The Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule, teaches us that 80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your customers. Yet, many online businesses consume themselves with garnering additional sales via new website visitors, while frequently forgetting to nurture those who have already visited.
Remarketing, or retargeting, is an interactive marketing technique that allows ads to be shown to visitors who have previously been to a website as they search the internet, or interact within a platform.
Whether they are on-the-fence-purchasers, or repeat customers, remarketing presents a unique opportunity for digital marketers to target, interact and re-engage visitors where they work and play.
Use the following remarketing channels and tips to stay top of mind, nurture customers and increase sales.
Google Remarketing Lists: Google has offered remarketing options for quite some time; however, the various customizations available to remarketing lists are worth revisiting. When setting up your remarketing list, or audiences, be sure to establish rules that target specific actions on site. You might wish to display a special offer to a customer who added an item to their shopping cart, or left prior to completing the checkout process. Further, try creating lists based on the last item or service page a visitor saw: then display an appropriately themed banner. The goal here to be is as relevant as possible to entice that visitor back to your site.
Dynamic Remarketing: Taking the relevancy theme a little further, Google now offers Dynamic Remarketing to businesses with Google Merchant Center accounts. The integration between Google Merchant Center and AdWords brings remarketing to the next level. Marketers can now identify the last product a visitor engaged with and feature it within their remarketing creative. Associated images are pulled from their Merchant Center account and passed into the remarketing ad, creating hyper-relevant content. A tactic frequently used by retail sites, this technique is highly effective in reminding visitors of the item that got away. When creating Dynamic Remarketing campaigns consider animating the ads to show the last two or three products viewed. If a purchase was made, try banners that upsell complementary products.
Facebook Remarketing: Available through Facebook Exchange, marketers can place ads on Facebook to visitors who have been to their website or Facebook page. Similar to Google remarketing, audiences can be customized utilizing Facebook demographic information. As the average Facebook user checks into the site multiple times daily, impressions can build exponentially. Consider keeping Facebook ads light and engaging to mimic the playfulness of the medium. Try driving traffic to your Facebook page for added social engagement.
Facebook Custom Audiences: New to Facebook’s advertising platform, marketers can upload their existing customer email, or phone lists and match records to Facebook’s database of users. From there, ads can be targeted to these customers even if they haven’t been to your website or Facebook page recently. When thinking about custom audiences, try segmenting ads for customers and prospects. For customers, consider ads discussing complementary services, rewards clubs or opportunities to share the product or service with a friend. Remember, ads can point traffic back to your website or Facebook page, so strategize accordingly. If you’re utilizing a Facebook page, consider an e-commerce tab integration to increase conversion opportunities.
Additional Remarketing Tips to Consider:
- Remarket to every visitor, but tailor ads for specific messaging.
- Consider frequency capping so as not to overwhelm visitors.
- Test geographic targeting for more regional messaging.
- Create multiple ad sizes to see which resonates best with your audience.
- Exclude your business IP to keep ads from displaying to employees and inflating impression numbers.
