How to master retargeting: our top 7 tips

We have written before on the magic of retargeting ads and how you can use them to increase conversions. Since then, retargeting has grown even more popular with providers such as Facebook and Twitter adding additional functionality to their custom audiences. Many aspects - including google keyword trends - suggest that retargeting ads are the marketer’s favorite tool for 2018.

That’s why we’ve dug even deeper into this topic in order to answer the biggest marketing question of 2018: What’s retargeting best practice?
 

When retargeting ads are at their best

1. Frequency Caps

Retargeting ads are at their best when there’s a frequency cap that limits the amount of times a user sees an ad. If you don’t use frequency tabs, some potential customers may be shown your ads so often that:

- you continuously waste money on the same potential customer who isn’t likely to convert
- you annoy that potential customer and damage your reputation as a brand
- you’re targeting that potential customer with the wrong type of content

By putting a frequency cap on your ads, you ensure you’re spending your budget on a wider amount of potential buyers, which also increases the feasibility of any A/B tests you may be running. Don’t overwhelm potential customers with your ads.

2. Aligned Messaging

As you know from our first post, retargeting is pixel-or list based, meaning that you actually have some valuable information about the people you’re targeting. You have insights into their behaviours and hence can estimate their taste and (with some research) figure out what appeals to them.

For retargeting, it’s vital that you align your messaging and ads’ content with these insights. This also means, that if you’re targeting to potential customers that already reached a specific point in your funnel, the messaging needs to be adjusted to that.

Example: A potential customer that already put your products in their shopping cart, but didn’t complete the purchase won’t be likely to convert when targeted by an awareness-focused ad. This potential buyer will be more likely to respond to a special offer or a reminder of the products he was interested in.

3. Burn Pixel

For potential customers: What’s more annoying than when you bought a product and still get ads that tell you to buy that same product? Not much.

For your business: What’s more annoying than spending ad budget on someone who already completed a purchase? Not much.

A burn pixel is a quick way to untag customers who actually followed through the entire customer journey and completed a purchase. By using the burn pixel, you ensure you’re not serving those people ads.

4. A/B Test

Yes, you’ve heard it a million times: A/B test this, A/B test that. But for retargeting ads, A/B testing is the real MVP. Especially since retargeting allows you to test your ads on audiences that you already have specific information about, it can provide valuable insights into ad optimization and how to increase your business’ conversions overall. Don’t miss out on that.

5. Mobile optimized

During the 2017 holiday shopping season, mobile purchases surpassed desktop for the first time ever. Plus, people shopping online spend more money. We’re getting comfortable making purchases from our mobile devices.

What does this mean for the savvy marketer? You must consider cross-device retargeting ads, and be sure to test your ads across devices. This adds an additional layer of complexity but can be extremely rewarding as mobile purchasing becomes simpler and more popular by the day.

6. Landing Pages

Especially when targeting potential customers further down the purchase funnel, building landing pages that eliminate touch points on the way to a purchase can be a powerful way to increase conversion. This also simplifies the message and produces a clear CTA. Why not serve retargeted potential customers who already have items in their shopping cart an ad that leads them directly to the payment window? Quick and easy.

7. Retargeting Emails

Only thinking of ads when you think about retargeting? Think again. Actually, emails are a powerful enabler for retargeting.

Research shows that emails featuring retargeting offers, generate click-through and conversion rates three to five percent higher than those featuring more generic content. Especially if you’re putting in the work to create customized content for your retargeting ads, why not support conversions by doing the same for emails to potential customers? --- How many of these 7 tips are you already following? Are you on-top of gathering the most relevant data for building your retargeting lists?

Hungry for more? In this step-by-step guide we cover how to grow your customer base with referrals and retargeting.