How to Use Retargeting to Return Customers and Increase Conversions

In today’s fast-paced digital world, capturing a potential customer's attention is just the first step in a much longer process. Even if someone visits your website or adds a product to their cart, the majority of them won’t convert on their first visit. This is where retargeting comes into play. By using strategic retargeting efforts, businesses can bring back those potential customers and significantly boost conversion rates. Retargeting, when done correctly, is an invaluable tool in the marketer's toolkit that can make the difference between a lost opportunity and a sale. In this article, we'll break down how you can effectively use retargeting to re-engage your audience and improve conversions.

At its core, retargeting is a digital marketing strategy designed to re-engage users who have previously interacted with your website or ads but haven’t completed a desired action (such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter). Imagine a user who visits your online store, looks at a product, and then leaves without buying. Retargeting helps you to reappear in that user’s online journey with reminders or incentives to bring them back to complete the transaction.

The psychology behind retargeting is simple: the more often a potential customer sees your brand or product, the more likely they are to make a purchase. People rarely make purchasing decisions the first time they encounter a product. Often, they need to be reminded of the product or need to see additional value in it before making a final decision. Retargeting ensures your brand remains at the forefront of their minds as they continue to browse the web.

But why is retargeting so essential? Consider these statistics:

• On average, only 2% of website visitors convert on their first visit. This means 98% of your potential customers are leaving your site without taking the action you want.
• Retargeting ads are 76% more likely to get clicked than regular display ads because they are more relevant to the user’s interests.
• Retargeted customers are more likely to convert by 43% compared to regular customers.

Clearly, retargeting is a highly effective way to nudge users toward conversion, making it a key tool for businesses looking to improve their return on ad spend (ROAS) and overall marketing efforts.

To fully grasp the power of retargeting, it’s important to understand how it works. Retargeting operates by using small pieces of code, often referred to as “cookies” or “pixels,” that are placed on a user’s browser when they visit your site. These cookies allow marketers to follow the user’s journey across the web. Once a user leaves your site, you can target them with relevant ads across various platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, and more, as they browse the internet.

There are two main types of retargeting:

• Pixel-based retargeting: This is the most common form of retargeting. When someone visits your website, a pixel (a small piece of code) is placed in their browser. As they continue to browse other websites, your ads are displayed to them based on their previous interactions with your site. This method is highly effective for targeting users who have already shown interest in your brand but haven’t taken a specific action.
• List-based retargeting: This type of retargeting works by uploading a list of users (usually email addresses) into your retargeting platform. These users are then shown your ads as they browse other platforms or websites. List-based retargeting can be particularly useful for targeting specific audiences, such as people who signed up for a newsletter but didn’t make a purchase or past customers who haven’t returned in a while.

Both methods have their strengths, and which one you choose depends on your business goals and the type of user behavior you’re trying to influence.

One of the greatest benefits of retargeting is its precision. Unlike broad-based advertising, where you’re targeting a general audience that may or may not have any interest in your products, retargeting focuses on individuals who have already engaged with your brand in some capacity. These users are already familiar with your products or services, making them much more likely to convert. By targeting this warm audience, you can create personalized, relevant ads that speak directly to their needs and interests, ultimately increasing your chances of turning browsers into buyers.

Retargeting is an incredibly versatile tool that can be customized in various ways to fit the needs of your business and your customers. However, to get the most out of your retargeting efforts, it’s important to approach it strategically. Here are several key strategies to ensure your retargeting campaigns are effective in driving conversions:

Not all visitors to your site are the same, and they shouldn’t be treated that way in your retargeting efforts. Audience segmentation is the process of dividing your website visitors into distinct groups based on their behavior. By segmenting your audience, you can create personalized retargeting campaigns that cater to the specific needs and actions of different users.

For example, someone who adds an item to their cart but doesn’t check out is at a different stage in the buying process than someone who simply browses your product pages without taking any further action. Your retargeting strategy should reflect these differences. For cart abandoners, you might offer a discount or a reminder that the product is still in their cart. For those who only browsed, you might show ads featuring the benefits of the product or reviews to further build trust.

While retargeting is an effective tool, it’s important not to overdo it. Bombarding your audience with ads too frequently can lead to ad fatigue, which can turn potential customers off from your brand entirely. This is where frequency capping comes in. Frequency capping limits the number of times your retargeting ads are shown to a specific user over a set period of time.

For example, you may want to show a user your ad no more than five times in one week. Any more than that, and the user might start to feel like they’re being stalked by your brand, which can have the opposite of the desired effect. Carefully managing your ad frequency will help ensure that your retargeting efforts remain effective and don’t come across as invasive.

Dynamic retargeting is a powerful tool that allows you to show highly personalized ads to users based on the exact products or services they viewed on your website. Instead of showing generic ads, dynamic retargeting pulls specific product images, prices, and descriptions from your site and displays them in your ads.

For example, if a user looked at a pair of shoes on your e-commerce site but didn’t make a purchase, dynamic retargeting will show them an ad for that exact pair of shoes as they browse other websites or social media platforms. These highly relevant ads are much more likely to capture the user’s attention and bring them back to complete their purchase.

Users don’t just interact with brands on one platform—they move between websites, social media, search engines, and more. To maximize the effectiveness of your retargeting efforts, it’s important to engage in cross-channel retargeting. This means showing your ads across multiple platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, and display networks.

Cross-channel retargeting allows you to stay top-of-mind no matter where your audience is spending their time online. By engaging with users across different platforms, you increase the likelihood of recapturing their interest and guiding them back to your site to convert.

Sometimes, all a potential customer needs is a little extra push to complete their purchase. Offering incentives, such as discounts, free shipping, or limited-time offers, can be highly effective in encouraging users to return to your site and convert. For example, if someone has abandoned their cart, you might retarget them with an ad offering 10% off if they complete their purchase within the next 24 hours.

These types of incentives create a sense of urgency and give users an additional reason to act quickly. Be sure to highlight the value of the incentive in your retargeting ads to capture the user’s attention and increase the chances of conversion.

Like any marketing strategy, it’s crucial to measure the performance of your retargeting campaigns to understand what’s working and what’s not. Tracking the right metrics will help you optimize your campaigns over time and ensure you’re getting the best return on your investment.

Some of the key metrics to track in retargeting campaigns include:

• Conversion rate: This is the percentage of users who take the desired action (such as making a purchase) after seeing your retargeting ads. A high conversion rate is a good indication that your retargeting efforts are effective.
• Click-through rate (CTR): This measures the percentage of users who click on your retargeting ads. A low CTR might indicate that your ads aren’t relevant enough to your audience or that you need to improve your ad creatives.
• Cost per acquisition (CPA): This metric tracks how much it costs to acquire a customer through your retargeting efforts. A lower CPA means your retargeting campaigns are cost-effective.
• Return on ad spend (ROAS): This measures the revenue generated from your retargeting campaigns compared to the amount spent on ads. A higher ROAS indicates that your retargeting efforts are delivering a strong return on investment.

By consistently monitoring these metrics and making adjustments as needed, you can fine-tune your retargeting campaigns and ensure they are delivering the results you want.

At BKR Agency, we understand that effective retargeting requires more than just setting up a campaign and letting it run. It’s about creating personalized, dynamic, and cross-channel experiences that re-engage your audience at the right moment. Our team of marketing experts is here to help you develop and execute retargeting strategies tailored to your specific business goals.

From audience segmentation and dynamic retargeting to cross-channel campaigns and in-depth performance analysis, we’ll work with you every step of the way to ensure your retargeting efforts are delivering maximum results. If you’re ready to take your marketing to the next level and start bringing lost customers back to your site, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at BKR Agency. Our expertise in digital marketing and retargeting can help you drive more conversions and grow your business.