The Beginner's Guide to Ecommerce Retargeting in 2023

I. Introduction:

In the ultra-competitive world of ecommerce, driving traffic and conversions is vital yet increasingly challenging. Studies show that 97% of first-time visitors leave a website without purchasing. Remarkably, 88% of those abandoners will never return. This highlights a massive missed opportunity for online retailers. However, ecommerce retargeting presents a powerful solution to recapture these lost visitors and guide them back to complete purchases.

Ecommerce retargeting involves serving targeted ads and offers across channels to users who previously visited your online store. By continually re-engaging high-intent site visitors even after they leave, retargeting provides a “second chance” to motivate action. Executed strategically, retargeting campaigns can deliver dramatic ROI, higher conversions, lower cart abandonment and expanded brand awareness.

In this comprehensive guide, we will demystify the world of ecommerce retargeting. You will discover the major types of retargeting campaigns, top advertising platforms, best practices for success and more. With these insights, you will be equipped to leverage retargeting to its full potential and achieve online retail success. Let’s get started!

II. Types of Ecommerce Retargeting Campaigns

Retargeting offers several options to reconnect with website visitors. Let's explore the major types:

- Site Retargeting: This fundamental method involves placing a small tracking pixel on your website to drop a cookie into the browsers of visitors. You can then serve tailored ads to them later as they browse other sites.

- Dynamic Retargeting: Take site retargeting to the next level by serving customized product ads showcasing the exact items a user viewed or added to their cart. Leverage browsing data for hyper-personalized ads.

- Search Retargeting: Target search ads to users based on the types of keywords or products they previously searched for related to your business. Capture high intent searches.

- Email Retargeting: Embed tracking pixels in your email campaigns to cookie subscriber browsers. Send tailored offers or ads to re-engage them. Ideal for cart abandoners.

- Social Media Retargeting: Major platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer robust retargeting tools to serve ads to those who've engaged with you. Match your ads to user interests.

- Cross-Channel Retargeting: Conduct coordinated retargeting across multiple channels like social, display, email for a unified approach. Reinforce your messaging everywhere.

- Location Retargeting: Target ads to foot traffic who visited your brick-and-mortar store but haven't made a purchase yet. Expand your reach.

- Lookalike Audiences: Use platforms like Facebook to create audiences similar to your existing customers for new prospecting.

The options are vast, allowing you to connect with website visitors across channels and devices. Test different approaches to see what resonates best with your audiences.

III. Top Retargeting Platforms

A variety of popular platforms provide robust tools to conduct ecommerce retargeting campaigns:

- Google Ads: Retarget visitors across Google's vast properties including Search, YouTube, Gmail, and the Google Display Network. Access unparalleled reach and detailed analytics.

- Facebook: One of the most powerful retargeting platforms. Target users who engaged with your Facebook content or pixel-enabled website. Dynamic product ads.

- Instagram: Owned by Facebook, Instagram leverages the Facebook pixel for retargeting. Ideal for visually-focused product promotion.

- Twitter: Retarget website visitors or those who engage with your Tweets. Great for timely, relevant ad messaging.

- Pinterest: Show your product Pins to audiences who have visited your website or engaged with your Pins. Highly targeted.

- LinkedIn: Connect with your followers and target by job role, company, interests. Professional audience.

- Snapchat: Retarget via Snap Ads to users who have interacted with your brand's Snap content. Reach a young audience.

- Amazon: Retarget shoppers who viewed but didn't purchase your products on Amazon. Promote directly to high-intent users.

- YouTube: Show video ads to previous site visitors or YouTube viewers/subscribers. Powerful video format.

The key is choosing platforms where your target audiences are engaged to maximize your retargeting impact. Consider both major networks and niche sites relevant to your industry.

IV. Setting Goals for Retargeting Campaigns

Having clear goals is crucial before launching any retargeting efforts. Align your campaigns with specific business objectives. Common retargeting goals include:

- Brand Awareness: Increase brand impressions and visibility through repeated exposure across channels. Build familiarity with your products.

- Lead Nurturing: "Warm up" cold leads and site visitors by serving targeted content and offers. Move them down the funnel.

- Conversions: Motivate cart abandoners, product viewers, and window shoppers to complete desired purchases.

- Traffic: Drive previous visitors back to your website or specific product/category pages. Increase on-site engagement.

- Subscribers: Retarget to get visitors to opt-in to your email list or loyalty program. Expand marketing reach.

- Engagement: Seek social engagement, shares, follows, clicks, or other actions. Build relationships.

- App Installs: Promote your mobile app to website visitors. Expand to mobile channels.

- Sales: Directly boost revenue and transactions from targeted segments. Maximize ROAS.

- Customer Retention: Re-engage existing customers and improve retention.

Set specific KPIs for each goal such as increased traffic, lower bounce rates, more subscribers, higher revenues, etc. Refine your targeting and messaging to accomplish each goal.

V. Best Practices for Retargeting Success

Follow these tips to maximize performance and ROI from your ecommerce retargeting efforts:

- Granular Segmentation: Divide your audiences into highly targeted, meaningful segments based on behavior, purchase history, demographics etc. Personalize for each.

- Dynamic Messaging: Tailor your ad messaging and creative to align with each customer segment for greater relevance.

- Behavioral Targeting: Target users based on their on-site behaviors and interactions for increased conversion potential.

- Frequency Capping: Set reasonable limits on ad impression frequency to prevent over-exposure. Balance brand presence with oversaturation.

- Ad Rotation: Refresh your ad creatives frequently and test new formats to combat banner blindness. Maintain novelty.

- Multi-Channel Approach: Execute coordinated retargeting across different platforms like social, display, YouTube etc. for cross-channel presence.

- Retargeting Funnel: Use different strategies at each stage from awareness to consideration and conversions.

- Measurement & Optimization: Continuously analyze campaign data including clicks, conversions, ROAS to refine targeting, creative and strategy.

- Value-Driven Content: Provide value, not just promotions. Nurture visitors with informative content.

- Privacy Compliance: Ensure your data practices and tracking comply with privacy regulations. Transparency builds trust.

Staying agile, personalized, and data-driven will enable you to maximize the impact of your ecommerce retargeting.

VI. Conclusion:

In closing, implementing ecommerce retargeting requires a strategic, multi-faceted approach across channels. But the effort pays dividends. With retargeting, you can build lasting brand affinity, recover lost sales, boost conversions and expand your marketing reach.

The key is focusing on value-driven messaging, hyper-personalization and continuous optimization based on campaign data. Compliance and transparency should remain top priorities. When done right, retargeting delivers unmatched ROI while providing visitors with a tailored experience.

Ecommerce is fiercely competitive, but armed with a solid retargeting strategy, your brand can stand out. Turn website visitors into loyal customers and unlock new revenue potential with the power of retargeting. Just remember - the opportunity lies in the 97%. Put these tips into action to profitably reconnect with your most valuable asset, your site traffic.