Do you want to reopen dialogue with customers or visitors who left your site empty-handed? That’s exactly the purpose of email retargeting, an effective technique that allows brands to reconnect with people who did not immediately make a purchase or complete an action. This article reveals how, with a few personal and strategic touches, you can increase your conversions while remaining respectful of your audience.
What is email retargeting and what are its main benefits?
Email retargeting is a digital marketing strategy that involves sending targeted emails to users who have already interacted with your website or mobile app but have not completed a concrete action, such as a purchase or registration, for example.
This technique is based on collecting data on visitors’ behaviors to create personalized messages likely to encourage them to return to the site and complete a transaction.
Using this type of email offers several interesting advantages:
- Increase in conversion rate – Retargeting targets individuals who have already shown interest in your products/services, thereby increasing the chances of conversion.
- Improvement of ROI – Because it is targeted, email retargeting tends to generate a higher return on investment compared to traditional marketing campaigns.
- Enhancement of loyalty – By staying in touch with visitors after their first visit, you increase the chances of creating a lasting relationship with them.
Different actions according to the type of audience
For an effective email retargeting campaign, it is important to differentiate strategies based on the targeted audience.
1) Casual visitors
These are those who have browsed your site but have not necessarily made a purchase or registration. For this category, the goal is to transform initial interest into concrete engagement.
Examples of retargeting strategies
Welcome emails
Abandoned cart reminders
Educational content related to products/services viewed by visitors
2) Engaged customers
These are those who have already made a purchase or actively participated on your site. Here, you want to strengthen the relationship, increase loyalty, and stimulate repeat purchases.
Examples of retargeting strategies
Exclusive offers
New launches and pre-sales of new products/services
Loyalty programs
3) Inactive customers
These are customers who have not interacted with your site or your products/services for an extended period. You need to rekindle their interest and encourage them to make purchases again.
Examples of retargeting strategies
Re-engagement emails
Feedback surveys
Updates made to your products/services
Best practices for a successful email retargeting campaign
Personalization
Emails must be highly personalized to reflect the specific interests of users. Use collected data, including behavioral data, to tailor the content of each email to its recipient.
Optimal timing
The timing of emails is a determining factor in their effectiveness. Sending an email too soon can seem premature and intrusive, while an email sent too late can lose its relevance. The ideal is to test different delays to identify the moment when users are most likely to respond positively.
Attractive content
Your emails must be engaging and useful. Create messages that capture attention with an attractive design as well as clear and concise content.
Use catchy headlines and quality visuals to maintain interest. Include clear calls to action (CTAs) that guide users on what you expect from them (finalize a purchase, read a blog post, etc.).
Test and optimization
To find out what works best with your audience, perform A/B testing to evaluate different aspects of your emails, such as the subject lines, message content, and layout.
Analyze the performance of each variant to understand what resonates best with your audience. You can then use this information to refine your campaigns and improve their overall performance.
Compliance with regulations and special attention to GDPR
This is a particularly important point. You must ensure compliance with current regulations regarding the protection of personal data, such as GDPR. Here are some essentials to remain compliant in your mailings:
- Before collecting personal data, make sure to obtain explicit consent from users. This might involve, for example, a checkbox indicating that they agree to their data being used for retargeting.
- Provide clear and understandable information about what you intend to do with the collected data. This same information must be easily accessible, for example, through a detailed privacy policy on your site.
- Implement adequate security measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, accidental loss, or destruction.
Following these best practices not only ensures compliance with laws but also builds trust with your clients and prospects while encouraging them to act in favor of your brand. Each email thus becomes an opportunity to transform a fleeting interest into lasting engagement.
