The customer journey, or the journey that leads a potential consumer to buy a product or service, has become longer and more complex over time as choice and competition have increased. A user is less and less likely to complete the impulse buying process the first moment they come into contact with a brand. Only 2% of ecommerce visitors finalize a sale on their first visit. So it becomes essential to re-intercept these users who can turn into buyers at a later time thanks to customer journey retargeting. Not taking advantage of the great potential of remarketing today means losing many real opportunities to increase sales and make the best use of the available budget.
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Customer journey retargeting: what it is and why it works
Customer journey retargeting represents a great marketing opportunity to get back in touch with people who have shown interest in a brand, but haven't purchased immediately. The goal is to increase sales by acting on the 98% of users who didn't convert on their first visit. Although many people leave a site without taking any significant action, many of them may still be interested in buying, but at a later stage. They simply weren't reached at the right time: they weren't ready yet.
In particular Millennials and Generation Zshave transformed themselves from passive receivers of promotional messages into active information researchers.Compared to previous generations, they inform themselves with great attention, moving easily from online to offline and vice versa, from one touch point to another. The customer experience is made up of many points of contact that intersect with each other, from the website to the physical store, from social to traditional media such as TV and radio.
Through customer journey retargeting it is possible to record the passage of users on a site and make them available for future initiatives on different channels. To realize these remarketing activities is sufficient install a tracking code on the site which records information about users, pages viewed, products viewed, purchase intentions. With this data it is possible to design targeted retargeting campaigns and deliver personalized advertising to other touch points.
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Customer journey retargeting: how to do it
Often, large investments are made to continually drive new traffic to a site in order to increase brand awareness, but the potential of users who have already interacted and are just waiting to be contacted is overlooked. Customer journey retargeting allows you to go after them and can be done in several ways:
- Facebook, but also all other social networks, the Facebook pixel allows you to find users who have visited a site, or even particular pages, and to reach them with more targeted sponsored ads, because built on their characteristics. The Facebook pixel installed on the site collects information about users and their preferences. It allows us to create a custom audience available for remarketing on social channels, in another touch point besides the site.
- Google, and other search engines, are based on the use of cookies, i.e., files that are saved on the user's browser, storing the user's preferences and navigation data. Sponsored ads are activated when visitors to the site subsequently perform a search inherent in related topics in the search engine, when they browse sites that are part of the Display network or when they use YouTube, increasing touch points along the customer experience.
- Email lists are another tool to leverage the customer journey in retargeting. The users, that have registered on a site or on a landing page leaving their email address, are inserted inside newsletters or in an automated email cycle. To accelerate the collection of email addresses to be used in subsequent remarketing operations can be created specific lead generation campaign.Special offers can be sent to these contact lists periodically, or useful information can be sent to guide preferences, moving users along the customer journey. It's also possible to use email lists to create an audience for use on Facebook or LinkedIn, increasing touch points and strengthening your presence across multiple channels and touch points.
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Customer journey retargeting: the importance of strategy
In order to be effective, customer journey retargeting must be inserted within a digital marketing strategy. It is not simply a matter of repeatedly showing an advertisement to an interested person. The message of the advertisement should be modulated according to the point in the path of purchase where a user is located. If you have not yet purchased, there may be several reasons. For example, distracted by other stimuli, you haven't had enough time to make an assessment. Perhaps after being attracted by an initial ad and getting to know the brand, they want to compare competitive offers or they need more reassurance, to find reviews and develop trust. For each of these steps in the customer journey, the retargeting must push on different motivational levers to convince the user and accompany him step by step until the conversion.
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The customer journey as an evolution of the sales funnel
The customer journey represents a evolution of the classic funnel. The sales funnel gives way to a broader concept of omni-channel marketing. Precisely because today's potential consumers, especially millennials and Generation Z, use many different touch points before making a purchase decision, it becomes essential to engage them through all the channels we have available, both online and offline. It is also increasingly important to take care of the pre-sales and especially the post-sales phases. Currently Acquiring a new customer can cost seven, eight times more than getting someone who has already been a customer to buy again. And it's a cost that will grow over time. The funnel has transformed from a funnel into a circle or rather into a customer lifecycle. The customer journey retargeting allows to reintercept users on different touch points but also to keep alive the communication with those who have already purchased, offering future cross selling or new sales opportunities with lower investments.
Failing to account for evolving consumers means spending more to get less results. Without a remarketing strategy, much of the budget is devoted to continually scouting for new customers, hoping for an immediate purchase, which is less and less likely. Without retargeting, we lose the opportunity to be present at the moment the user makes the purchase decision at one of the many touch points that define their customer experience. Without considering the customer lifecycle we close the door in the face of customers who might repurchase our products and services.
That's why many opportunities can still be seized through customer journey retargeting.
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