visited, forms filled out, and recent downloads.
3. Allocate the right spending across channels
15 years ago, the norm was to use only 2 acquisition channels, whereas that number has now risen to 6. If you think that the first or last clicked acquisition channel is the one that converts best, you are mistaken. By oversimplifying the sales process, you deny yourself the opportunity to optimize spending across the different channels. Moreover, without analyzing your marketing efforts, you risk seeing your budget allocated to another “more effective” department.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for allocating budgets across channels, since it depends on your prospect’s buying cycle. Start by analyzing your channels to see which ones convert best and allocate budgets accordingly. If you have the possibility to analyze these results with software that highlights your sales opportunities to cross-reference with your CRM, that will clearly help you.
4. Mix it all together and off you go!
Remember that most website visitors never convert on their first visit; retargeting them is essential to stay in touch and remain present until they are ready to buy. With the right message at the right time, you are well on your way to meeting your goals. And with a good analysis of your actions, you are in a strong position to prove to everyone that your strategy works.
