Have you browsed an e-commerce website, checked out a product, and then realized it wasn’t the right time, only to find the same item on a Facebook ad?

Been there?

Nope, it’s not the universe telling you to splurge on that designer wallpaper.

What you experienced was a savvy online marketing strategy called behavioral retargeting. Companies can use retargeting platforms to display the same ads to people who expressed interest but didn’t convert.

In the same way that you’ve experienced behavioral retargeting in the past, you can do the same for your prospects too! Bring your hot leads back into your grip using retargeting ads.

Here, you’ll learn everything there is to know about behavioral retargeting and how residential home service businesses can use it.

You’ve Been Retargeted – What Triggers That?

In the simplest sense, behavioral retargeting is the act of publishing ads that target a user’s previous online behavior or internet actions.

When people visit your website but do not convert, it’s not the end of the world. Retargeting ads can be used to convince people who expressed an interest in your products or services to return and take action. People want ads that speak to their interests, and behavioral retargeting does that.

Nowadays, there are countless media that you can use to retarget personalized ads. However, if there’s one golden nugget I acquired from Roy H. Williams, it’s that:

“The media doesn’t make the message work. The message makes the media work.”

If your ads don’t convert, it’s not the media’s fault. It’s the message. Content will always remain superior regardless of what platform you display your ads.

That said, the best solution is always to craft a remarkable, irresistible, delicious ad that makes targets bite their lip on the first encounter. Remember, the right ads will always come through.

If you find your ads not working as well as you’d hoped, behavioral retargeting may be the extra nudge to convert leads. Let’s dig in further to wrap our nuggets around behavioral retargeting better for your business.

Remarketing vs Retargeting: Similar, Yet Different

Remarketing… Retargeting…

You may possibly have heard of these two terms used interchangeably and asked, what the heck’s the difference?

Well, they’re pretty similar in the sense that both have a singular goal: convert previous engagers.

Retargeting is most often attributed to displaying online ads targeting users who had previous interactions with your site without purchasing. This can occur in one or both channels:

  1. On-site; and
  2. Off-site events

On-site behavioral retargeting means targeting individuals who have previously visited your website. Whether they had interactions with your list of products or services, or they made some desirable actions, so long as they haven’t completed a sale.

This can happen in a variety of ways:

  • Retarget people with ads showing a specific product they interacted with but didn’t complete the sale.
  • Retarget based on how users reached your website or landing page. The entry point may be social media ads, a Google search, or other inbound-leading events.
  • Retarget people on your mailing list who have exhibited some interest in your company (otherwise known as hot leads) but haven’t yet been converted into buying customers.

You can set up the parameters above on various platforms like Google Ads, Facebook, Google Analytics, etc.

Off-site behavioral retargeting, on the other hand, focuses on interactions with your business through non-domain channels. Meaning, they haven’t visited your website yet but have engaged with your business from other platforms.

With the rise of social media, audience interactions are no longer limited to domains and brand-own channels. Facebook has picked up on this and set up off-site interactions so companies can target ads based on how users engage with their business through the social media giant.

In other words, if someone interacted with your business page, events, and other Facebook-enabled features, you can retarget them with ads to push them further down the conversion funnel.

Remarketing is about re-engaging customers and previous buyers via email. For example,  emailing a customer to avail of another home service proposal or upselling them with a unique offer are common examples of remarketing. It can also be used to remind a person of their previous purchase history.

Essentially, remarketing tactics are more focused on email campaigns, postcards, and other tactics that reach out to individuals who have already had successful past engagements with your brand. Unlike regular email campaigns, however, this strategy can take the form of paid ads as well.

Nowadays, both retargeting and remarketing terms are interchangeably used to denote one thing. What matters is that both are viable options for businesses like residential home service contractors.

The Sweet Cookie

How does behavioral retargeting work? What’s the mechanism enabling this marketing machinery?

It’s cookies! Yes, cookies… No… Not the chocolate chip ones gram-gram used to make…

Cookies are small identifying files created by the websites that you visit.

In the past, these cookies were only intended to make website revisiting much easier and improve the user experience by saving browsing information. For example, keeping you signed in on certain websites, remembering your site preferences, and providing you with relevant content.

Nowadays, cookies have evolved as a marketing tool. They’re mostly utilized to provide companies with valuable information on how they can target individuals showing interest in a particular niche.

In a nutshell, when an individual checks the products or services you offer on your website, you can track the user for behavioral retargeting. You may send them an email if they provided it to you or retargeting pushes regarding products or services that piqued their curiosity, thereby encouraging the user to convert.

The 7 Touchpoints of Conversion – Does it Still Work?

How much communication does it take to convert a cold audience into a buying customer?

This is the age-old question, dating back to the advent of the first advertisement during the prehistoric era when barbarian marketing specialists would scribble sales messages on birch bark and drawings on cave walls.

In marketing, the ‘Rule of 7’ is an age-old maxim developed in the 1930s that says it takes an average of 7 interactions or exposures to convert a customer. This was created by the movie industry as, according to research, potential moviegoers need to see a movie poster at least 7 times before they’re convinced to watch the flick.

Here’s the catch: now movie trailers exist

The Rule of 7 was conceived in a time when TV, radio, and internet advertising didn’t include movie trailers. So does the Rule of 7 still hold up? Pretty much! In more recent research it was determined that a person must interact with your brand 6 times before it becomes a thread in their perceptual fabric. The better the message, the brighter the thread. The more frequent the thread, the more retention of your brand when it comes time for them to need your thing.

Many marketers believe otherwise. Some say 10, others 13, there are those that even claim 26. People are becoming more and more inundated and desensitized by the ads they see every single day. These marketers get paid by how much you spend, making it their prerogative to convince you of this. The reality is that their message sucks and isn’t supported by other marketing efforts that do most of the heavy lifting.

So how many touchpoints does it take for you? What are the most important ones to focus on?

According to research, your touchpoints (all interactions whether on your website, mass media ads, SERPs, or social media) must be tied closely to your brand message. Companies that establish a single unified marketing strategy have more than 50% percent higher ROI on marketing tactics.

Whenever you develop any marketing assets, remember three things:

  1. Get the message right first.
  2. Fit the right message onto the channel’s canvas.
  3. Buy as much reach at the correct frequency as you can afford.

As you start building the customer journey, the initial goal is to get the right content on the channels that will get you the right frequency for as many people as you can afford to reach.

Use metrics and data to see which channels deliver the best ROI. Use professional writers to develop the right message.  Get a Media Buyer to buy your media properly. All of these will help you craft the best marketing assets you can use for future behavioral retargeting strategies.

Once you do, you’ll begin guiding your prospects down the customer journey more effectively than ever before. Each content nudges them little by little into a qualified prospect and ultimately, a full-fledge buyer.

How Can You Bring the Right Folks Back?

If done right, behavioral retargeting strategies can be effective in pulling customers back to your content channels and re-enticing them with your story and values. Rather than spending your ad budget on a cold audience, why not re-engage warm leads, instead?

Here are some of the most common behavioral retargeting tactics.

Display Ads

Using display ads, you can target past visitors or engagers with advertisements when they browse other websites.

By purchasing display ads from Google, your advertisement will appear on applicable websites that your lead visits, including game apps, and pre-roll.

This retargeting strategy helps businesses craft general yet second-looker ads that encourage individuals to revisit your website for conversion. While the ads are typically “general” in nature, any killer display ad can still remind past visitors of their unfinished business with your website.

Alternatively, if you managed to get the visitor’s personal information like the email address, you may choose to take the re-engagement up a notch using email retargeting, for a higher success rate!

Email Retargeting

Look at it this way. The mere fact that they gave their email address to your site says a lot about their engagement level. Tickle them in the right spots and you may just get the “yes” you’ve been looking for.

Enter — email retargeting.

In this age of countless messaging platforms, email remains the most personal and professional. Having their email gives you a way to personally appeal to them to facilitate conversion talk.

Infuse your emails with the data you know about them. By tracking what users do on your site and when they visit you most often, you can integrate a personal touch. Just like how stores remind consumers who abandon their cart right before check-out.

You can do the same with your audience. Say if you’re a home service contractor who also builds an email list from visitors, feel free to send promotional material to encourage users to hire your services.

Social Media Retargeting

Social media retargeting means flashing ads on social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. These marketing assets, including brand ads, and your business page will be visible to leads who previously engaged with your company.

This allows you to connect with potential customers where they spend a huge chunk of their time.

And with the billions of people lurking around Facebook, you have a wide audience to:

  • Reach
  • Attract
  • Engage
  • Remind

… of the products or services you have to offer! Plus, don’t forget the shareable nature of social media. If you publish killer content, you may just get additional shares. This is all free word-of-mouth marketing.

Behavioral retargeting may seem daunting at first, but with some effort, digging  deep into how it works, and optimizing your retargeted ads to continue the original conversation that first caught their attention, you will win in your industry and bring the right folks back in!

At the end of the day, getting a “yes” on your very first ad is ideal, but you’ll catch more fish with consistency than hope. Residential home service contractors looking for killer ads, Wizard of Ads™ are your assassins. Book a call.

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