For marketers, there may be no scarier statistic than this:
About 96% of the people who visit your website are not yet ready to make a purchase.
You are only likely to persuade 4% of traffic to buy your product the first time they visit your website.
You are losing a lot of visitors which is bad. However, you can do something to get them back by running retargeting campaigns.
What is retargeting?
Retargeting is a way to keep your brand in front of potential customers who have already left your website. This way, you can persuade them to reconsider your offer when they need it.
Retargeting campaigns are a way of showing ads to specific visitors who have already shown an interest in your product. The goal of these campaigns is to convince the visitors to convert and take your offer. Retargeting campaigns work because they allow you to show ads to people who have already demonstrated an interest in what you have to offer. You can use search engines and social media channels to remind potential customers that they wanted to solve a problem and how your product offers the best solution.
In just six months, Watchfinder, the UK’s largest online watch dealer, was able to achieve 1,300% ROI from their retargeting campaign designed to increase sales.
How did they do it? The brand divided their retargeting audience into segments and then served them ads based on their activity on the website:
Retargeting campaigns can persuade hesitant visitors to give your brand another chance, and also give your existing customers an opportunity to avail new offers.
How Retargeting Campaigns Work
There are two main types of retargeting: pixel-based and list-based. The former works by placing a pixel on your website, and the latter by placing a retargeting tag on your website, both of which allow you to track conversions and website visitors. Pixel-based retargeting has the advantage of allowing you to track conversions, while list-based retargeting has the advantage of allowing you to target specific website visitors.
Pixel-Based Retargeting
With pixel-based retargeting, you can serve ads to anonymous site visitors based on their interactions with your site. This allows you to reach people who may not be familiar with your brand and show them relevant ads that are more likely to result in a conversion.
When someone visits your website, a small piece of code (known as a pixel) is placed on their browser. This allows their browser to be “tracked.” When they leave your website and go to another site, the pixel notifies retargeting platforms to serve specific ads based on the pages the person visited on your website.
One advantage of pixel-based retargeting is that ads can be shown pretty much immediately after someone leaves your site. Another advantage is that the ads can be behavior-based. Some disadvantages of this method are that there are usually fewer people in the campaign at any given time, and it can be complicated to implement JavaScript on many website pages.
List-Based Retargeting
List-based retargeting is a type of retargeting that allows you to target ads to people who are already in your contact list.
You can use lists of your existing contacts to retarget ads. To do this, upload a list of the email addresses to a retargeting campaign. The platform will identify users who have those addresses and serve retargeting ads just to them.
Retargeting that is based on lists is less common than pixel-based retargeting, but it allows for ads that are highly customizable because the criteria is based on more than just behavior.
However, it is possible that a person on your list gave you two different email addresses- one for the social network and one for email ads. In this case, they would not see your ads. Additionally, because you are responsible for uploading and maintaining the list, list-based retargeting is not as automatic or timely as pixel-based retargeting.
Retargeting Ad Goals
Now that we have a better understanding of how retargeting works and the different types of audiences that can be segmented, we can focus on goals. The main types of retargeting campaigns to consider are those for raising awareness and those for driving conversions.
To generate awareness.
Awareness campaigns are a way of targeting website visitors who have already shown an interest in your products or services. These campaigns allow you to deliver relevant messages to these customers, in order to remind them of your brand and encourage them to take action.
The disadvantage of awareness campaigns is that you are reaching fewer people who are interested in your brand. These people are not in your contacts list, and often, there are lower click-through rates for this type of campaign than for other types.
Although awareness and engagement are not the main goal, they are still acceptable metrics to track in order to make prospects aware of your business. Oftentimes, awareness campaigns are done before a more effective campaign goal, which is conversions.
To drive conversions.
Conversion campaigns are designed to get people to click on an ad and take the next step, such as filling out a landing page form. They are most effective when used to target a specific list of people, and can be measured using standard conversion metrics such as website clicks, form submissions, and cost-per-lead.
A conversion campaign can be used for multiple parts of the flywheel, such as pixel-based ads. Pixel-based ads generate leads and will direct people to landing pages where they can give over their information.
List-based ads are more likely to reach people who are already interested in your product or service, as they have already given you some information. Ads that appear to contacts who have given you limited information incentive them to fill out longer forms with additional fields.
To complete the buyer’s journey.
Additionally, retargeting can be used to move qualified leads to the next stage of the buyer’s journey. For example, you might use retargeting to send a list of contacts that have downloaded an ebook an invite to sign up for a free trial of your product. When they see how your tool can help them meet their goals, they may be inspired to become a paying customer.
To increase customer lifetime value (CLTV).
What is customer lifetime value? It is the amount of money you can expect from a single customer throughout their entire relationship with your business.
To reduce cart abandonment.
If a customer doesn’t complete their purchase on your website, it’s called cart abandonment. Retargeting is a way to bring these customers back to your site and remind them that the item they wanted to buy is still available.
To introduce new products.
When customers visit your website, make a purchase, or show general interest in your business, retargeting helps you share new products with them that align with their interests. By showing your ads, you can lead customers back to your site to discover your new product and encourage them to make a purchase.
It is important that the position, creative and next step in the conversion process are all aligned with your audience list, regardless of what your goal is.
If you are using list-based retargeting, it is important to make sure that you are also using inbound content in order to increase the chances of success.
How to set up retargeting campaigns in Google AdWords
The Google Display Network has a 92% reach in the United States, which means that it is seen by millions of people on websites, videos, and devices.
Follow these steps to successfully set up a retargeting campaign in Google AdWords:
- Sign-in to your AdWords account.
- Open the ‘Shared Library’ option.
- Click ‘Audiences’.
- Do ‘Set-up Remarketing’.
- Click ‘View AdWords Tag for websites’.
- Select and copy the provided remarketing tag code. The tag will work for both mobile and desktop websites.
- Place the tag code at the bottom of the website pages you want to use for your campaign.
- Save and publish your page.
- Use ‘Google Tag Assist’ to check if your tag is working properly
- Click ‘Continue’
- Click ‘Return to Audiences’
The tag will begin collecting cookies from website visitors in a few days, and the ‘All Visitors’ list will start to populate.
With Google AdWords retargeting you can create customized lists, run tests such as frequency cap testing, ad testing, custom combination testing, and bid tests. The search engine advertising network also offers the following types of retargeting campaigns:
- Standard Remarketing: showing ads to past visitors as they visit Display Network websites and use Display Network applications.
- Dynamic Remarketing: The ads shown to visitors include specific products or services that they browsed through on your website.
- Remarketing for Mobile Apps: Show ads to visitors who have either used your mobile app or mobile website.
- Remarketing Lists for ads: Show ads to visitors as they do follow-up searches for what they need on Google.
- Video Remarketing: Show ads to visitors who have opened your YouTube videos.
- Email List Remarketing: Upload a list of your customers’ email addresses. And when these visitors browse through different websites, they can see your display ads.
When you run retargeting campaigns through Google, your ads get more exposure across the internet.
How to set up retargeting campaigns in Facebook
You can create a Facebook retargeting campaign by setting up a Facebook account for Business ads. Once you have completed the account setup, you can go to the Audiences section in the Facebook Ads Manager.
After opening the “Custom Audiences” option for retargeting, you can reach out to visitors with ads that are relevant to them. This is based on the fact that they have already been to your website.
From the “Custom Audiences” list, select the “Website Traffic” option. This will allow you to create a list of people who have visited your website or viewed specific web pages.
From the “Website Traffic” tab, select the audience you want to target with your retargeting ads.
These are the given audience options:
- Anyone who visits your website
- Users who visit specific pages
- Prospects visiting specific pages but not others
- Visitors who haven’t visited in a certain amount of time
- Custom combination
Select your audience options on Facebook, then copy and paste the Meta Pixel tracking code onto your website to track visitors.
This type of ads are shown to people who have already visited your website or used your app. If you’re looking to create better ads in the future and track conversions on your Facebook ad campaigns, retargeting is a great option. You can show these ads to people who have already visited your site or used your app, meaning they’re more likely to be interested in your product or service.
The Meta Pixel can not only be used for retargeting campaigns, but also to serve retargeting ads on Instagram.
Now that the campaigns are set up and the audience segments have been selected, all that is needed is to create the retargeting ad. However, simply creating the ad will not bring back visitors. The ad must be optimized to convince online users to click and return to the page.
Email Retargeting
You can use information that you already have about a customer or prospect, such as their location and name, to send them personalized emails.
Email targeting can be effective, but it’s important to keep in mind that there are other platforms that could also be beneficial. Each platform has its own advantages and disadvantages, but some general advantages and disadvantages of social media ads and ads elsewhere on the web include.
Web retargeting is more effective than social media retargeting because it allows you to target your ads to people who are more likely to be interested in them. Social media retargeting only allows you to target your ads to people who are already on social media platforms, which limits the potential audience you can reach.
Leverage retargeting campaigns more effectively
Retargeting allows you to target specific customers that have already shown interest in your brand. Don’t direct these customers to a page that will not result in an immediate conversion, such as a cluttered homepage.
To get the most out of your retargeting campaigns, create optimized ads and connect them to dedicated post-click landing pages.
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