Retargeting and Customer Engagement

You make a significant investment in pulling people into the sales funnel, so keep the conversation percolating until they are ready to buy. Retargeting makes the most of your investment in print marketing and is a key component of any lead nurturing strategy. Whether direct mail, signage, trade show displays or promotional collateral, many companies invest thousands of dollars per year on print marketing. But despite even with the best advertising strategies, many organizations aren’t seeing the return in the form of leads and sales that they hope for. Why?

Consider today’s challenges

One of the biggest challenges for small and large companies is keeping the conversation going after initial contact is made. It’s easy to start getting your message in front of your target audiences on social media, through sponsored and original content, paid search and web ads, but it’s only once these new relationships are nurtured that they bear fruit. Studies show that it takes upwards of seven or more touches before consumers are ready to make a purchase. Depending on the nature of your business, the buyer’s journey is going to be different but the courting period is always extensive. In fact, Google’s Zero Moment of Truth studies show that 88% of consumers independently research a product before even talking to a sales rep. Staying top of mind amongst all the noise out there is a major sales hurdle. Print can drive people to your website and into your funnel, but leads have to be nurtured significantly moving forward.

Trying out a new approach

Retargeting works by tracking your visitors with a small piece of code, often referred to as pixel, the first time they visit your site. This piece of code stays with your visitors as they navigate to other services on the internet such as Facebook or LinkedIn and other websites. Though the pixel is hidden to your visitor, these other services can see it and read it and will then serve your ads back to the user again through their interface. Retargeting is highly effective. These people are hand-raisers who have already shown an interest in your company, your brand, or your product by visiting your website. The natural next step is to reinforce their interest and nudge them with a compelling call to action. Once the conversion is made, the code or pixel is updated so your prospect is no longer retargeted with the same ads.

The Wrap Up

Marketers often turn to retargeting as a way to keep prospects engaged and to interact with people who have already shown interest in their company. While conceptually it sounds fairly simple, there are many aspects of a retargeting campaign that must be worked out before you make the ad copy and creative. As with any “traditional” marketing campaign, be sure to consider your lists and target prospects, set goals and types of campaigns (e.g. free content, a promotion, or a product release), determine the platforms your ads will run on, and then tie all of your marketing together so as to maintain consistency of brand, message, and impact. You Might Also Enjoy:

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