4 Crucial Components of a Successful Remarketing Campaign

When a business is capable of attracting Web traffic but less successful in guiding that traffic to the checkout lane, it is best to revitalize their remarketing campaign. Unlike broad marketing strategy, remarketing specifically has a higher statistical likelihood of converting leads into customers. Targeted shoppers have already demonstrated a general interest in the Web site simply through their visitation, moving the focus from generating leads to nurturing them—and in turn indirectly attracting more new leads from an overall improved customer experience.

Any remarketing effort is defined by its ability to pinpoint leads and deliver a more enticing offer than before. There are four key areas for businesses to target to boost qualified leads and resulting sales.

Data Compilation

A successful remarketing campaign cannot be conducted without proper data management. Unorganized efforts may lead to higher immediate sales, but not measuring and explaining causation prevents marketers from making long-term gains—or even truly knowing if their efforts were successful at all.

The core principle of remarketing (also known as retargeting) involves catering to those who have already visited a Web site or otherwise expressed purchasing intent through their browsing habits. The initial challenge is to identify those visitors, which is achieved through distribution of tracking cookies.

Cookies are the backbone of remarketing campaigns. They are used to discover who should be retargeted and then to determine the best method of reaching out. In order to make such decisions effectively and deliver the most relevant content, businesses need to acquire as much information as possible about their target audience. Marketers need tools to calculate conversion rates for specific approaches to learn and further develop their strategy.

Segmentation

Customers visit online retailers for a diverse number of reasons. If marketers intend to close the sale with each customer, they must understand those reasons and incorporate them into their remarketing plan.

Buyer segmentation helps effectively respond to the unique needs of each visitor. By sorting customers into separate funnels based on their perceived interests, Web sites can tailor their message to each lead. This enables marketers to reach those leads at the best point of contact, at the best time, and with the best information possible.

A visitor's viewing history will give extensive insight into their preferences. For example, if a visitor browsed specific products but failed to make a purchase, knowing which Web page was the point of exit could not only reveal what he intended to buy but what kept him from buying it. The buyer could be targeted as soon as the item goes on sale, or could even be delivered a unique one-time coupon to persuade him to buy today.

Code can be embedded in cookies to trigger many sorts of notifications. It is possible, for instance, to define a time frame that activates certain offers once the holiday season draws near. However, it is important to remember the difference between helping the consumer and sending them as much information as possible. Customers' top complaints have included receiving too many ads and, more specifically, irrelevant ads. Segmentation can be used to divide visitors who viewed a particular item into those who made a purchase and those who did not. Simply visiting the product’s listing should not trigger the same ads for everyone—instead, previous buyers should be sent information for complementary products rather than for one they already bought.

Landing Pages

The advantage of remarketing is that your target audience has already visited and displayed an interest in a Web site's product or service, making them exceptionally more likely than the average customer to close a sale. Potential buyers who have responded favorably to remarketing ads by clicking and returning to a Web site are even more likely to make a purchase. In essence, their returned presence means that the most difficult stage—capturing their interest—has passed.

Once her attention has been reacquired, a visitor's decision to purchase rests on the Web site in front of her. Every detail of the landing page, whether informational or aesthetic, should be shaped around the user experience. Studies have shown that changes in minute features such as colors and text placement are correlated with higher conversion rates. No attribute is too miniscule to criticize—if a particular lead previously visited a page, the small details could have initially converted her to a customer on her first visit. Yet she was deterred, and any factor that disrupted purchasing ease may be to blame.

A/B Testing

Experimenting through the use of A/B testing allows companies to test results-driven improvements without implementing widespread changes for all users. The concept divides Web visitors into two segments: an unaltered control group and a set of users exposed to any new Web site change being considered.

A/B testing is often applied toward design characteristics such as page layout. For example, a Web site could test a "buy" button that is far more prominently displayed. The goal is to measure the difference in click-through rates that ultimately lead to greater sales.

By reserving a control group and making the test segment as large as desired, marketers can experiment while still playing it safe. The impact from any unfavorable changes would be minimized, while positive changes could be quickly applied to the entire Web site with confidence.

When carried out successfully, a remarketing campaign results in greater sales, more established customers, and more prospective leads. It helps businesses close pending deals that would otherwise result in lost revenue. By improving the experience of undecided customers, marketers consequently create a better environment for all users, aiding lead generation and creating a more successful business overall.

Frank Paterno is a creative marketing executive with experience identifying, creating, delivering, and communicating value with technology-based products and services. He is vice president of marketing at IntelliConnection, a lead generation and marketing automation service that enables businesses to focus on closing sales instead of searching for prospects.