It’s something out of a science fiction movie: You walk into a store and as you pass the first display, your phone dings with an incoming text containing a coupon for 10 percent off your purchase in that very store.
But that’s effectively what happens every time you visit an online store — you become a candidate for retargeting.
Retargeting is a type of advertising where ads are shown to people who have visited a website.
You’ve probably experienced retargeting. Maybe you were shopping for shoes; you looked at one particular pair but didn’t end up purchasing them. For weeks (or even months!) after, though, you kept seeing ads for those shoes every time you visited any website.
Retargeting can be annoying to your potential customer, but it’s a highly effective advertising tool when done properly. Although it seems like a simple thing to do, there are nuances to a great retargeting campaign. You want to make sure the content is as relevant as possible and as un-annoying as possible.
To help you create an effective retargeting campaign, here are five retargeting best practices you need to know.
1. Limit The Frequency
One of the things that can make retargeting irritating to people is that many advertisers do not put a limit on the number of times a potential customer sees the ad. Effective advertising means looking closely at your data to determine the point at which your ads stop being effective. Typically, if a customer isn’t interested after seeing your ad 10 times over 30 days, it’s time to stop advertising to them. However, this number varies by industry; some products and services need to be viewed more times before purchase, while others might become annoying after just a few ad views.
2. Segment Your Retargeting
Even if you’re doing a great job of reaching your target audience, there will be variations in that group. Segment your remarketing lists so that people only see ads that are most relevant to them. You may want to create different messaging for people based on the page they visited, what stage in the sales cycle they’re in, or how they found out about your site. By creating different ads for each group, you speak more directly to each part of your audience.
3. Use Dynamic Ads
Google and other platforms will allow you to create ads that show people exactly what product they viewed on your website. This is a great way to show highly relevant ads and encourage people to come back to your site and make a purchase.
4. Choose Your Placements
When you set up remarketing, you can choose what website and apps your ads display on. As you gather data, you’ll see that some website and apps perform better than others. Remove the websites that aren’t leading to sales, and put more of your budget towards the ones that are!
5. Exclude People Who Have Already Converted
Even more annoying than seeing too many ads is seeing an ad for something you already purchased, especially if it’s a one-off item. Once a potential customer becomes an actual customer or website visitor becomes a lead, you may turn them off if you keep showing them ads. Add a negative list of these website visitors. And if their purchase can be a reoccurring one, make sure you give them enough time between purchases and that you advertise different products to these important returning customers.
Developing a solid retargeting campaign that helps customers instead of annoying them takes some effort and research. However, if you combine these retargeting tips with killer ad creatives and constant optimization, you will create an effective remarketing strategy that will engage your customers and move them to act.
