Retargeting Campaign – The Do’s And Don’ts Of A Retargeting Campaign

We have spoken about the importance of retaining and acquiring customers before. Customer retention and customer acquisition are important for businesses as growth drivers. Statistically, 97% of customers who visit a company’s website leave without ever making a purchase. Retargeting campaigns are designed to attract these customers. It is a strategic move to remind visitors about their initial interest in the products or services and convince them to buy. 

Most visitors browse through websites, some even add items to the cart but eventually abandon them and leave the website. Retargeting ads use relevant product or text ads to bring back these visitors. Retargeting campaigns can be done through online advertising platforms such as Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Bing Ads, LinkedIn Ads, etc. A comprehensive retargeting campaign is important to ensure that the ad budget is being utilized judiciously to achieve high conversion rates. According to Google, combining retargeting ads with other advertising can help businesses to sell 50% more stuff.

What is a retargeting campaign?

Retargeting is a marketing strategy that is directed towards an audience who have visited the company’s website and are aware of the brand. The goal is to convert them into buying customers. Companies target specific audiences with specific ads with the help of search engines and social channels to remind them how your products are the perfect solution for their problems.

Retargeting ads, when optimized the right way, convince hesitant visitors to follow through with their purchasing decision. It also provides companies with an opportunity to make their existing customers aware of new offers. Through retargeting efforts, businesses can develop long-lasting relationships with their customers by building brand awareness and credibility.

What is the difference between static and dynamic retargeting ads?

There are two types of retargeting ads- static and dynamic ads. 

Static ads are designed for a segment of the target audience who are grouped based on the website pages they visit. Each ad is triggered when a visitor browses a product page or article page on the website. Static retargeting works best for B2B companies. 

Dynamic ads target specific individuals with custom ads. This strategy requires more sophisticated technology such as machine learning and AI. The AI program analyses the individual prospect’s behavior tailors each ad to the specification of the individual’s interest and determines the best time to deliver the ads to optimize the chances of conversion. Dynamic targeting is primarily used by B2C companies with a large catalog of products and a large customer base. According to a report, 88% of U.S. marketers saw measurable improvements due to dynamic retargeting ads with more than half reporting an improvement of more than 10%. Another report by DataXu states that while retargeting conversions may vary from industry to industry, e-commerce customer service businesses see an average of 128% increase in conversions, and financial services see an average growth of 147% in conversions. 

Why should you consider a retargeting campaign?

Retargeting ads improve conversion rates with more ad impressions. When a prospect sees an ad over 5-6 times, they become twice more likely to convert. Thus, CTR and conversions increase over time in a retargeting campaign.
The average CTR for retargeting ads is 10 times higher than regular display ads. The ROI of these ads is better than other digital advertising strategies.
Retargeting campaigns have the best impact on brand awareness. A study found that of all the digital advertising strategies, retargeting ads had the highest increase in brand-related search queries, at an incredible 1046 percent.
Retargeting campaigns are cheaper than other customer acquisition tactics. Retargeted website visitors are 8 times cheaper to reach per click and more likely to convert than those prospects who are not targeted a second time. 
Retargeting ads cost half of what search ads cost. This is primarily because retargeting ads have better CTR compared to search ads.

What are the best practices for a retargeting campaign?

The do’s of a retargeting campaign:
Use a technology that understands the behavior of your buyers and prospects. Advanced technology like AI and machine learning can help crunch large volumes of customer data to identify similar patterns and help optimize digital marketing strategies.
Use first-party data to ensure a better quality of data. You can use contacts from the list of email subscribers, existing customers, and website visitors to direct your retargeting campaign.
Use analytics to find the most relevant products and use only those in your custom ads. To achieve high conversion rates, you must engage prospects with recommendations that they would be most interested to buy. For this, you would need the right technology that would be able to predict their preferences through a thorough study of their buying behavior. 
Predictive technology will help you determine the best time to reach out to shoppers in real-time to enhance their chances of converting. 
Personalized ads perform much better than static ads because today’s customers expect personalization from the business they engage with or are likely to engage with. Equip ads with relevant and personalized content to achieve higher ROI.

The don’ts of a retargeting campaign:
Do not discount cookies. Cookies can be helpful as they allow marketers to track who visits their websites, continue to access the prospects’ digital footprint after they exit the website, and serve these potential customers’ ads on other sites they visit later.
Do not rely on only one network. An omnichannel approach is more effective and efficient, allowing marketers more space to target their audience.
While personalization is important, do not get creepy. When recommendations become too personalized, it tends to turn customers away and create a negative brand image.

Final Thoughts

Retargeting campaigns can help your business to engage your prospects in the right way and improve your conversion rates. Retargeting ads through third-party networks such as the Google Display Network and Facebook allows you to reach out to your potential customers on a multitude of websites, thereby enhancing the chances of these prospects likely to convert. At Alkye, we help clients manage all digital marketing campaigns to ensure that they are getting the maximum ROI on their investment.