By Winmark Business Solutions
Some 98 percent of Internet shoppers leave ecommerce sites without buying. So to help refine search engine marketing plans and possibly recapture lost sales, Internet-savvy marketers are starting to use retargeting technology to pursue customers who have left their Web sites.
Retargeting works by placing a tracking pixel from an ad network on specific product pages of your Web site. When site visitors leave the Web site after visiting these pages, they'll see ads describing your products and services on sites and search engines within a given retargeting ad network.
BlueLithium's network retargets based on the individually tagged pages that correlate with that search term. Once a user reaches the tagged page, AdPath identifies them as a person who came via search.
Advertising.com's network groups visitors by keywords and allows advertisers to track a variety of behaviors, including clicks, registrations and sales.
The network offered by Revenue Science offers a second chance to convert interested leads by placing tags on the top search landing pages and matching creative to the retargeting banners for those pages.
Here are some tips to consider when targeting lost sales:
- Focus your follow-up — Don't use a general ad in a retargeting campaign. Use different tracking pixels for each product or service. Take the opportunity to provide relevant, focused ads to each prospect.
- Better offers — Use these to recapture lost sales and provide a second chance to reach prospects. Provide a new, better offer than they've already seen on your Web site.
- Multiple offers— During a retargeting campaign, you're not required to have one offer that attracts every prospect. Try a variety of alternative offers that appeal to different types of customers. One offer might include a discount. Another offer might include free shipping.
- Multiple formats — By necessity, retargeting occurs on a variety of Web sites beyond your control. Many limit the types and sizes of ads they serve. Be prepared. Provide ads in a wide range of sizes and formats.
- Upsell opportunities — Retargeting can be used upsell to existing customers. Retargeting can be used to market product-related accessories and complimentary services to your existing customers.
Retargeting also improves a company's share of voice (SOV) by pumping up the number of times someone sees a company's brand while actively shopping. This can be important. When individuals shop online, it's not uncommon for them to visit several competing online stores in a short amount of time to compare services, products and costs. During these intense periods of research, it's not uncommon for Web site visitors to forget some of the Web sites they visited. Retargeting keeps a Web site top of mind.
About the Author
Winmark Business Solutions (WBS) is a free Web site for small businesses and entrepreneurs containing over 6,000 pages of business-critical information and downloadable tools at www.WBSonline.com. WBS is a division of Winmark Corporation, a multi-brand franchisor with nearly 900 franchise locations in North America. With over 25 years working with small businesses, WBS draws upon years of experience to bring important small business articles, information, tools, forms, checklists, calculators and downloadable forms to the small business owner to help their business grow. WBS contains over 6000 pages of business-critical information all available at www.WBSonline.com.