It’s a classic love story:
- Girl meets website
- Girl and site get to know each other
- Girl leaves website
- Website wins girl back using remarketing
Spoiler Alert: Girl becomes website’s customer and shops happily ever after.
That’s how most companies view audience remarketing. Site visitors and cart abandoners get ads coyishly pleading for the consumer to return to complete a transaction. Its a formulaic implementation – sometimes effective, sometimes not – but for most companies, there’s a whole world of unexplored ‘sub-genres’ to audience remarketing. It is an incredible marketing tool not only for gaining new customers, but keeping – and delighting – previous customers.
So how can you write an ecommerce romance for the ages?
Make sure you’re adding value to the relationship
If your remarketing ads are using the same ad messaging and sending the visitor back to a page they already visited, those ads are providing no new incentive to follow through where a visitor had previously abandoned. This lazy approach is akin to the spurned lover who promises “I’ve changed!” when really they haven’t at all. Don’t be that guy.
Instead, make sure your remarketing messaging and landing page are helping the consumer take the next step in their journey. If you want to ‘win back’ site abandoners, you must first understand why those abandoners left your site in the first place. Leverage your site’s analytical data to better shape your remarketing message when you re-engage with that visitor.
1. Cart Abandonment
The gold standard of remarketing – and often the most effective – but don’t simply implore your customers to finish their shopping, add an incentive. This could be a new customer discount, free shipping, an add-on item, or simply the reassurance that the consumer is choosing the best option to complete their purchase.
2. Category Targeting
Its just as important to remarket to visitors who shop around without beginning the checkout process, but just showing them a general brand ad doesn’t help to further their customer journey. Create audiences based on which product types/categories your visitors browse and make sure your ads reflect those interests, by showing similar product offerings.
3. Price Adjustments & Value Adds
A staggering number of consumers shop around for the best price before purchasing online, so it’s crucial to present your best offering to the consumer as they look for better deals. If you lower your prices (via sales, discounts, or just price slashing), support those prices by putting your ads in front of consumers who considered a purchase, but left. Can’t beat the price? Make sure you’re highlighting what your higher price point offers (security, warranty, quality, etc).
Don’t focus exclusively on non-converters
The best way to prevent a relationship from falling apart is working hard to keep your partner happy. Similarly, stay proactive and involved with your existing customers. With email open rates declining, it is increasingly important to utilize alternate channels like remarketing to stay in front of previous shoppers.
Here are four strategies to stay engaged with your current customers via remarketing:
4. New Products
Are customers who purchased last year’s model likely to be interested in the new improved version? Have you introduced a new collection of colors or styles? Don’t rely on your email blasts to get the message out, remarket to your core consumers to spread the news about your newest offerings.
5. Back in Stock
Similarly, have you received a bunch of traffic to a product or collection that was out of stock? Why not let all those disappointed shoppers know they can finally complete their purchase? When a popular item sells out, create an audience to tag visitors who arrived on the Out of Stock item page and then launch a remarketing campaign to bring them all back when the stock has been replenished.
6. Sales/Clearance
Though sales and clearance messaging can be targeted to cart abandoners, it is just as relevant to your existing customer base. Tag your existing customers based on the types of products they’ve purchased in the past and encourage those customers to stock up when there’s a sale on or when some of their favorite items have been discounted.
7. Accessories/Upsell
The same remarketing lists for #6 can be used for endless upsell opportunities. If your customer purchased a core, big ticket item, build a remarketing campaign around the associated products (accessories, guides, complimentary items) that they may also be interested in.
8. Seasonal
Did you have a stellar Black Friday sales period? Maybe your site sees a flood of shoppers around Valentine’s Day? Whenever your seasonal peaks occur, you can use remarketing to make the next year even more successful. Remarketing lists aren’t limited to 30-day periods – audiences can be stretched to 365 days and beyond. So, if you have a flood of shoppers during a specific period, create a remarketing campaign to bring them back the following year.
Plan for the future
The key to a happy, successful marriage is all about planning for the future, and similarly, the foundation for a successful and comprehensive remarketing strategy begins with foresight and planning. The “Seasonal” strategy, for example, only works if you plan ahead. You can also create audience combinations that layer (or exclude) multiple levels of audiences to truly pinpoint your remarketing messages to the most appropriate shoppers.
There’s no penalty for creating a remarketing audience and not using it, so let your imagination run wild (but label your audiences clearly!) and you’ll have a robust variety of audiences to choose from when creating your next dynamite remarketing campaign.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
An effective remarketing campaign can significantly improve your customer growth and return a stunningly successful return on ad spend, but only when it is all planned out and executed properly. If you’re a little intimidated by creating a comprehensive remarketing strategy for your business, don’t be afraid to reach out to the experts. We’re here to help you take your customer relationship to new heights! Consider us a couple’s counselor.