So far, our Retargeting Series blogs have explained why retargeting is essential for your marketing funnel and we have shown ways to use retargeting to drive qualified leads to your website. In our final feature of the Retargeting Series, we share some highly effective practical retargeting ad ideas to drive qualified leads and boost your sales, starting now…
Firstly, let’s set the context for retargeting ads. Prospects have visited your website, seen your products and/or services, but decided not to take action. Research shows that almost 75% of online customers are likely to abandon their shopping carts prior to making a purchase. And that’s where retargeting ads become important. Without retargeting, just 8% of those customers would naturally return to complete their transactions. With retargeting, 26% of customers will return to complete the checkout process.
So, how do we optimize the effectiveness of our retargeting ads?
Tip #1: Tailor your retargeting ads to the specific pages your prospects visited on your website
Segment your retargeting audiences based upon the different topics they look at on your website. For example, display general retargeting ads to visitors who stopped by your home page. For visitors who visited your blog pages, show them ads with lead magnets, such as templates and how-to guides related to the blog topics they viewed. For prospects who visited About or Services pages on your website, allocate higher retargeting budgets for these audiences as they were obviously interested in your products and services. Creating segmented retargeting audiences is easy! You can set up segmented retargeting audiences when creating a custom audience for your retargeting ads.
Tip #2: Create a sense of urgency for prospects
Creating a sense of urgency works best for prospects who are interested in your products and ready to buy, but have not yet made a purchase. Think about last minute travel deals. Nobody wants to miss a great deal, particularly if it’s about to end at midnight. Use a combination of creative copywriting and imagery to incite a sense of FOMO, or fear of missing out. Well-crafted retargeting ads that create a sense of urgency for prospects have shown better click-through rates and conversion rates.
Tip #3: Offer discounts to entice your visitors back to your website
Online shopping makes it easy to be a comparison shopper; that is, multiple different windows open in a browser searching for the best product at the best price. Your prospect may land on your site and love your products, but might not purchase because they want to compare it to other sites and products. They may become overwhelmed and forget to come back to your website, or they may decide to come back later. By displaying retargeting ads with a small discount or special offer to these prospects will help to entice them back to your site.
Tip #4: Remind abandoned cart visitors to complete the checkout process
Possibly the most obvious and most effective way of using retargeting ads is to remind abandoned cart visitors to complete the checkout process. Display ads that show the products they were about to purchase before they left your site. Perhaps even a small discount for a limited time as a further incentive to return to complete the purchase.
Tip #5: Cross-sell or Up-sell to your existing customers
Retargeting ads are not only for prospects who visited your website. Use retargeting ads for cross-selling or up-selling to your existing customers! Most likely, your customers would be happy to learn about new products that complement their original purchase.
Our Final Tip: The more you can customize your retargeting ads, the more effective they will be
Retargeting ads work best when they are customized to the specific needs of your website visitors. Take the time to be creative, customize your ads and segment your audiences…
Want to learn more about retargeting and how it could help you drive qualified leads? Request a Strategy Session with us today.