How to run a successful retargeting strategy for your ecommerce business

Every ecommerce business has that one customer. The one who browsed through your website, added items to their basket and then disappeared without making a purchase or taking action. It’s frustrating, especially after you’ve done the hard work of driving traffic to your site and built strategies such as SEO or paid media.

However, that customer is still out there, and with the right strategy, you can reel them back in using retargeting, an incredibly effective way to re-engage those who were on the brink of buying but never quite made it over the finish line. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to craft a retargeting strategy that’s not only laser-focused but also tailored to your unique audience.

What is retargeting?

Retargeting, often referred to as remarketing, is a strategy that targets individuals who have already interacted with your website but didn’t complete the desired action, such as making a purchase. By tracking visitors with cookies or pixels, retargeting ads follow these users as they browse other websites, reminding them of the products they viewed or abandoned in their shopping basket.

This is the perfect way to keep your brand at the forefront of potential customers’ minds and encourage them to return to your site to complete their purchases.

The benefits os retargeting

• Higher conversion rates: Customers who have already shown interest in your products are far more likely to complete a purchase than first-time visitors
• Increased ROI: Retargeting is cost-effective because you’re focusing on a warm audience, meaning your marketing pounds are spent more efficiently and aren’t being used to target new traffic
• Improved customer retention: Retargeting helps create a stronger bond with potential customers, reminding them of your products and nurturing the relationship
• Targeted approach: With retargeting, you’re not casting a wide net. You’re specifically focusing on individuals who have already demonstrated interest, increasing your chances of conversion

Steps to build a successful retargeting strategy

Now that you understand why retargeting is essential for your ecommerce business, let’s break down how to build a successful strategy.

Set clear goals and KPIS

Before launching a retargeting campaign, it’s essential to define what success looks like. Are you aiming to recover abandoned baskets? Promote specific products or seasonal sales? Or perhaps re-engage past customers with complementary items? Establishing measurable goals will help guide your strategy and determine how you’ll measure success.

Some key performance indicators (KPIS) to track include:

• Conversion rate: The percentage of users who complete a purchase after seeing your retargeting ad
• Cost per acquisition (CPA): How much it costs to acquire a customer through your retargeting efforts
• Return on ad spend (ROAS): The revenue generated from every pound spent on retargeting
• Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of users who click on your retargeting ad

Segment your audience

One of the core principles of a successful retargeting strategy is audience segmentation. Not all website visitors are the same, so you shouldn’t treat them as such in your retargeting ads. Creating segments based on user behaviour ensures your ads are highly relevant and personalised and ensures that your content is being crafted to suit different interests and needs.

Common audience segments include basket abandoners, product viewers, previous customers and engaged visitors.

Creating engaging ads

Like any content or marketing strategy, your retargeting ads must be eye-catching and effective and must encourage users to take action. The ad copy, visuals, and call-to-action (CTA) need to work together to entice users to return to your site and ensure that the customer is engaged with your products or services. There are a variety of different ways in which you can ensure that your ads are compelling and effective:

• Personalisation: Tailor your ads to reflect the user’s previous behaviour on your site. For example, show ads featuring the specific product they viewed or added to their basket as well as any promotions or relevant collections

• Use urgency: Create a sense of urgency with limited-time offers, countdown timers, or flash sales to encourage users to act quickly
• Include a clear CTA: Make sure your CTA is prominent and clear by implementing a contrast design theme and placing them in places which are most effective. You should also use phrases such as “complete your purchase” or “shop now” to guide users toward the next step
• Eye-catching visuals: Use high-quality images of your products in order to not only demonstrate their high quality but also give audiences an insight into other details such as fabric and materials, sizing, shape and different angles
• A/B testing: Test different ad creatives, formats, and messaging to see what resonates best with your audience

Utilise dynamic retargeting

Dynamic retargeting takes personalisation a step further by automatically showing users the exact products they interacted with on your site. This approach is highly effective in re-engaging users because it speaks directly to their interests and reminds them of what they were considering. Dynamic ads also allow you to cross-sell or upsell your products by displaying related items or collections that the user has yet to discover. For example, if a customer looked at a pair of shoes, dynamic retargeting could showcase matching accessories such as socks, laces or insoles.

Choosing the right retargeting platform

Several advertising platforms can help you implement retargeting ads, each one providing a range of different benefits and characteristics. When choosing the retargeting platform you want to use, it’s important to consider what and how your audience interacts and which one you think will have the most impact.

The different retargeting platforms include:

• Google Ads: Google’s display network offers vast reach, allowing you to place retargeting ads on websites, YouTube, and mobile apps
• Facebook & Instagram: These platforms provide excellent retargeting capabilities, especially if your brand relies on visual content. They also allow you to target users based on their behaviour across both platforms
• Pinterest: If your business relies heavily on visuals, Pinterest’s retargeting can help you reach users who have interacted with your pins, making it a great option for ecommerce brands with eye-catching products or trending collections
• LinkedIn: For B2B or professional products, LinkedIn’s retargeting can help you reconnect with users who interacted with your content or visited your site

Optimising frequency and timing

One of the risks of retargeting is overexposure.

Showing the same ad to a user too many times can lead to ad fatigue, resulting in lower engagement or even annoyance from a customer’s perceptive. To avoid this, it’s recommended to set a frequency cap on how many times an individual sees your ad within a given time period to avoid your content from being spammy.

Timing is also crucial. If a user abandons their basket, it’s best to retarget them within a few hours to remind them to complete the purchase while their interest is still fresh and the item is still on their mind. For customers who did make a final purchase, consider retargeting them a few weeks later with related products to encourage repeat business.

A/B test and optimise your campaigns

Retargeting is not a one-and-done strategy. To get the best results, you need to constantly optimise your campaigns and ensure that your strategy is meeting the needs of a modern-day customer. There is a range of elements that should be tested when implementing ads, including:

• Ad copy: Try variations of your messaging to see what resonates with your audience and analyse how they interact with it
• Imagery: Test different product images or creative formats (static images, carousel ads, videos)
• Targeting: Experiment with different audience segments to see which ones yield the best results and which ones are interacting the most with your products and services
• CTA: Test different calls to action to find the most effective ones, playing with elements such as colours, design and language use

Measure and analyse results

After your retargeting campaign is live, it’s crucial to monitor its performance to discover what’s working and what’s not. Through using analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, or other reporting platforms, you can accurately and regularly track your KPIs and gather insights which can be used for future campaigns.