How To Retarget eCommerce Website Visitors

Retargeting is a marketing channel that produces high return on investment for ecommerce businesses because it lets you target high-intent shoppers who have already visited your site. Let’s go over why retargeting is important for ecommerce businesses and how you can use it to grow your sales.

What is retargeting and why it's important for ecommerce

Retargeting lets you send targeted ads to shoppers who have already visited your online store. Retargeting can help merchants boost brand awareness, increase conversions, and ultimately drive sales.

Retargeting works by placing a tracking cookie on the computer or device of a website visitor. This cookie is used to gather data on the user's browsing habits and interests, allowing merchants to create highly personalized ads that are tailored to their specific needs.

The retargeting ads can be displayed on a variety of different websites and platforms like social media, search engines, and news sites. This gives merchants maximum reach and exposure to reach your shoppers.

Retargeting is important for ecommerce businesses because it’s typically a more effective channel for increasing sales because you’re targeting people who have already shown purchase intent instead of trying to create purchase intent.

Retargeting your online shoppers

You can retarget visitors to your online store in a variety of ways: email, social media, videos, display ads and more. Let’s go over some of the most important retargeting channels to use.

Retarget website visitors with SafeOpt

SafeOpt empowers retailers of all sizes to retarget website visitors with email offers, even if you don’t have their email address in your database. This is done in a fully-compliant way with CAN-SPAM and privacy regulations and it has already helped more than 1,000 brands recover more than $100 million in lost revenue.

Once a merchant signs up for SafeOpt, they simply install a script on their website. If one of the more than 175 million shoppers in the SafeOpt network browse your site without completing a purchase, merchants will have the ability to send them an email with a promotional offer.

Best of all, SafeOpt operates on a Cost Per Acquisition model, so you only pay SafeOpt for transactions that are generated from the SafeOpt emails. See how using SafeOpt for retargeting can help you grow sales.

Retarget visitors with Google and Facebook

Google and Facebook offer a wide range of targeting options and advanced analytics to help you reach the right audience at the right time. Here's a general overview of how to set up retargeting campaigns on both Facebook and Google.

Retargeting on Facebook

With nearly 3 billion users, it’s a strong bet that your shoppers are on one of Facebook’s properties. It also allows you to use retargeting ads that have visuals, videos or text-like messages with WhatsApp.

Here’s what you need to know about starting your Facebook retargeting:

First, set up a Facebook pixel on your website. This small piece of code that you install on your website lets you track visitors and gather data on their browsing habits.
Once you have the pixel set up, you can create retargeting lists in Facebook Ads Manager. These lists can be based on different pages of your website, specific products or services, or any other criteria that you choose.
Create ads that will be shown to users on your retargeting lists. Facebook offers a wide variety of ad formats, including image and video ads, carousel ads, and more.
Optimize your targeting to reach the right audience. This can include adjusting the targeting criteria, such as demographics, interests, and behaviors, to reach users who are most likely to convert.

Retargeting on Google

When you combine Google search, YouTube and various other Google properties, Google actually has even more users than Facebook. It’s almost guaranteed that you’ll be able to retarget your website visitors using Facebook or Google.

Here’s what you should know to get started retargeting on Google:

To retarget website visitors on Google, you'll need to set up a Google Ads account and create a remarketing list. This list can be based on different pages of your website, specific products or services, or any other criteria that you choose.
Like with Facebook, you’ll need to add a small bit of code to your website for Google retargeting.
Create ads that will be shown to users on your retargeting list. Google Ads offers a wide variety of ad formats, including text ads, display ads, and more.
Finally, optimize your targeting to reach the right audience. This can include adjusting the targeting criteria, such as demographics, interests, and behaviors, to reach users who are most likely to convert.

Best Practices for Retargeting

Whether you’re using SafeOpt, Facebook or Google, these best practices will help you maximize your retargeting efforts.

Personalize your ads: One of the key benefits of retargeting is that it allows you to show highly-personalized ads to users who have previously shown interest in your products or services. Take advantage of this by creating ads that are tailored to the specific pages or products that a shopper has viewed on your website.
Segment your audience: Not all website visitors are created equal, and it's important to segment your audience based on their behavior on your site. Consider creating different retargeting lists for users who have abandoned their cart, for example, and show them a different message or offer than users who have only visited your site once. SafeOpt is a particularly great channel for targeting abandoned cart visitors.
Be strategic with your targeting: Be careful with your targeting options. Narrowing your audience too much can limit your reach and not targeting enough can dilute your message and make it less effective. The best way to find the sweet spot is to test different targeting options and measure the results.
Test, test and test: Running A/B tests on different ad creative, targeting options, and landing pages can help you find the optimal combination of elements to maximize conversions.
Be consistent with your branding: Retargeting campaigns can help to build brand awareness and keep your products top-of-mind for potential customers. Make sure that your ads are consistent with your branding and messaging and include your logo and slogan.
Respect shoppers’ privacy: Always use retargeting in compliance with the data privacy laws and regulations, such as GDPR, and get the user's consent before collecting and using their data.

Retargeting your way to success

Leaning on strong retargeting options like SafeOpt, Google and Facebook will help your ecommerce business increase sales in a cost-effective way.

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