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4 Conversion-Boosting Retargeting Examples

Written by Peter Devereaux | Mar 31, 2015 5:00:00 AM

Businesses on the fence about whether to start leveraging retargeting for acquisition and retention purposes should know that websites see a 726 percent lift in site visitation after four weeks of retargeting exposure.

 

Clearly retargeting increases website traffic, but what about conversion rates? As one may expect, retargeting also has a dramatic effect on conversion, as retargeting can increase this valuable metric by as high as 147 percent.

 

To get the most of a company's retargeting efforts, however, brands must follow many of the same best practices as other digital ad formats: include a strong call-to-action, use clear and concise copy, think about what happens to a user after the click and the list goes on. The four conversion-boosting retargeting examples listed below are those that follow these sound pieces of advice and push the digital envelope as to what retargeting can do.

 

The Personalized One

 

Seventy-five percent of marketers say "dynamic, personalized content" across channels is very important...this includes ads that are retargeting customers. Vineyard Vines, for example, retargets its site abandoners with content that is personalized to not only the type of items they were visiting (e.g. ties in the screenshot below), but also the specific product (e.g. Chicago Bears ties).

 

This type of retargeting boosts conversion because it's relevant to a user, reminds them what they showed interest in and even displays a value-add (free shipping on orders of $125 or more). The importance of including the user's specific item he or she was viewing is even more important when it comes to sports-team related items. The chances, for instance, of a Bears fan clicking on an ad served to them with a Green Bay Packers' tie is slim to none.

 

 

The One With An Incentive

 

Depending on why a customer left a site, offering an incentive could bring them back to complete their purchase. This is especially true if a retailer retargets a customer and offers free shipping, because the number one reason for cart abandonment is that shipping costs made the total cost higher than the customer expected. Even without a free shipping incentive, however, a percentage-off coupon might encourage the shopper to take action, as the discount might make up for "high" shipping costs. 

 

 

The Cross-Device One

 

Visitors move from device to device on their path toward purchase. Knowing this, Alex and Ani - via AdRoll - retargets customers from their desktops to their mobile devices and even from their website to Twitter. An older example, Alex and Ani were "alpha" testers on AdRoll's support for Twitter retargeting.

 

 

The One That's In-Stream

 

Interrupting the user experience with an advertisement is a gamble - will they be annoyed or will it catch their attention? When it comes to retargeting, however, the more relevant the ad is to the user, the greater the chance it will catch their attention (in a good way). Sproutling - an advanced baby monitor - retargets its potential customers (ones that left its site without taking action, like signing up for a waiting list) within an article, forcing the user to pass the ad before they continue reading the article. What's more, a smaller Sproutling ad is served at the end of the article as well.