This is a bonus part in our series on “How To Increase Your Sales… Without Increasing Your Marketing Budget”, a series of articles we’ve put together to help you make the most of your existing marketing budget generate more sales. The other parts of the series can be found below:
Here’s our bonus tip/tactic, we hope you enjoy it.
BONUS – Re-Targeting
While this is a method that will require some investment on your part, the potential benefits it can have are huge when it comes to putting the right offer in front of the right customer, at the right time.
And technically, if you’re not already do re-targeting within your marketing efforts, you could easily adjust your budget so that you continue to spend the same each month, but you allocate some of your budget to re-targeting.
But what exactly is re-targeting?
Re-targeting is the process of serving up tailored ads or content to people that may have visited your website before but elected not to buy. And with 97% of people who visit your site for the first time, leaving without buying anything, you can see how powerful it can be to be able to target these people.
People want to get to know you before they buy from you, and as mentioned earlier in this report, a rule of thumb is that a customer will need to hear your message at least 7 times before they will finally make that decision.
So, rather than lose the opportunity to build a customers trust with your brand once they have left your website, re-targeting allows you to present them with relevant content as they continue to browse other sites, through advertising.
I have no doubt that you’ve experience re-targeting yourself at some point, you’ll have visited a website and checked out their products and then you’ll see adverts for that brand all over the web as you’re browsing other sites.
It can be annoying, but it can also be effective, especially if you are in buying mode and you see the ad at just the right time in the future. How often have you seen a product, browsed away and then promptly forgotten who it was that was selling it… well, re-targeting increases the chance you’ll find it again.
(Source: ReTargeter)
How can you use re-targeting?
Well, there’s the traditional way as mentioned above, someone visits your site, they are cookied and when they visit other sites or social media platforms they will see an ad for your products (potentially just a generic ad).
While this works in some cases, re-targeting can be a whole lot more powerful, particularly when you utilise a platform such as Facebook to build up custom audiences and then present ads/content targeted to each of them.
For example, by knowing how far a prospect made it through your sales funnel, you can show them advertising or content that is very specific to their stage in the process e.g. watched your video but didn’t complete the sign-up form.
In this instance, you could create an ad that very specifically mentioned that they’d seen your content but not signed up and ask them why, or alternatively provide them with an additional incentive for doing so.
Or how about if a customer adds something to their cart but didn’t complete the checkout process, you could use a tailored advert to remind them that you are holding the product for them so they can complete their purchase later.
Here are some statistics, that illustrate why re-targeting can be a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal:
- 71% of respondents said they would prefer ads that are tailored to their personalized interests and shopping habits
- People are almost twice as likely to click through an ad featuring an unknown brand if the ad was tailored to their preferences
- 44% of consumers said they would be willing to provide brands with information such as their name or email to receive more relevant ads
If you can build a marketing strategy that feels more tailored or personalised to your target audience, then you will find yourself once step ahead of those businesses that are undertaking more generic marketing activities.
But it’s not just about “recovering lost sales”
The great thing about re-targeting is it allows you to put the right content in front of people at the right time, moving them through the buying process until the point comes where they decide to purchase from you.
Imagine a prospect searched on Google and then found themselves on your blog, reading an article about the benefits of regular vehicle maintenance. You can then create an advert for a free report (or similar) that provides them with more information about this same topic.
Once they’ve consumed that information you could surmise that they are one step closer to wanting to service their own vehicle, so the next time they see an advert from you it could offer them a discount for booking a service with you.
So, it’s not just about saving a sale or following a prospect around the internet shouting about your products and services, it’s also about recognising who they are and where they are in their process… and providing relevant information that builds trust and awareness of your brand, priming them for future offers.