How Can Retargeting Ads Help with Abandoned Carts

How Can Retargeting Ads Help with Abandoned Carts?

Why do customers abandon their carts?

Reasons vary. For example, in 2021, 37% of North American shoppers abandoned a purchase because estimated shipping times were too long. Other factors include finding a better deal elsewhere or getting distracted.

Identifying the most common reasons why users are abandoning their carts will give you the insight you need to create a better experience for new visitors and increase conversions gradually.

But building effective, persuasive retargeting ads can help you bring those shoppers back to your site to complete their purchase sooner rather than later. How does this work?

In this post, our Orange County digital marketing pros will explore retargeting ads and how they help with abandoned carts.

How Do Retargeting Ads Work?

Retargeting ads are a simple way to re-engage visitors who showed an interest in your site.

To get started, you add Google’s remarketing tag (a piece of code) to your website to track users. You can use it to track page visits and actions, such as putting a product into a shopping cart.

When the tag is in place, you’re all set to target potential customers with ads that promote your business or specific products and services they showed an interest in. Your ads might remind them that they have one or more items in their cart on your site. And if they return and complete that transaction, you’ll have your retargeting ads to thank.

But even if they don’t lead to a fast conversion, retargeting ads are valuable for building brand awareness too. They can help your business linger in a potential customer’s mind long after they visit your site.

How to Make Your Retargeting Ads More Effective?

Creating retargeting ad campaigns that bring potential customers back to their abandoned carts isn’t easy. But putting time and effort into retargeting ads will pay off if you get them right.

Here are a few tips to help you make yours more effective.

Grab Attention with Discount Codes

If a visitor has shown enough interest in a product to add it to their cart, even if they left it there, you could whet their appetite by promising a discount in your retargeting ads.

Use Time as an Incentive

If you notice that certain products are left languishing in carts more than others, consider putting them on sale for a while. Create retargeting ads that promote these “limited-time deals” with a sense of urgency, and potential customers may feel more inclined to take the plunge.

Be Sparing with Ad Frequency

Avoid showing your ads to the same potential customers too many times each day or you’ll put them off your business. Sensible frequency capping will help, but knowing when you’re showing ads too little or too often is tough.

Make it easy on yourself: let us take care of your retargeting ad campaigns for you. Our Orange County digital marketing agency will build tailored campaigns to help you reach the right people with the right ads.

Speak to us today to get started!

 

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Reasons Why a Remarketing Campaign Might Not Be Driving Results

what is remarketing
Image source: https://vimeo.com/107612991

What is remarketing?

Let’s keep this simple. Remarketing is basically a way to continually target your customers after they leave your site, thanks to the power of data-gathering cookies.

When visitors leave your website or app without completing a transaction, your AdWord ads will feature on domains within the Google Display Network to re-engage said users. This minimizes the danger of losing their interest altogether.

While a remarketing campaign can play a powerful part in your online advertising, you may find it fails to drive traffic back to your website as soon as you would like.

Sounds familiar? Don’t panic!

A number of factors might be to blame. Let’s look at the usual suspects. (more…)

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Does your pricing “Thrill” your customers?

JC Penny (JCP) has been making headlines over the past year due to a strategic shift in its pricing model.  About a year ago, newly hired CEO, Ron Johnson, announced that JCP will no longer promote sales and offer coupons to its customers.  Instead, they would offer everyday low prices.  JCP wanted to offer shoppers a no-nonsense way to shop without worrying about whether or not they are getting the best deal possible.  Theoretically, that made some sense.  From a business owner’s perspective, that makes even more sense.  A simple, systematic, uniform pricing model saves labor cost, stabilizes inventory, and allows a method to manage costs/margins much easier.  Time and labor is money, so if you’re saving those two resources, you’re going to save money.  So how did JCP miss the mark?

A recent NY Times article interviewed Tracie Fobes from Penny Pinchin’ Mom.  She epitomizes the fallacy in JCP’s logic.

When, a little over a year ago, J. C. Penney stopped promoting sales and offering coupons and instead made a big deal about its “everyday” low prices, Ms. Fobes stopped shopping there. It wasn’t that she thought the prices were bad, she said. She just wasn’t having any fun…  most shoppers, coupon collectors or not, want the thrill of getting a great deal, even if it’s an illusion. In recent months, Penney recognized that human trait and backtracked on its pricing policy, offering coupons and running weekly sales again”.

JCP grossly underestimated the human aspect of its customers.  Humans don’t just buy based on price.  We buy based on feelings and emotions.  (Ironically, Mr. Johnson was recruited from Apple, a company notorious for selling on perceived value and brand equity, not price)  We want to feel like we got a steal.  It’s an experience.  It’s a great feeling to see a discount on our receipt.  It’s the reason grocery store cashiers are now trained to grab a red pen and circle the “club card” discount total on your receipt before you leave.  It’s not because you got the best deal available.  It’s to give you the proud feeling and emotional elation of realizing you did a great job on your purchase.  That’s what we like.

Does the same hold true for online retailers?  Would JCP’s strategy work for e-retailers?  Online shoppers have fewer barriers to price shop compared to brick-and-mortar shoppers.  With a few keystrokes you can compare prices from multiple websites.  Due to these low barriers, the assumption is that online retailing is all about price. Traditional shoppers don’t have the luxury of walking or driving to 10 brick-and-mortars for price comparisons.  If they want to touch the product before buying, their options are limited, so you don’t need to be the lowest price to earn the sale.

While online retail may be more price sensitive, you need to take a look at yourself and your competitive landscape.  Price is important.  However, check the ease of navigability on your site.  Compare the efficiency of your shopping cart process compared to competitors.  If yours is clunky, update it.  If it’s ugly, redesign it.  Simplify your sitemap.  Offer shipping deals.  Build a retargeting campaign to stay connected when they shop around.  Note a regular price next to “your” price. If your company has a mission or cause (think Tom’s shoes), make it known.

Just remember, people don’t always buy based on the absolute lowest price.  Before focusing on how to sell more… focus on understanding why people buy.   Tap into their emotions a bit.  This may allow you increase sales while, most importantly, maintaining healthier margins.

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Extreme Makeover

We launched our new website today!  Based on customer input we cleaned things up and created a simple, straight forward and user friendly site.  We added a couple of advertising programs that weren’t on the original site.

More importantly, I’ll be returning to my blogging duties.  I apologize for being MIA and have taken heat from clients and prospects alike for not maintaining an updated blog.  Stay tuned for new posts, witty banter, and relevant content for your online ad campaigns.

In the meantime, enjoy meeting our Marketing Consultants by visiting our team page here.

— Michael

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