People seldom buy from people they don’t know. Therefore, most initial visits to an ecommerce site results in no sales. Just as dating is all about getting to know the other person, so too is the shopping process.
Shoppers might visit your site two or three times before they make a purchase. The only problem is they’re likely to be visiting the sites of your competitors too.
So how do you get them to come take another look at you? Crafting an effective remarketing campaign will help you accomplish this. But it must be done carefully, or you’ll creep them out.
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What is Remarketing?
Said simply, remarketing (aka retargeting) is the practice of “following” people who visited your site around the ‘net and serving ads on pages they view after shopping you. Done well, this can seem coincidental. Done poorly, you’ll come off as stalking them.
Choose Carefully
Most remarketing primers say target everyone who visited your site in the past 30 days. This looks good upon first reading, but when you think about it, you’ll be reaching a lot of people who wouldn’t come back even if you offered them a 90 percent discount.
Why? They didn’t stay on your site long enough to demonstrate an interest in your wares. Maybe they landed there by accident. Maybe they realized you didn’t have what they needed or wanted.
Whatever the reason, retargeting every single visitor is a mistake. Instead target people who landed on certain pages and stayed for a while but didn’t convert.
What to Say
Narrowing your focus in this fashion allows you make a more specific offer. In other words, rather than relying on benefits to get them to come back you can hit them right in the wallet.
If they visited your product page and stayed a while or made it all the way to the checkout page, you can assume they know the benefits of your merchandise. All you need to do now is give them a little push.
Let’s say you’re considering how to sell ebooks online. Serve visitors who spent some time on the landing page of a specific book an ad that says: “Limited Time Offer: 20% off Specific Book for The Next 100 Buyers!”
If they’re interested, they’ll click on that ad and buy the book.
What NOT to Say
Most internet users are sophisticated enough to know retargeting exists. However, that doesn’t mean they’re cool with being trailed around the web.
The trick is to craft a message that reminds them of the book and informs them of a great deal on it—without saying; “We know you looked at it.”
Remember, these are ads, not an email campaign in which they’ve agreed to hear from you again. If you say: “Hey, you know that book you looked at…?” you’ll have them wondering if anyone was watching when they looked at that naughty site they hope nobody knows they visit too.
Vary the Ad and us a Frequency Cap
Rather than showing a prospect the same ad over and repeatedly—everywhere they go—mix it up a bit. Create multiple versions of the ad. You also want to cap the number of times you show them the ads. If they haven’t bitten by the fifth viewing they aren’t going to take the bait, move on.
Crafting an effective remarketing campaign is the best way to get to the people most likely to buy—in a way they’re most likely to be receptive. You put in the effort to get them to take that first look at you, now you must help them get to know you.
Do it right, their business will be yours.
