If you’ve got a couple of leads from previous ads and campaigns, what have you done with it? Remarket, definitely?
What I’ve been seeing over and over again for the past couple of months (particularly during the intensifying of Covid-19 lockdowns measures) is that more and more companies are focused on coming up with a Marketing Strategy to find a target audience that might have flown under their radar.
What I am seeing is that many companies are now:
- Starting their own websites or launching e-Commerce platforms
- Starting or jump starting their social media campaigns
- Pumping money into paid ads
- Going back into cold calling
- Revamping their outdated non-AMP websites
- Rewriting their website copy
- Developing new apps
While none of these are wrong moves because every industry is different and there is one forked road too many to make things work in this uncertain world we live in today, I personally think we’re forgetting a very important aspect of digital marketing – remarketing.
What is Remarketing?
Remarketing, in short, is about reconnecting with the very people who have registered some form of interest in your products/services. They have either engaged with you over social media, website, or mobile app in the past and, for some reason, they’re still there!
Wonderful news for you!
You can also do that when you’re putting up new ads on Google Adwords or social media ads. Instead, now you’re NOT going for NEW leads. You’re going to increase brand awareness and remind those audiences of their previous interests, and to encourage them to take the next step.
For e-commerce stores, it could be potential customers who ditched their shopping carts or have products left lying around lifelessly in their wish lists (like me. Guilty as charged).
Unlike placing new ads or boosting posts on social media, remarketing involves personalization of ads based on consumer behaviors, history, and actions knowing that chances of them taking the next step are closer compared to new, possibly more skeptical, customers.
“According to eMarketer, 73% of US internet users who are at least 14 will buy something online this year.”
– eMarketer
How to Remarket Using Google Ads
Caveat: This may not be a very comprehensive list and if you’re reading this in the year 2032, this list is probably obsolete. Things change. But there is bound to be at least one or two of these that will remain despite those changes.
1 – Google Ads ReTargeting
If you’ve created previous ad campaigns, you’re probably familiar with Adwords. Under each campaign, Google allows you to pick and choose your Audience.
When asked by Google who you want to reach, to retarget and remarket to possibly interested audience, pick ‘Remarketing’ and under the list. You can either choose a brand new demographic or use the list automatically created by Google Ads (which is based on the flurry of data created based on the performance of your previous ads).
Pick audiences who have previously visited your website or responded to your Calls to Action where cookies have been planted or select audiences who have responded to your ad(s) within the past 30 days.
You can actually do pretty much the same thing for each social media platform like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Linkedin.
2 – Your Newsletter
A whopping 70% to 96% of internet users leave a website/app without taking the action you desperately want them to take. But they’ve shown an interest. Convince them that you’re a brand they can trust and bring them back using remarketing techniques.
One of the ways is to use your mailing list or newsletter. If you don’t already have one, it’s time to create one.
It’s true. The open rate for emails is abysmal.
The best, automated, and interactive newsletter tools out there are mostly paid ones. Yes, you’ll probably have to fork it out to optimize your newsletter marketing campaigns and automated, intelligent newsletter tools are the best way to effectively bring about results.
You’ve got to work on the following:
- What are your expectations for your newsletter?
- How often are you going to engage with your subscribers?
- What kind of content are you going to send to your newsletter subscribers?
- How is your subscription/landing page going to look like?
- Find ways to get creative with email subject
- Focus on ONE primary Call to Action per newsletter
- Make it easy for people to subscribe
- Give them a solid reason to give you their personal information
- Space out your newsletters unless they’ve opted for daily updates from you. Internet users hate businesses that are too pushy or clutter up their inbox
At this point in time, the most popular mailing list services are GetResponse and MailChimp. The prices for these services are not cheap.
Get response
Basic – up to 1,000 subscribers – USD15/month
Plus – up to 1,000 subscribers – USD19/month
Professional – up to 1,000 subscribers – USD99/month
For large mailing lists of up to 100,000 subscribers, it will cut you back by $499/month; for the Professional account, they’re charging you $580/month. Ouch.
MailChimp
Slightly more affordable than GetResponse, the current pricing structure for MailChimp looks like this.
Standard – $14 per month
Essentials – $9/month
Premium – $299/month
The good thing is that they offer free accounts for those who are trying out.
HubSpot Newsletter
Hubspot is one of the best all-in-one digital marketing tools out there in the market today. It is comprehensive, relatively easy to use, and has decent customer service and training for its users.
But the prices can kill.
Starter – $40/month
Professional – $800/month
Enterprise – $3,200/month
However, they DO have a free and light version and also a special pricing section set up for startups without the deep pockets of International brands.
Using Free Newsletter Tools
Although free newsletter tools and services are limited in their options and features, you can still make use of them for trials, to start your new mailing list, or experiment with the various ways you can build a subscriber list and learn how to interact with the right audience.
- Sender.net – free for life for up to 2,500 subscribers
- SendInBlue – Free newsletters to 300 emails a day with an unlimited number of contacts
- OmniSend – Free 15,000 emails a month; caters to specifically eCommerce platforms
- SendPulse – Free for up to 500 subscribers
- Mailer Lite – Free for up to 1,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails/month
Of course, if you don’t have a budget to invest in a newsletter campaign right now, it’s perfectly fine to start off with the free versions of the abovementioned services or use less popular ones like Bravenet.
Bravenet’s been around since I started digital marketing and it amazes me that they’re still around and offering pretty much all the stuff that they used to offer.
Albeit, slightly scaled-up and scaled-down ones.
They still run their mailing list, site builder, web hosting, contact forms, guest books, counters & site stats, message forums, photo albums, online calendars, and blog features.
What you can do is to start off with these free mailing list tools and when you gain traction or find your footing, migrate or upgrade to paid services.
3 – Offering Irresistible Incentives
This is tough terrain because most incentives I’ve received through apps and emails are often not enticing enough for me to part with my hard-earned money. Offering me a 5% discount is….you know…meh 🤷 when the product price is $240.
What do I stand to save? Like $12?
We all know your profit margin is sky high and that $12 is not going to make a difference.
Instead, if a company was to offer me something for free along with the purchase…now we’re talking. Free stuff is always a winner, even if it’s a measly t-shirt. I’m a really cheap and hard-to-convince buyer but…free? OK. Let’s talk. 😂
You might have to dig around to find out what made your shoppers abandon their shopping carts and how to bring them back. Maybe your landing page wasn’t convincing enough. Maybe there wasn’t enough information/images/videos on your product pages? Maybe there are negative reviews you need to address or respond to.
Or maybe abandoning a shopping cart is habitual for a majority of your eCommerce store.
At the end of the day, people who may be interested in your store want to feel special, like they’re being offered something totally off-the-cuff, one-off, and never-again-to-be-repeated.
4 – LIVE or Video Marketing
Many marketing, digital or traditional, experts agree that people buy from people and rarely from companies they don’t know. If you’ve hit close to the mark the first time around, convincing them with a video or LIVE Q&A session might bring them over the fence.
It may and may not work. People are really tired of senseless, time-wasting, disappointing webinars these days. Promises of scaling their businesses, discovering the fountain of youth, or developing the Midas Touch…they’ve heard it all.
Don’t waste their time. Get straight to the point, tell them what they’re there to hear, and be genuine in answering their questions. No fanfare.
Fanfares, fireworks, neon lights are for advertisements, not videos and LIVE engagements.
Some of the most effective and engaging videos and LIVE chats are ones that sometimes riddled with the human touch. No scripts.
They’re more endearing and real. And believe it or not, THAT’s exactly what your customers are looking for. Not another company hiding behind an advertising/marketing agency running bots or scripts.
5 – Reconnect with Your Existing Customers
These are people you seriously don’t want to piss off. They’ve purchased from you and going by the fact that they’re still following you on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, or are still subscribed to your mailing list means they’re either happy with your products or are waiting around to see if you have something else to offer.
They’re ready customers who have either tried out a free ‘something’ on your website or store, or those who have purchased something from you. Annoying them is the last thing you want to do.
This is called lead nurturing.
“Lead nurturing emails get 4-10 times the response rate compared to standalone email blasts”
– DemandGenReport
The links above will give you pretty detailed reports on how to nurture your leads and keep them in your circle. The gist of it is this:
- Segmentize your leads
- Personalize
- Create curiosity
- Identify pain points
- Predict their buying cycles
- Avoid spamming
- Create content that is absolutely relevant and of interest to them
- Accept the fact that people will unsubscribe or become dead leads
Once you’ve got them interested, begin the journey of understanding them, learn how they roll, what makes them tick, know when and how not to harass them, and then lean into their behaviors.
It’s not much different from learning about a partner you’ve just started a new relationship with. There are lots of lines to toe, learning curves, mistakes, wins, and as you progress, you’ll be building a solid, long-term relationship.
There’s no marriage in business but when it comes to lead nurturing, that’s the kind of thing you’re going for.
Conclusion
I’ve worked with mostly startups for most of my digital career and I understand how important leads are to these companies. I’ve also worked with major brand names that don’t mind losing a few thousand subscribers a year because they’ve pivoted on their heels and are hunting down other relevant leads.
Remarketing needs to be tested out time and time again. And throughout the span of your business life cycle, you may need to strategize and align (and realign) your traditional and digital marketing game plan.
Don’t be afraid to try different things out. You gain absolutely nothing by not trying and I do hope you give remarketing a shot during this tough Covid-19 times.
I still have a very sacred place in my heart for small, mom-and-pop, brick-and-mortar businesses who are struggling to understand this whole digital hullaballoo brought on by this sudden Pandemic.
Good luck, stay safe, and give remarketing a try,
Marsha
Note: Credit for featured image – Simon Connellan on Unsplash
Copywriting & Content Marketing Specialist 
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