Retargeting ads are one of the more fascinating types of digital ads you can use to drive traffic to your website. We’ve all seen ads follow us across sites and apps to show us the products we just viewed. But retargeting ads are a lot more versatile than that.
Since retargeting audiences are based on your website traffic instead of broad demographics, they’re typically smaller than others. But since they’ve already encountered your brand, these specialized groups are sometimes much more receptive to your marketing.
With a retargeting pixel on your website, there are several strategies you can use to support your organization’s goals. Here are five ways to use retargeting ads.
1. Promote relevant content
It may seem strange to spend money promoting content. But especially in product categories where your audience has a lot to learn and research before they’re ready to buy, or the price point is high enough that it takes more convincing, content marketing can be one of the more effective ways to warm up your leads and drive sales.
If someone downloads a lead magnet, you could use retargeting ads to promote another resource that explores a similar topic (or drive signups for an upcoming webinar on the topic). Or, if you have an especially popular blog post, you could target people who visit that page with ads for a related lead magnet.
2. Remind people what they’re missing out on
The most common way organizations use retargeting ads is to highlight products people have already looked at or added to cart. People often have to see a product several times before they’ll buy, and retargeting is sometimes the only way to continue showing them your products or services.
If someone visits your website and leaves without joining an email list, following you on social media, or connecting with one of your other channels, they’re gone. But with retargeting ads, they’re not unreachable.
It’s important to constantly analyze your ad audiences and invest the most in the ones that get traction, but retargeting campaigns can often be highly effective because the audience is more familiar with your brand.
3. Address their concerns
When someone visits a page about your product or service and then leaves without buying, it doesn’t mean the page wasn’t relevant to them. And if you’re familiar with your audience and your category, you can probably guess why.
Maybe your product requires buy-in from several decision makers. Or the price point is high enough that people often ask about financing options and payment plans. Whatever the reason, you can directly address them with retargeting ads. Highlight your solution, make your case, and point people to pages where they can learn more about how you support these challenges.
4. Drive website visitors through your funnel
A sales funnel represents the way your audience becomes aware of your brand and turns into customers. As people progress through the funnel, your messaging evolves and becomes more focused on how your product or service meets their needs.
With a well-developed funnel, your marketing gradually builds on the content your audience has previously seen and leads them toward greater familiarity with your industry, organization, and product or service.
Some organizations use retargeting ads to help drive people further down the funnel, promoting resources, pages, and interactions that are most relevant to someone’s current experience with the brand. This is especially effective in product categories with a long sales cycle, steep learning curve, or high price point.
5. Upsell your customers
For organizations with a suite of products and services, retargeting ads offer an excellent opportunity to upsell customers with accessories, add-ons, and related items. Here, retargeting ads allow you to “piggy-back” on messaging that’s already won someone over. Highlight the synergy between your products or the benefits of combining your services.
Some brands trigger upsell messaging immediately after a sale to capitalize on the customer’s momentum. Others delay this messaging to coincide with when the customer has received the product and hopefully had the chance to use it. You’ll have to decide what makes sense for your catalog.
Don’t waste your website visitors
If your website visitors don’t convert the first time they visit your site, that doesn’t mean they won’t ever convert. Sometimes you just have to bring them back. In most cases, retargeted advertising is one of the only tools you have to reach these people. So maybe it’s time you tapped into this versatile strategy.
