Re-Marketing Strategies & How to Apply ThemA Q&A Factsheet for Businesses of All Sizes

What are some examples of re-marketing?Re-marketing falls into two overarching categories for advertisers.

Re-marketing strategies nurture and deepen relationships with existing customers by building additional touch points into ongoing conversations with consumers.

While these touch points could be done online, there are offline retargeting strategies that are equally effective. One way is to provide customers new information about a product or service via an email newsletter.

The second category is re-marketing technologies, which target consumers based on previous online shopping behavior. Popular with businesses that have a strong online selling presence, this approach uses web technology to target display advertising to online shoppers who have seen ads and not taken action, or have abandoned web-site shopping carts. According to eMarketer.com, six in 10 shoppers abandon shopping carts — so, for the e-Commerce business, making use of re-marketing technologies is a critical component for online businesses.2

Why focus on re-marketing strategies?Re-marketing strategies provide a competitive edge in a crowded market. You can cut through clutter, increase brand recognition and remain top of mind by delivering messages that resonate with specific shoppers based on their prior behavior. For example, a florist can identify all customers who purchased Mother’s Day flowers last year and send them an email promoting a special arrangement or gift ideas as the next Mother’s Day approaches.

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The average business spends four to 10 times more to acquire a customer than it spends to retain one, according to industry analysts.1 To maximize marketing dollars, progressive businesses are now focusing on “re-marketing,” or reengaging consumers who have previously interacted with the brand. Re-marketing creates additional touch points that not only grab a consumer’s attention, but also deepen relationships with customers and moves them deeper into the sales funnel.

This Q&A offers examples of re-marketing tools and strategies, and explains why they’re so important. It also presents practical goals and tips to deploy an effective re-marketing campaign alongside expert viewpoints to help you refine your strategy.

Re-Marketing Q&A

What should be the goals of a re-marketing or client reengagement campaign?Your aim is to move customers further down the purchase path and make the business more relevant and important to the customer. If a customer hasn’t patronized a business in weeks or months, a re-marketing campaign can draw them back. Appalachian Outfitters, a Midwest sporting goods store, sends regular customers email invitations to in-store seminars to learn first aid skills. This strengthens the relationship, because customers consider the retailer an information source and not just a place to shop.

Re-marketing campaigns can also be used to reinforce your brand message or introduce a new message. Your monthly email newsletter might focus less on new products and more on your participation in community events.

How do you identify and compile targets for a re-marketing campaign?The National Retail Federation projects that retail mobile commerce will grow between 7% and 10% this year.3 “A list of permission-based subscribers helps make the information on your list more accurate, therefore making the messages you send to your audience more targeted and effective,” said social media consultant Brian Honigman.4

Despite the widely held perception that email marketing annoys consumers, experts say that more consumers are actually opting in to email newsletters, which are great vehicles for re-marketing.5 The traditional method of capturing email addresses at the point of sale remains effective, because it allows you to gather a variety of additional information — such as the reason for the customer’s purchase — which you can use to target consumers for future promotions.

Loyalty programs are another effective tool for building re-marketing lists. Frequent shopper programs encourage consumers to revisit your business while allowing you to capture customer information.

Marketers who deploy re-marketing strategies with re-marketing technologies rely on services such as Google Analytics that allow them to build lists of consumers who have abandoned web-site shopping carts. These lists can be filtered to identify shoppers who exhibited certain behavior — for example, direct a promotion for free shipping to visitors who added items to a shopping cart but didn’t make the purchase.

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What are some important factors to consider for the content of a customer reengagement message?Target customers based on their buying patterns, interests and demographics. “Sending occasional updates to a customer based on their past browsing, usage or purchasing habits is a no-brainer and a great way to encourage repeat sales and increase customer lifespan,” said email marketing expert Chris Hexton of Getvero.6

It’s important to use a customer service-oriented tone. Send a new message or a variation of the previous message. Don’t just deliver the same message twice and call it “re-marketing.”

Remember that it might take a series of messages to convert customers. A popular strategy is to time the delivery of three messages, and include a special offer to buy with the third communication.

What are key considerations regarding the timing of a re-marketing campaign?For services or products that people buy repetitively or seasonally, contact consumers before they would normally make the purchase. For example, 1-800-CONTACTS sends existing customers an email three days before the customer is due to run out of contact lenses.

During the holidays, tailor re-marketing messages to promote important selling days. Notify customers about special Black Friday deals, or share a re-marketing message two weeks before Christmas to update customers on shipping deadlines.

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Maintaining relationships with existing customers and prospects is a vital component of a good marketing plan. Re-marketing gives you the opportunity to deepen these crucial relationships while moving customers closer to a purchase.

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Consumers today have access to more information, products and businesses than ever before. In order to stay top-of-mind and maximize advertising dollars, businesses should take a multi-channel approach to re-marketing strategies. Following are best practices from Sujan Patel (http://sujanpatel.com/), a digital marketing expert and VP of Marketing at When I Work, an employee scheduling software. He has written for myriad publications focusing on marketing tips and best practices, including American Express OPEN Forum, Entrepreneur, Fast Company and Forbes.

How can SMBs embrace both traditional and digital marketing to engage and maintain relationships with consumers? Patel: The key really is to embrace multi-channel marketing. You have to be able to develop campaigns that nurture prospects through digital channels as well as more traditional advertising channels, such as TV or radio. It requires more work, but it results in stronger, more valuable relationships with your customers — the ones who are going to refer you more business.

What marketing trends do you believe have the most impact for SMBs?Patel: Over the past five years, content marketing has been growing in importance for SMBs. For example, there are more companies blogging than ever, and it’s because consumers now crave information more than ever. The other area that a lot of SMBs have been benefiting from is email. When done right, email marketing can drive significant ROI for SMBs.

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Expert Viewpoint:Sujan Patel on the Multi-Channel Re-Marketing Approach@sujanpatel

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What do you believe are the most common mistakes SMBs make in their re-marketing strategies? Patel: The biggest issues for SMBs are not correctly identifying who their ideal customers are and where to find them. SMBs end up taking a broad approach and receive the wrong type of traffic instead of their targeted audience. This is especially important when re-marketing because they’ll end up just wasting their time and money advertising to the wrong people.

You have to not only know who your target audience is, but also create very granular campaigns so that your messaging is relevant. For example, if someone visits a specific product or section of your site, create an ad specific to that product or section. Messaging is a big part of it, but at the end of the day it comes down to your ability to interpret and act on data.

Can you share any final tips or best practices for SMBs looking to improve their re-marketing strategies?Patel: The first thing I would recommend is doubling down on figuring out who your ideal customer actually is. You can do this by talking to current customers, developing customer “personas” or profiles and scouring through various metrics to really zero in on the target audience you’re trying to reach. Once you have all of that information collected, use it to make your email marketing campaigns better. You have to be able to develop authentic, ongoing relationships with your customers, and a great way to do that is through email.

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The marketing landscape is changing at a rapid pace. Traditionally, businesses of all sizes relied on traditional advertising channels to get the word out to consumers. As a result, the companies that spent the most money on advertising grabbed the most attention. But now, SMBs have the chance to acquire customers and build lasting relationships by implementing a targeted mix of traditional and digital marketing. In the following Q&A, Erin “Mack” McKelvey, Managing Partner and CEO of marketing agency SalientMG, uncovers how SMBs can develop an optimal brand marketing plan.

How has the practice of capturing customer attention and loyalty changed for SMBs?McKelvey: Marketing for SMBs has in many ways mirrored what has happened for large businesses. Advertising in the Yellow Pages has given way to geo-targeted Facebook advertising and other digital channels. Additionally, the advent of social media has given SMBs an opportunity to reach their customers on a one-to-one basis that they never had before.

What role does social media play for SMBs that want to successfully engage and build relationships with customers?McKelvey: Social is essential. When a consumer is researching products and companies, social channels play an important role in delivering information and getting them past “consideration” and into “intent to buy.”

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Expert Viewpoint:Erin “Mack” McKelvey on Branding for Re-Marketers @MackMcKelvey

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When companies are thinking about their social channels, this may sound simple, but the most important thing is to have a plan and strategy. Know who your audience is and how you want to communicate to them. Have a plan in place to engage with customers when they respond. Narrow your social channel participation to where your customers are – you don’t have to be on every new channel, but do invest time and energy into doing well with the ones that are important to your audience.

Many companies are sort of winging it, and just having a clear plan in place can give many businesses a leg up. Consistency and authenticity should shine through social channels.

Do you have any final tips or best practices for businesses striving to get the most value out of their re-marketing strategies?McKelvey: First, don’t rush to tactics; really spend the time to determine what you are trying to achieve. Then, be prepared to test and learn, which I can’t stress enough. There are certainly best practices in marketing, but there is no blueprint for success that is applicable to every business. It starts with strong messaging, and then it’s about finding the tactics that work for you. Third, do not think of marketing as a “nice to have.” Marketing permeates every facet of your business, and SMB owners must make marketing a part of their day-to-day roles. Think of marketing as a critical weapon in your proactive arsenal to drive your business and, ultimately, revenue.

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ResouRces1 The Chartered Institute of Marketing

http://www.camfoundation.com/PDF/Cost-of-customer-acquisition-vs-customer-retention.pdf

2 eMarketer.com

http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Retailers-Rethink-Shopping-Cart-Abandonment/1009645

3 Internet Retailer, U.S. Annual E-retail Sales Surpass $300 Billion for the First Time, https://

www.internetretailer.com/2015/02/17/us-annual-e-retail-sales-surpass-300-billion-first-ti

4 The Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-honigman/how-sms-text-messaging-

retains_b_3697107.html

5 MyCustomer.com

http://www.mycustomer.com/topic/marketing/three-email-marketing-mega-trends-and-how-

maximise-their-benefit/162695

6 Getvero.com

http://blog.getvero.com/pump-up-your-ltv-with-email-remarketing-increase-your-customer-

lifespan-part-2-of-3/

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