In a perfect world, marketing would transform with just one touch. But this is the real world.
Whether it’s because they need more time to think about a purchase or their dog just started vomiting on the carpet, people abandon their shopping carts all the time.
so, what are you doing?
You’ve already optimized your campaigns for maximum brilliance, so you know your copy is on point, your design is perfect, and you’re targeting the right audience. But you still lose sales. what gives?
You need remarketing to achieve maximum results.
At first glance, it seems like a cure-all. Of course, it isn’t always that easy.
First of all, mobile devices like smartphones and tablets are everywhere. This means that there are more things vying for the eyes and Attention spans are shorter than ever.
Moreover, media consumption is becoming increasingly multi-layered.
How do marketers and small businesses with tight corresponding budgets give consumers a seamless experience across platforms?
Enter cross-channel remarketing.
What is cross-channel remarketing?
The keys to remarketing (i.e. what makes it work) are the dual foundations of cookies and tracking pixels.
Cookies are small pieces of data from a website that are stored on a visitor’s computer by a web browser.
A closely related tracking pixel, also known as a web beacon, is a pixel-sized transparent image embedded in web pages, emails, and banners to track website visits, impressions, and other statistics.
Cross-channel marketing uses these online activity tracking tools to go after audiences across a variety of devices and websites, providing a seamless experience and moving target through the sales funnel.
For example, Alison’s cat won’t stop scratching her furniture. I read on a blog how effective anti-scratch spray is at protecting sofas from claws.
Later that day, while using Facebook, she is shown an image ad for your product. She clicked on the ad and went so far as to add it to her cart on your website, but she did not complete her purchase.
That evening, she received a marketing email containing a discount code for the spray.
With a successful cross-channel marketing strategy, different channels work in tandem to create a clear brand impression to an audience that is already interested, and that is more likely to lead to a conversion.
Is multi-channel and cross-channel remarketing the same?
Don’t let the similarity in wording confuse you. Multichannel and crosschannel are not the same thing, although they are very similar.
Multichannel means that you target audiences across channels, for example, a campaign targeting both Google Display and YouTube.
As you use different channels, they all work independently without any connection between them.
The cross channel is the next level above, where these channels are connected. This allows you to track and record interactions and better facilitate the customer’s buying journey.
There is also something called multi-channel marketing, which brings digital and personal touchpoints together using all available channels, but let’s not overcomplicate things.
The benefits of cross channels
There are many advantages to using cross-channel remarketing.
First, it allows you to create and implement a more comprehensive and consistent message, resulting in smoother branding.
It breaks down barriers between product and sales and marketing, facilitating movement through the sales funnel while at the same time building stronger bonds.
And to top it all off, it works. Cross-channel remarketing gives you measurable results, no matter what industry you’re in.
Develop your cross-channel remarketing strategy
Like everything marketing, you don’t want to get stuck with your cross-channel strategy.
You need a carefully considered approach to creation and execution that will help you get the results you need.
Let’s dive into:
1. Consider the client
This is marketing 101. You can’t effectively sell to anyone if you don’t understand the audience you’re trying to target.
But herein lies the added beauty of remarketing – you already know something about your audience.
Since they’ve already visited your website, searched for a solution like yours, or signed up for your email newsletter, you know they’re at least a little interested in what you have to offer.
Or maybe you’re going after lookalike audiences, using data from sites like Google and Facebook to target specific leads who have similarities to your existing site visitors or customer lists.
Once you’ve identified the goals that are most likely to convert, take a good look at them.
Developing a deeper understanding of your customers, their needs, and their behavior is vital to cross-channel remarketing.
2. Know where your target audience is
To get the conversions you want, you have to go where your goals are.
For example, a skateboard company that advertises exclusively in Nebraska probably won’t make a lot of sales.
The same applies to digital marketing.
A cross-channel marketing campaign to promote a new first-person shooter video game will waste a lot of money promoting its product on stitching websites and stitching YouTube videos.
You need to define the channels your customers interact with.
What sites do they visit? What mobile apps do they use? What social media platforms do they use?
The latter is especially important.
In 2021, Facebook had 2.89 billion monthly users.
YouTube has 2.29 billion. WhatsApp had 2.00 billion users, and Instagram had 1.39 billion.
Even the 15th most popular social media site, Pinterest, had 454 million monthly users.
This is a large audience that you can benefit from.
Because most, if not all, of these social sites are free to use, they earn their profits through marketing and advertising.
This is good news for marketers everywhere, because not only does it enable new ways to reach audiences, it can also provide ample information that you can mine to target with laser-like precision.
Both Facebook and LinkedIn allow you to customize retargeting on their platforms to reach exactly who you want.
3. Simplify your content
Now that you know exactly who your target consumer is and where they live in the digital world, it’s time to tailor your campaigns to their habits.
Analyze their online behavior for contextually relevant clues.
For example, if you sell flower pots, you may want to advertise your courses on home, family, and lifestyle websites.
Or, you may want to place it near related products and services to help your audience make the connection between their interests (in this case gardening) and your ads.
How to get better cross-channel remarketing results
I did it. You’ve identified your target consumer, created personas, tracked them down online like a crazy ex, and optimized your content to speak directly to their needs.
But you still don’t get the kind of results you think you should. what gives?
Here are some ways to improve your results across channels:
Use offers to increase ad clicks
The first rule of marketing is always ask to sell. or upload. or email address. You get the point – you need a call to action (CTA). And a convincing one at that.
But sometimes this is not enough. Sometimes you need to sweeten the pot a little.
Users are more likely to interact with an ad that contains a special deal that they can redeem by clicking on it.
Only by creating more engaging ads, with better CTAs and/or special deals, can you improve your CTR and drive more conversions.
Use Fresh Creative
While there is something to be said for consistency in branding, people can become blind to your ad if they see the same design in multiple places across the web, or even multiple times on your website over the course of their buying journey.
Keep them engaged by diversifying your ad units and formats, as well as swapping out fresh copy and design.
This will prevent your campaign from bogging down and can be done while maintaining your brand’s memorable attributes.
Measure your conversions
Your boss wants to know how a cross-channel remarketing campaign works.
What are you going to tell her? “Gee, uh, I feel like it’s going well,” probably wouldn’t cut it.
You need metrics, measurements, and outputs.
Fortunately, there is technology that can show you exactly what works and help you gain a better understanding of why.
Some of the most popular tools used by digital marketers include:
conversion pixels
Conversion pixels, used by sites like Facebook, allow you to track the actions of users who visit a page or interact with an ad.
This allows you to retarget, build custom audiences, measure conversions, and optimize your campaigns.
Transfer areas
Using location data from mobile devices, Conversion Zones uses geofencing to identify and target customers.
They allow you to track traffic from people who viewed or interacted with your ads, as well as determine conversion rates and cost per visit.
Website cookies
Including small pieces of data on a visitor’s device allows you to customize experiences for each user.
It can also provide a wealth of information about personal details (name, address, email, etc.), activities and interests. This information can then be used for referral, conversion reporting, and remarketing analysis.
Take a holistic approach
Cross-channel remarketing allows you to create focused campaigns that effectively target the prospects you want, build a strong sense of brand identity, and connect with your customers in a more personalized and impactful way.
But it’s important not to forget that this is just one part of a successful marketing mix.
Cross-channel remarketing should be used as a complementary tactic based on ads that create awareness and direct consumers to your business or website in the first place.
But at this point it should be clear: if you want more bang for your buck and a good ROI, cross-channel remarketing should be part of your customer outreach program.
More resources:
- Remarketing vs. Retargeting: Are they the same thing?
- 14 Facebook Remarketing Strategies to Test
- PPC 101: A Complete Guide to the Basics of PPC Marketing
Featured image: PopTika / Shutterstock
