Website traffic doesn’t always equal conversions. So, how do you win back the attention of the one-time visitors to your site? The solution you are seeking lies in a concept called remarketing.

Most of the time that we contemplate the steps in the organic marketing funnel, it follows a very specific path. For instance, it starts with a user performing a search, following you on social social media or seeing a status that you’ve posted or tweeted, and visiting your site to see what it’s all about.
From a marketing perspective, it now becomes the responsibility of your site, and its content, to convert that person to a customer. If you aren’t able to get a conversion right away, you should be able to, at the very least, get the visitor to sign up for an email newsletter, follow you on social media, or become a part of your community.

Although the concept of the marketing funnel sounds simple enough, in actuality the data suggests that the overwhelming majority of visitors to your website will leave and never return. For instance, 99.9% of the people who visit the Fitbit site, will leave the website without being converted. This means that only .01% of visitors will actually buy one of their fitness watches. Once upon a time, the members of the 99.9% were interested in the Fitbit product, why else would they visit the site? So, what can be done to recapture the attention of such a huge audience? If these were your customers, what could you do to get in front of them once again?

Interested in learning the answer to the above questions? If so, keep reading for helpful hints that will teach you all about remarketing to visitors that have already been to your site.

1. Retargeting
Have you ever visited a site to learn about a certain item and later on, when on Google, Facebook, and other similar sites, saw ads for the same product? If so, you may already have an idea of how classic retargeting works.

At its foundation, retargeting is used to remind internet users of the opportunity they lost when they decided not to buy a product or service. It is a concept that has been bandied around for a while, but now it has become a much more sophisticated affair. For instance, remarketing now gives marketers the ability to filter, configure, modify, and model ads so that they are customized to an individual user, based on their behaviors, interactions, and preferences.

For help with your retargeting efforts, consider using the AdRoll service. But, it is important to note that, there are a number of other simliar tools available as well.

2. Remarketed Lists for Search Ads (RLSA)
Remarketed Lists for Search Ads are another tool that has been around for some time, but it’s not something that is talked about much. It can be hard to explain, so consider this illustration:

Let’s say that you know that Terry visited the Tory Burch page on Fitbit; Tory Burch is a fashion designer who put her own spin on the classic Fitbit fitness watch design. You also know that, after Terry left the site, she performed a search for watches or bracelets. Now, you may think that, since Fitbit isn’t a fashion accessory, these two event are unrelated. But, to tell you the truth, this is all a matter of perspective.

Fashion accessories and Fitbit fitness watches are not considered to be synonymous so, if you worked for Fitbit, this isn’t something you would typically bid on. But, the information about Terry’s search can still be quite helpful. For instance, you can use the knowledge that Terry is performing fashion related searches to show ads of the Tory Burch designed Fitbit in her search results.

Remarketed lists can be customized in a myriad of ways, especially if you factor in the pages that users visited and what they were looking for. Plus, since you know the past search behaviors of the people on your list, you can now bid a lot higher for these types of ads. You will probably notice a significantly higher click-through rate (CTR) and possibly a higher conversion rate as well, especially because the person has already been to your site and is familiar with your brand or product.

3. Email Addresses and Other Forms of Online Identification
If you have a social ID, email address, phone number, or app ID, you can use Twitter and Facebook’s Custom Audiences feature to target the people, on the corresponding sites, whose email addresses you have access to. That is to say, if a ton of people have started the product purchase process on your site or have signed up for your email newsletter, you can get back in front of them using these tools.

AdWords is another great option here as well. In fact, Google recently introduced a feature called Customer Match in AdWords. It lets you upload an email list (or two, or three, or more) so you can get in front of the users on the list when they are performing searches or are on a site on the Google Display Network.

If you decide to use tools like Customer Match, it is important to note that you will need at least a thousand email addresses for Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Having all of these email addresses at the ready can help you get your content in front of the important influencers in your industry. If your attempts at communication result in links, press coverage, and stories (and the bid prices are low), it can give your business a huge boost.

Important Considerations
Before you delve headfirst into retargeting and remarketing, there are 6 things that you should know. They are as follows:

First things first, whenever you are doing any type of retargeting or remarketing, make sure that you have burn pages and smart burn pixels. This will ensure that, when your customer has completed a transaction on your page, they won’t be shown the retargeting ad anymore. It’s not wise to continuously market to someone who’s already been converted. Likewise, you should also have a burn that is activated after a specific amount of days. For instance, if after a week (or so) you can see that you are getting low click-through and conversion, it may be time for you to stop putting your efforts into marketing that particular ad.

Secondly, if a potential customer has seen your ad several times as they are browsing the web and they haven’t purchased the advertised product or service, it may be time to switch tactics and limit their exposure. You have two options here, they include:

• Give them a new message
• Wait until they visit your site again before you start remarketing to them

Doing anything else may cause you to waste money and bids that could be better used on other clients or marketing channels.

In the past, the concept of remarketing revolved around a basic premise i.e. if a client visited your site, you could show them one ad. But, with the evolution of the internet and the way that it’s being used, both people and ad networks have become a lot more sophisticated. Nowadays, marketers can personalize ads based on specific behaviors. This customization can help improve both your click-through and conversion rates. It can improve your targeting as well.

Don’t give 100% credit to any of the remarketing tactics that you decide to use. That special something that initially brought the visitors to your site should receive, as much (if not more) investment and credit than whatever you did to recapture their attention. When you assign 100% credit to your remarketing tactics, eventually you will stop investing your time, money, and efforts at the top of the funnel. As a consequence, you will end up remarketing to the same, ever dwindling, group of visitors, which can be quite hazardous to your ROI, or return on investment.

It is also important to note that all of your ads shouldn’t be exclusively focused on sales. It’s possible to gain conversions from other sources that include:

• Multiple visits
• Content
• Subscriptions
• Sign-ups
• Participation on your platform or your community
• Attending an event

Instead, take a look further up the sales funnel and find the activities that will eventually lead to conversions. Once you’ve identified these activities, remarket them – you might even be able to bid on the corresponding phrases and keywords for a significantly lower price.

Finally, consider using remarketing tactics in new and innovative ways. For instance, if you get plenty of visitors to your Jobs page, but are still having trouble hiring new employees, get in front of it. That is, use remarketing tactics and follow your visitors around the internet like a puppy. Market to them on their social networks and, if they’ve been to one of your events and you have their email address, you can also reach out to them in this way.

The Bottom Line
The knowledge that you gained in this article will help you attract potential customers that, otherwise, would be lost. It provides the information that you need to create ads that will do a better job of attracting your target demographic, when compared to previous attempts. Happy Remarketing!