Remarketing is often used as an umbrella term. It describes the process of marketing to people who have previously interacted with your website. The act of remarketing through email is a critical activity. However, to use remarketing methods effectively, you need a solid understanding of what it is and how best to approach it.
Remarketing uses email to re-engage leads who previously visited your website. This differs from retargeting, which uses methods like social media campaigns to do the same thing. Remarketing is widely considered much more effective, as noted in a study by McKinsey & Company. It states that "email marketing is up to 40 times more effective than social media."
However, as effective as it is, remarketing is also difficult. In order to remarket, you first have to collect a lead's email. When you do collect a lead's email address, it's critical that you use it--and quickly. Sitting on a collection of emails that you could remarket to is a huge waste of resources.
Take the right approach to your remarketing strategy and you'll see the results. Take the wrong approach and many leads will unsubscribe and even send your emails to the spam folder.
Remarketing aims to re-engage a person who expressed interest in your brand but didn't take action. You'll have their email because they went so far as to put an item in their cart or signed up for an offer. Remarketing can also work for customers who made a purchase a long time ago who don't appear to plan on coming back. Remarketing is your ticket to turning them into a loyal, long-term customer. Think of it as a rare second chance. As such, it's something you have to use wisely.
The most effective form of remarketing is with cart abandonment emails. You have likely received some of these yourself when shopping online. After putting an item into your cart and then leaving, you'll likely check your email later to find a remarketing message. They typically have a subject similar to, "Did you forget something?"
If you open that email, it will include a picture, description, and "buy now" button for whatever product you viewed. An effective cart abandonment email will also include similar products. This helps you capture shoppers' interests. It can also increase their purchase size.
Abandoned cart reminders are effective because 75% of shoppers plan to come back to their cart later but forget. After clicking away from your site, they could see a competitor's ad for a similar product or see a sale at another store. Timing is essential to closing the sale before someone else has a chance to. An average of 40% of cart abandonment emails sent within three hours get opened. Another 20% get clicked.
The study "Marketing Personalization Preferences of Shoppers Worldwide" surveyed shoppers on marketing tactics. The study showed that almost 60% prefer emails showing appealing on-sale products.
Sale alerts are a great follow-up to an unanswered cart abandonment email. These emails entice leads, especially if the price is what made them put a halt to the purchasing process. Showing them sale products relevant to what they viewed can help bring them back.
Next to customized sales alerts, over half of the people in the survey enjoyed customer appreciation emails. These appreciation emails help to build a relationship with customers. They recognize a shopper's recent purchase or interaction with your website.
These emails help to bring back old customers who may not have visited in a while. They can also work for new customers to turn them into loyal shoppers. The key is to include a discount or goodie of some kind (like a free gift) in order to drive sales and help build that connection with them.
If you sell consumable products that people will want to stock up on regularly, sending emails to customers at a time when they're likely running low can certainly help you reel them back in for another order. This works to turn them into a loyal client and helps stop them from going to a competitor instead by keeping you at the front of their mind.
To help increase retention, this email may include a discount on their re-order. This method is especially effective if you offer a discount for signing up for automatic delivery.
If you're not giving visitors the chance to signup for notifications when an item they want is back in stock, you're missing out on a great opportunity. This type of remarketing email is very helpful and welcomed by shoppers. After all, they directly ask for it when opting into your list.
Be certain that your back-in-stock message comes in a timely manner. If it's going to be more than a few days before the item is back in stock, consider sending other messages in the meantime with similar products and deals to keep them interested. You may also consider a backorder offer with a message like: "Be the first to get it when it's back in stock!" to help lock in their purchase while the urge to buy is there.
Eniture Technology specializes in helping e-Commerce merchants grow by providing useful information, digital marketing services, off-the-shelf apps that solve common problems, and custom programming services. Please contact us if you need help growing your online business or implementing the concepts presented in this blog post.
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