Starting a business is all about relationships. Your first customers, partners, and employees often come from your personal network. The world’s most successful companies understand that relationships are the bedrock of their business. This concept also applies to digital marketing, although it might not seem obvious at first.
Digital marketing can be daunting for small business owners. It’s filled with uncertainty about which platforms and tactics will give the best return on investment. It can feel like trying to solve an endless puzzle. But if you view your marketing budget as a tool for building relationships with customers, your strategy becomes clearer.
In today’s digital world, customers expect every interaction with your business to be relevant, useful, and complementary to their experience. It’s a delicate balance to strike, grabbing their attention while respecting their experience and even making them glad they saw your ad. The thoughtful approach to this balance is what separates fleeting sales from loyal customers who not only bring repeat business but also advocate for your business to their friends.
Consider this: 96% of people who visit your website won’t buy anything on their first visit. An effective digital marketing plan should include ways to reconnect with these visitors, keeping your business in their minds and informing them about what you have to offer. One of the best ways to do this is through retargeting.
Retargeting is a strategy where if you visit a website and then see ads from that business on your Facebook feed, Instagram feed, or other sites, you’ve been retargeted. These ads can remind you of abandoned shopping carts or offer personalized discounts and deals on items you viewed before. Many retargeting partners use sophisticated data analytics and creative optimization to create highly relevant ads.
Relevance is crucial in retargeting. The less intrusive and more relevant the ad, the more likely you are to be interested. It’s all about where, when, and why you might be seeing an ad. For example, if you looked at a linen shirt on a website but didn’t buy it, seeing that shirt in your mobile Facebook feed could be a compelling reminder. By considering your shopper’s intent and behavior, you can use retargeting in a way that’s profitable and builds strong customer relationships.
Retargeting works by showing digital ads to people who have shown some level of interest in a company or product. Visiting a product page on a website or downloading an app is considered a strong indication of interest. Essentially, you’re reconnecting with people who’ve already shown they’re interested in you. With retargeting technology, small pieces of code help re-engage an individual across sites they visit and devices they use. The technology then shows ads to that person based on what it already knows about their interests.
However, retargeting should be used in moderation. If people see an ad too frequently, too soon after visiting a site, or with no relevance to them, it can turn them off to a business. Think of retargeting as a smart reminder system — reminders to shoppers that, if they’re still interested, they’re a click away from something they’ll really like. We usually don’t like our reminders to be too frequent or loud. If you apply the same principle to retargeting, you’ll end up with more sales and happier customers.
