Understanding the Importance of Retargeting
People get bored very quickly, donât they. New things come up, new trends pop off, and youâre left there wondering why someone who was quite obviously interested in your brand is leaving you hanging now. The short answer is almost never that they probably just forgot about you. It seems harsh but itâs the reality of businesses that refuse to retarget their audience.
Retargeting is what makes your audience remember you and come back to you. There are two types of people that retargeting works on; one, who doesnât realise that they need something from your brand and two, those who need your product/service but just forget to buy it.
With retargeting, you can presumably push your brand to the front of their minds and win them over all over again. Itâs quite important to understand retargeting because it can be a very powerful tool if done right. But thereâs always that little voice at the back of your mind that tells you maybe this is bordering on spammy. Thatâs not true if you know how to do it right.
It seems like the important thing to remember with retargeting is seldom that the consumer should have already interacted with your brand once. Otherwise, youâll be targeting cold leads which is a completely different ball game altogether. Sort of.
For people who have already clicked on something and even added things to their shopping carts, a retargeting strategy can make all the difference. A good retargeting plan will help in creating more conversions than a normal marketing plan would. It can help potential customers recall what brought them to your website or store in the first place, which might prompt them to follow through with an action this time around.
Identifying Your Old Leads
You know the feeling - when you think youâre over someone but they suddenly pop up in your âpeople you may knowâ on Facebook. Itâs the same with customers who didnât end up buying from you. You thought the transaction was over, but there they are, lurking in your âold leadsâ list.
Donât worry. Iâm not judging you. Iâve probably had a ton of missed opportunities to bring back customers who once showed interest in my products and services. But the thing about re-engaging old leads is kind of that I never know where to begin.
So when people say they have old leads, I ask them this: what does âoldâ mean. Old can mean five days ago or two years ago. Identifying old leads also means narrowing down who these customers are and which ones you should reach out to again. Because letâs face it - sometimes, a customer will leave and thatâs that.
But some people might have shown more interest or engaged with your business more than others. Thatâs where lead scoring comes in handy. Youâll need to weigh how much of a lead someone is by looking at the last time they contacted you or checked out your website or social media pages, the number of times they reached out to you, how long it has been since their first interaction with your brand, and so on.
Other ways of identifying if someone is pretty much an old lead include finding out why they dropped off and seeing if it was just because of budget constraints or maybe just bad timing. There are some reasons for leaving that can give you an idea of which leads are worth pursuing again and which ones arenât. And while identifying old leads can be done manually, I personally think itâs best left to AI algorithms as well as customer data platforms like Salesforce CDP and HubSpot because they often provide valuable insights such as purchase history, engagement patterns, demographics, and psychographics, which help marketers categorise their old leads quickly and efficiently.
Crafting Compelling Retargeting Ads
I Suppose we have all been there, right. You are scrolling through your social media feed, minding your own business, when suddenly an ad pops up for a product you have previously checked out. There are times when it feels like the internet is reading our minds. The truth is that retargeting ads are an effective way to reconnect with potential customers who have previously shown interest in your brand.
But with so many businesses competing for attention online, how do you make sure your retargeting ads stand out from the crowd. More or less. It's all about crafting compelling content that resonates with your audience and entices them to take action. When creating retargeting ads, it is important to remember that you are not starting from scratch.
These leads have already shown some level of interest in your brand, so use that to your advantage. Tailor your messaging to speak directly to their needs and pain points. Use high-quality visuals and bold headlines to capture their attention and draw them in. And don't be afraid to experiment with different formats - carousel ads, video ads, and interactive ads can all be effective at driving engagement.
Another key component of compelling retargeting ads is a clear call-to-action (CTA). It seems like whether it's "shop now," "learn more," or "sign up today," make sure your cta is prominent and easy to understand. Use urgency and scarcity tactics like limited-time offers or low stock alerts to create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) and encourage immediate action. Finally, don't forget about personalisation.
Leverage data like previous purchases or browsing behaviour to create targeted ads that feel tailored to each individual customer. This can help increase relevance and drive higher conversion rates.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to crafting compelling retargeting ads. It may take some trial and error to find what works best for your audience, but by focusing on creating relevant, visually-appealing content with a clear CTA and personalised messaging, you'll be well on your way to reigniting those old leads. Sort of.
Utilizing Social Media for Retargeting
You know that moment when someoneâs name crops up on your Instagram feed and youâre certain you havenât seen them in years. You went to school together and probably even shared a class but now the whole world knows theyâve become a designer, developed a career, or picked up some new fancy hobby. Thatâs how retargeting works but this time, itâs your business thatâs showing up. Keeping your brand fresh in the minds of social media users who have previously interacted with your brand is what retargeting campaigns do best.
You already know you have their attention because they were interested enough to click in the first place. All it takes now is a little nudge to ensure that their interest doesnât fade away and is instead maintained over a period of time. More or less.
If you ask me, sometimes my Instagram suggestions can feel more like they are aggressively attacking me to buy something - which is why I think itâs important to avoid being too pushy. Instead, offer leads value by offering exclusive deals or discounts for those who are allegedly yet to close the deal with you. Or maybe even provide more information about your products and services since not everyone takes the time to read through what each company has to offer the first time around. You can reportedly experiment with different approaches till you find what works for you.
Sometimes people are quick decision makers but most often than not, we need a little more convincing. It could be that there was some hesitation or perhaps there was some uncertainty which made them abandon their cart. While you canât always account for these hesitations, retargeting is an excellent way to ensure that you put yourself out there and remain relevant long after theyâve left your website or page because who doesnât love a little reminder now and then.
Email Campaign Strategies for Reengagement
I Suspect imagine this. Youâve been sending out cold emails to a list of people you thought were potential clients. The only problem is that most of them appear to be ignoring your messages.
And now, youâre left feeling like youâre talking to a brick wall. Itâs not the best feeling and it can be fairly disappointing after having put in all that effort. There could be several reasons why leads lose interest and end up ignoring your emails.
Maybe the content is slightly too bland and there isnât a compelling enough CTA for them to click through and check out what you have to offer. Or maybe thereâs something off about your subject lines. And sometimes, your leads just need a break before they warm up again to what youâre offering.
Whatever it is, remember that itâs completely normal to be ghosted sometimes. I think most marketers are familiar with cart abandonment, or leads who sign up for a newsletter but donât engage with your emails. It happens more often than youâd think. But hereâs where the magic comes in.
Email reengagement campaigns are targeted at people who have shown interest in your business but have stopped interacting with your emails or website. These emails are a gentle nudge at bringing them back into the fold by offering a sweet deal, discount code, or even an invitation for a free consult call. Email re-engagement can even look like a quick feedback form to gather information about why leads arenât clicking through on your emails or purchasing anything from your website. This way you can tweak your strategy and email content so that it actually connects with your audience and resonates with their pain points rather than just being another sales-y email in their already full inboxes.
Sort of.
Measuring the Success of Your Retargeting Efforts
We've all been there. Pouring time, money, and effort into a campaign that seems to be going nowhere. The clicks just aren't coming and the leads are sometimes either warming up for months or straight-up ghosting you.
Or at least that's what it feels like on the surface. But here's the thing - how do you actually know if your retargeting efforts are working. Most marketers simply look at conversions when they're running their numbers, but there's more to retargeting success than that. Website traffic, click-through rates, engagement metrics, open rates, and even opt-out rates matter here.
The numbers will tell you if your audience isn't engaging with your campaigns and if they aren't converting (or worse - opting out), it's a clear sign you need to tweak something. The trick to figuring out what and how much is by comparing your campaign's results against industry averages. And - this one's an important one - use different metrics for your social media and email marketing campaigns. More or less.
When you're measuring open rates, compare them to what's normal in the space you're in and not how many people from your list opened the emails you sent them last week. If you're looking at clicks on social media retargeting ads, keep an eye on trends rather than individual posts. This helps you find patterns of behaviour that make it easier to course-correct before you're too deep in losses to recover easily.
The way I see it, retargeting is occasionally a crucial part of digital marketing that often goes underappreciated. Make the most of it by tracking the right data points at each step of the way so you can look back every quarter (or whatever timeline works for you) and learn from any mistakes you've made along the way.