Gaining widescale levels of consumer engagement in 2022 is nothing short of difficult. With more online users than ever before, the pool of potential is gigantic, but the success rate for small businesses has never been so small.
The question is, what can startups do to improve their own site engagement? As demographics become more demanding for hyper-personalisation, on-trend content and a push for immersive experiences, many small businesses are struggling to compete with industry giants.
On the back of a post-covid e-commerce boom, the number of online startups across the globe has all but tripled, making that all-important engagement strategy futile as consumers bounce from page to page in the search for the best deal.
In fact, Business Insider reports that a whopping 97% of all site visitors will now leave a page without converting.
Worse still, according to another study on Bounce Back by Industry from M16 Marketing in the retail sector alone, 20-40% of potential leads will bounce off of a page in just a few minutes, especially if you’re a new business on the block.
While bounce rates are high and the competition continues to soar, the key to success is to work on bringing your consumers back. Read on as we discuss the future of retargeting and delve into the strategies for success in 2023.
Are Demographics Getting More Demanding?
It’s no secret that modern-day demographics are becoming more demanding in 2022. In a post-covid era, where a global push for digitalisation has sent the world online, consumers now expect a fully immersive, personalised digital experience from the brands they interact with.
As you can see here in this recent study from McKinsey, 66% demand tailored messaging and targeted promotions, while a further half of all site visitors expect a follow-up post-purchase with a link to new personalised recommendations.
As consumers become the new creators, brands must work harder than ever before to secure high levels of engagement and customer loyalty. As social media threats thrive with user-generated content, brand visibility, especially in the social platform scene, is low.
In a digital world, potential leads now want to feel as if they truly know a brand before purchasing from them, making awareness across a wide range of sites and social platforms a must-have.
This is where retargeting comes in. As a strategy that aims to build brand visibility through the use of retargeting popups, social campaigns and emails, it’s a quick way to keep appearing in an online user’s day-to-day digital activity.
The more you prioritise your retargeting efforts, the more you appeal to a demanding demographic.
What Is a Retargeting Strategy?
A Retargeting Strategy is known as a long-form marketing tactic, that aims to keep your consumers coming back.
Defined by Sprout Social, “Retargeting, also called remarketing, is an online advertising method of reaching out to previous visitors of your website or app, often by displaying ads or sending emails. Retargeting offers an opportunity to recapture potential leads or customers if they left your site without converting or meeting a marketing goal.”
Rather than targeting a whole demographic, a retargeting strategy specifically speaks to consumers who have already shown an interest in a brand’s site, products or services.
Pouring efforts into potential leads can often result in higher conversion results, as these visitors have already taken the first step themselves in discovering your brand.
If your product/service is already on their mind, they are much more likely to interact with a pop-up ad or email about your brand, making them prime candidates for a successful sale.
Building a long-lasting connection with potential consumers through a series of recognition and awareness, there are many ways to introduce a retargeting strategy to a marketing campaign.
While retargeting primary focuses on ad based connecting in comparison to remarketing, which tends to solely sell itself in an email format, both strategies are essential in a successful marketing campaign.
Retargeting and remarketing can be used to promote site best-sellers that will attract potential leads to trending products/services. Not only are these ads likely to generate the most return on investment for a small business, but they are likely to convert the most leads as you can be confident that these products will grab attention.
On the flip side, retargeting ads are a great low-budget tactic for surplus product marketing too. Like all retailers, slow-moving sales are a common occurrence. If you’re gearing up for a stock clearout, retargeting inventory products at a sale price can also catch the eye of potential consumers. Not only will your sales start moving faster, but once a consumer is on the site, they’ll be sure to gravitate toward new best sellers as well!
However, don’t just take our word for it. New stats have shown that just under half of all brands now have a dedicated budget for a retargeting strategy. If you’re a small business, it might be time to jump on board.
Could It Be the Key to Engagement Success?
Did you know that the average click-through rate for retargeted ads is over 10 times higher than regular display ads?
As you are targeting consumers that have already shown interest in your products/services, the CTR on retargeted ads has a far better success potential, and will likely boost your overall return on marketing spend.
Therefore, it’s no wonder that marketing experts claim that retargeting is the key to boosting site engagement. In fact, it could help you sell 50% more products in 2023.
Let’s have a closer look at how you can revamp your own retargeting strategy in 2023 for higher levels of engagement and increased conversion numbers.
Retargeting Revamps You Can Make Before 2023
There are a number of revamps you can make to your retargeting strategy before 2023 for a spike in consumer engagement.
From targeted messaging to simplifying your content writing strategy, personalising your retargeting tactics could be the key to success in the new year.
Get Specific With Your Targeting
While it may be desirable to target your whole demographic in a singular ad, pop-up or retargeting campaign, marketers often find that splitting your ad-based content into specific groups is a more cost-effective form of retargeting strategy in a social media-dominated landscape.
Instead of creating a broad strategy that aims to please each and every site visitor, why not segment your consumers instead into interest and product-based groups? While you may end up making more ad-based content, a push for hyper-personalised messaging that appeals directly to each small segment is much more likely to be interacted with.
Not only does this boost customer experience satisfaction, but you’ll watch your engagement rates soar.
Get Simple With Your Messaging Strategy
Pop-up ads are pop-ups for a reason, they should be short, snappy and grab the consumer’s attention in seconds.
For a retargeting strategy that gets all the clicks, focus on creating simplified messaging within the ad, email or campaign, that directs a viewer straight to a call-to-action and displays minimal copy.
A/B Testing
Better still, why not A/B test your ad structures in order to sample out your best use of messaging techniques? Each consumer group is different, meaning your messages should differ depending on current trends, ages, and platforms your demographic revolves around.
Using A/B testing methods, you create two versions of the content you desire to put out, both in different formats and both with alternative messaging and targeting styles. Measuring which content form performs best with your demographic is a great way to further prepare a retargeting strategy in the future.
Looking Forward
As we step into an e-commerce-dominated future, retargeting is becoming more popular than ever before in the marketing industry.
Not only can it aid sales lead conversion rates, but making constant appearances on social platforms, website popups and email inboxes significantly increases brand awareness. In a saturated content environment, small businesses must be putting in the effort to stand out.
Revamping your retargeting tactics in 2023 could just be the extra push you need to jump up that organic search string and become a front-runner in your industry niche.
