Why You Need to be Retargeting Your Potential Customers
Have you ever filled a bucket with a strong hose?
This sounds completely random… but we promise it’s not ;)
With all that water pressure coming out of the hose, you expect the bucket will fill up fast…
But after sitting there filling your bucket for a minute or two, when you think you should be done with your task... you quickly realize that the majority of your bucket is empty. Most of your water has been splashing out!
At first, it looked like you weren’t losing much. You thought, “Well, I’m going to lose some water along the way, so I won’t worry about the bits splashing out.”
But what looked like a few drops escaping at first quickly revealed itself to be the majority of the water.
And while you do have some water in the bucket, it’s not nearly as much as you had coming out of the hose.
This is your business without retargeting.
The water is your potential customers. People who are somewhat familiar with your company and product. They may have gone to your website, or saw an Instagram ad, or watched a video on your YouTube channel. They may have even purchased from you in the past!
In one way or another, they’ve noticed you. They know your products or services. And they’re at least a little bit interested. (Otherwise, they wouldn’t have spent time reading your posts, watching your videos, or opting in for a lead magnet)
Here’s the kicker: they haven’t bought from you yet.
… Or they’ve bought in the past but haven’t become a loyal customer that buys from you again and again
If you’re starting to feel a little annoyed (why am I spending money on ads for people who won’t buy my amazing products?) or a little anxious (they saw my videos but didn’t commit to my brand — doesn’t that mean they’re rejecting me?), don’t fret.
We’re going to walk you through everything you need to know about taking those undecided leads and turning them into enthusiastic customers.
What is Retargeting?
So what exactly is retargeting?
You may have also seen it called “remarketing.” It’s when businesses focus specifically on selling to warm audiences that have interacted with their brand in the past, but didn’t make a purchase.
Basically, you’re targeting customers who have already expressed interest in your products or services.
(Hence the prefix “re-,” because we’re targeting the same audience once again!)
Maybe you’ve heard one of the golden rules of sales: that it’s cheaper to keep a client you’ve already sold to than it is to recruit a new client.
The same goes for marketing. It’s cheaper to recruit a customer who’s already expressed interest in your products or services, than it is to start from ground zero with advertising to a new customer that doesn’t know anything about you.
That’s why we recommend that every brand has a retargeting campaign in place during the initial stage of developing their marketing funnel.
Converting people into sales who you already know are interested in your brand can be way easier, and save you tons of money, compared to converting a cold audience.
Here’s a Tip: Don’t Be Afraid to Be Shameless
When you first start retargeting, it can feel shameless. Maybe even a little desperate.
These people have already left my website/social media account/Youtube Channel without buying anything. Shouldn’t I just assume they don’t want my products and let them go?
No!
That would be a bad move for your business and for your customer, who you know could benefit for your product or service if they just gave it a try.
Think about it: Can you remember a time when you’ve come across the website of a company you absolutely love, and you’re happily browsing their online store…
…and then you get a phone call you’ve been waiting on, so you close the webpage.
...or you run into a friend at the coffee shop and put your phone down.
...or you click over to another tab and get lost in an internet wormhole that doesn’t lead you back to the website you were browsing. (We’re talking to YOU, person who keeps 20 tabs open at a time so you don’t “forget” to read or buy that thing, but it’s been 3 months and you forgot what all the tabs even are, but you still don’t want to close them…)
...or you realize you’re running late picking your kids up from school and have to rush out the door.
...or anything else!
There are tons of reasons why someone who loves your brand and your products might end up not buying from you.
Oftentimes, it’s not even because they thought, “Hmm, not today.” It’s because, in our hectic daily lives, it seems like our attention is always being pulled from one thing to the next.
And, with 100 other things on our minds, it can be easy to go from, “Holy crap! I love this company! I want to buy all the things!” to, “Wait, what was the name of that website with that one product I really liked? I feel like it started with an M...”
That’s why it’s so important to shift away from the mindset that so many of us fall into, which is to assume that anyone who leaves your website isn’t interested in you.
Instead, think of bounced traffic not as people who aren’t interested in your product or service, but as people who didn’t have the time to buy your product or service in that moment.
Assume that they’re still interested in your product.
Even better, think of your retargeting campaign as something that actually benefits them. Because if they’re bummed they forgot the name of that cool company they were considering buying from, they’ll be happy to see you pop up in their newsfeed like a friendly, “Hey, remember me?”
Don’t feel shameless. Don’t feel desperate.
Feel like someone who knows how awesome and special their brand is and wants everyone else to have a chance to experience it for themselves!
Why Retargeting Is Important
Which leads us into our next topic of why retargeting is so important.
This answer can change for brands based on what they sell, but the bottom line is that retargeting is important for every business, even though your reasons for retargeting might differ from another brand’s.
Here are three of the most common reasons for why you need to be retargeting…
Reason #1: Remind them why they were interested in your brand in the first place
When we show up in someone’s news feed, we remind them why they were on our website, or watching our ad video, or surfing our social media accounts in the first place.
Maybe we’re just reminding them of the name of our company, like we mentioned above, so that they know where to look when they want to buy our product or service.
Other times, we’re reminding them that our product or service exists.
Since they were previously on our website, they probably already think that they would benefit from our product or service. So when we pop up in their news feed, it’s another reminder that, “Oh yeah, this thing exists! I’ve been thinking I needed something like that…”
Either way, it’s a great way to make sure our brand isn’t slipping their mind. And to convert all those people who forgot where they saw our product, or couldn’t think of the name of our company, or otherwise thought they might want to buy from us, into happy customers.
Reason #2: Increase brand awareness
Retargeting also works to increase brand awareness. If you want your brand to become a hit, you first need to be well-known and popular among your target audience.
Yes, this happens when people actually buy your stuff. But it also happens when people see your brand name over and over again. If they like your products or services and they like your ads, they’ll be more likely to buy from you than similar companies they’ve never heard of.
Name recognition goes a long way for generating sales.
So you want to increase brand awareness by keeping your company at the forefront of your target customers’ minds.
That way, even if they don’t buy from you today, next time they’re feeling like they are ready to buy your product or service, they’ll find their way to your business.
Reason #3: Boost your ROI
Increasing your Return on Investment (ROI) is a good thing.
Almost all brands can agree on that.
When you focus your marketing efforts and your advertising spend on customers or clients who have already demonstrated a degree of interest, you’re generating new sales without needing to up your ad spend for new audiences. So you save on ad spend while still converting new customers.
In short, retargeting saves you money and raises your conversion rate.
So your time & money will be working for you like never before.
And those precious dollars you put into warming up audiences that didn’t end up buying your product the first time around won’t go to waste.
If you want to prevent all that valuable water from splashing out of your bucket…
You need to incorporate retargeting into each part of your customer value journey.
Need help with your retargeting campaign?
Not sure where to start with your retargeting campaign?
Maybe you’ve already tried retargeting but didn’t get the results you wanted?
Don’t panic. We’re here to help!
Retargeting has been a central part of our digital marketing strategy for nearly a decade. We’ve helped multiple clients double their conversion rates by setting up fool-proof retargeting campaigns.
And we can help you, too.
