In eCommerce, connecting with your target audience plays a key role in your success. It’s your bread and butter, and you live and die by your ability to actively engage your audience. That’s why a customer leaving your website without making a purchase is such a big deal. You’ve already spent time, effort, and investment to get them to your website and build awareness. Why let them walk off into the sunset empty-handed?
That’s where eCommerce retargeting comes in. Retargeting, which is also often referred to as re-marketing, is the best option that eCommerce companies have for engaging with both first-time visitors and long-standing customers. Provided you have the right tools for the job, it allows you a more granular audience. Of course, it can be off-putting for users who see ads too frequently, but this is easily avoided.
Retargeting uses the cookies placed on visitors’ systems to show them additional ads for your business.
If a customer spent a long time on your website looking at the cowboy boots that you had to offer, showing them an ad for your cowboy boots afterwards might well convince them to come back and take a second look.
You can use these ads to engage with your audience in different ways. Take these tips into consideration as you set up your retargeting campaigns:
Cross (and Upsell) Existing Customers
The most common use of retargeting is to show ads to visitors that came to your website and left without making a purchase. But you can also target existing customers. Using a custom audience, you can target customers that have already made a purchase—and show them complementary products that they may be interested in.
Let’s say a customer bought a hiking backpack from your website. They might also be interested in backpacking shoes, or a backpacking tent. Using retargeting to expose these products to an already-engaged audience can keep your company top-of-mind.
Use Retargeting to Reduce Cart Abandonment
Each year, shoppers abandon an estimated $4 trillion on eCommerce websites. Picture it: Millions of items sitting in their cart, because they never reached checkout. The good news? Retargeting can help you reduce cart abandonment rates.
Start with using a custom audience to target visitors that come to your site. If they fill their cart without buying, you can then bring them back into the fold with a reminder. It may be a case of coaxing them to finish their checkout, or drawing their attention to other products they may be interested in.
Re-Engage Your Top Customers
It’s the old adage: 20 percent of your customers will generate 80 percent of your business. These VIP customers know your brand, have engaged with you readily, and are willing to spend a great deal of money on your products. You should attempt to engage with them as much as you can! Use retargeting ads to show new products (or products that you think they may be interested in) to your biggest customers. This is especially helpful if it has been a while since their last purchase.
Bolster Retargeting Ads with Product Page Reviews
Reviews: arguably the best marketing tool at your disposal. Did you know that more than 90 percent of customers read reviews before visiting a business? By including reviews in your re-targeted ads, you provide social proof for your company—a company that your targets should be, at least, passively aware of already. Include reviews in your re-targeted ads and you give would-be customers that extra nudge toward making the purchase. This applies regardless of whether they’re one-time visitors or long-time customers.
Use Dynamic Product Ads on Facebook
Customer viewed a product but are yet to purchase? Why not use dynamic product ads on Facebook to remind them?
You can use dynamic product ads on Facebook to show potential customers the products that they have already viewed but have yet to purchase. A typical listing, they include a picture of the product, its price, description, and a link your website’s product page. Here’s an example of a re-targeted dynamic product ad on Facebook from Birkenstock:
Dynamic product ads are a great way to recapture your desired audience’s attention. They give them a chance to take a second look at products they have shown interested in.
Crealytics helps some of the world’s leading retailers with their performance marketing, including the relationship between retargeting ads and incremental value. Get in touch today to see how we can help you.
