Retargeting Marketing: Convert Window Shoppers on Your Company's Website Into Actual Customers

Photo: Ivan Samkov/Pexels

Can I share a secret with you about myself that I’ve never told anyone? Now, if I share this secret with you, you’ve got to promise to absolutely keep it between just the two of us—and to not laugh after I tell you. Okay, since you gave me your word, here goes. I… have a total penchant for romantic comedies. There, I said it. 

But not just your ordinary run-of-the-mill romcom films. We’re talking about the type of romcoms that are so implausible—even Hugh Grant himself would turn down the opportunity to star in them because their scripts were way too unbelievable. 

Perhaps what draws me towards those particular types of romcoms and also what makes them both so compelling, as well as so obviously unbelievable—is that they often involve two people falling in love at first sight (with hilarity ensuing before they wind up living happily ever after by the end of the film).

But as you and I both know, in real life, love doesn’t work that way. People rarely, if ever, actually fall in love with someone the very first time they lay eyes on them. However, people do fall in intrigue at first sight. That, along with a considerable amount of time spent with that person (and multiple dates), is what most often leads to love.

Consumer/brand relationships also work in a similar manner. As studies have shown that the average person needs to view a brand’s ad 7 to 13 times before making a purchase. For this reason, retargeting is a very effective digital marketing method that could help increase your company website's conversion rate.

What is retargeting marketing?

You may or may not be familiar with the term retargeting and just what it actually involves. To clarify, retargeting is simply a digital marketing strategy which uses first-party data from users’ previous interactions on a website to display ads to them online after they’ve left the website to re-engage them based on interests they’ve shown. 

Sticking with the spirit of romcoms, retargeting would be sort of like a woman at your gym who occasionally walks by her gym crush after he’s shown an interest in her; but hasn’t quite made his move yet—all in hopes of enticing him to take the action she desires.   

Without tension, retargeting isn’t effective… so create some

Since we’re on the subject of dating and romance, imagine this. You’re on a business trip to New York. Figuring that it'll be cool to explore The Big Apple, you decide to take the subway to tour the city. 

As you arrive at your stop and the subway train’s doors open, you find yourself face to face with someone who looks identical to the person you always dreamed of being in a romantic relationship with; who just happens to be waiting to board the train you’re about to exit.

Being that you’re on vacation in one of the largest cities in the world, the odds of you seeing this person on another occasion are pretty much slim to none. 

In this scenario, you have two options: You could either take the initiative by introducing yourself to this person and ask them for their contact information. Or, you could allow timidity to get the best of you and do nothing.

Which could result in you forever feeling the pain of regret due to your failure to act. 

The consternation you're feeling just by thinking about what you’d do in this situation, is called tension. Which is a key element that often compels consumers to take action. 

Using tension to turn window shoppers into paying customers

Without any judgement whatsoever of which option you'd choose in the aforementioned subway scenario, the primary determinant which evoked the tension you felt from thinking about your answer was the possibility of never again having the opportunity to meet that person of your dreams if you did not take action. 

Well, from a marketing perspective, you could also evoke a similar feeling within your company's website visitors by retargeting them with display ads showing that products or offers they've shown interest in are now in short supply or will have a price increase soon.

Traditional retargeting notwithstanding, an even more effective way to entice your website’s window shoppers to become paying customers is by utilizing FOMO (the fear of missing out) in your retargeting strategy. 

For example, internal data shows that Peter recently visited your sports apparel online store and spent 120 seconds viewing a particular pair of football cleats.

You could use FOMO to your advantage to evoke tension within Peter by retargeting him with ads showing that your online store only has a limited amount of the pair of cleats he viewed in stock at the moment—and they’re now 20% off for a limited time only.

As in the subway scenario, Peter would then have a consequential decision to make. Either he could take action by clicking the link to your website’s landing page and make a purchase; or he could allow the opportunity to obtain something he desired to possibly slip away from him forever. 

While there’s no guarantee that Peter would take action by returning to your website and purchase the cleats, the possibility of him doing so would increase exponentially than had you not retargeted him with that specific offer. 

Because whether it’s dating or shopping—tension will always be a very effective motivating factor.

Let’s optimize your startup’s digital marketing strategy!

Converting leads into customers is a lot like courting a potential romantic partner. Each deed taken will either impel them to buy what you’re offering—or repel them to do the opposite.

After your company becomes the next Decryption client, we’ll devise a sound digital marketing strategy that’ll both intrigue and impel your target audience to stop window shopping on your website—and become recurring customers. 

To begin that process, book a complimentary client consultation with us today and let’s start revving up your company’s sales revenue!