Of course we’d love to believe that every person who comes
in contact with our business follows a specific and direct path to purchase.
They visit our website, read our content or download a helpful guide, and
immediately decide to hand over their credit card to purchase our product or
service.
But that’s not always the reality…
The customer journey is often much more complex. Most
studies say that anywhere from 95-99% of your website traffic clicks away
before ever completing an action such as signing up for your mailing list or
downloading free content. Even the most
engaging of content with a clear call to action is subject to what’s called the
Effective Frequency principle — a visitor needs to see your brand up to seven
times in order to both retain your message and make a buying decision.
What is retargeting?
Unlike typical banner ads, retargeting ads are a form of
online advertising that are served to people who have already visited your
website or are a contact in your database (like a lead or customer).
Retargeting can be used in many places around the web, from
Facebook ads to Google ad network to email marketing campaigns. There are two
main types of retargeting:
1. Pixel-based retargeting
This type of retargeting is possible through placing an
unobtrusive piece of JavaScript (often referred to as a pixel) on your website.
This piece of code “cookies” your visitors’ browsers allowing retargeting
platforms such as Facebook or Google ads to serve specific ads based on the
specific pages they visited on your website.
2. List-based
retargeting
This form of retargeting involves uploading your mailing
list to a platform such as Facebook and allowing Facebook to match users to
your current list of email addresses. From there you can send specific ads to
those people based on customizable criteria (such as they downloaded a specific
PDF or attended your event).
It is possible however that people use multiple email
addresses for business and their personal life, so the match rate varies. According
to MediaMath, match rates can vary from 70-80%
down to 20-30% for some platforms. This means you might need a fairly large
list to make this type of retargeting effective.
Another way to retarget using your current list is with
marketing automation. Marketing automation allows you to track what actions
people have taken on your website, such as download a PDF or purchase a
product. Then depending on what actions they take, you can send automated
emails suggesting other informational or related products. This type of
retargeting can lead to more sales and better customer retention.
[BONUS: 5 Secrets to
Keep Your Customers Coming Back for More]
Now to get down to how to effectively use retargeting to
convert non-buyers, or people who visited your website but didn’t convert…
Using retargeting to
convert non-buyers
As we said at the top of this article, 95-99% of your
website traffic clicks away before ever completing an action. In order to get
those people back in the boat, you need to set up retargeting pixels and
started creating ads to pique
their interest and get them back to your website.
According to several studies, a retargeted ad is up to 400%
more likely to be clicked than a non-retargeted ad due to “ad
blindness”, which blocks out unfamiliar ads subconsciously. That’s a 400%
greater chance you’ll get that new customer than if you had used “cold traffic”
ads alone.
You can retarget people with several different kinds of ads
to see which gains the most traction. If you sell products, you might try
retargeting people with a coupon or free shipping incentive. That might be all
it takes to push them across the finish line.
If you have a service, a free trial or informational product
(such as an eBook or whitepaper) could be a great first step towards a sale,
making them a more attainable lead.
There are so many possibilities when it comes to
retargeting. Are you looking to find out more about retargeting ads or marketing
automation and how they can help your business grow? Call us at (407)
682-2222 for a free strategy session.