Retargeting is great and as already discussed can really help drive ROI when done correctly, but it doesn't always help increase new customers. For just about any business one of the key objectives is increasing the customer base in order to maximize revenue through the lifetime value of customers, this means continually growing the customer base while retaining those customers and their lifetime value. Retention is a topic for another day as I would like to introduce the concept of reverse retargeting.
What is it? It is utilizing retargeting cookies from the networks and excluding those users who have already visited the site, when ads are served. This means that only people who have not visited the site (new visitors) are shown ads. By doing this the retargeting pool is continually grown and can be evaluated for what it really is, a targeted marketing campaign towards return visitors/customers.
New Customers Only
Why won't they open our emails?
So after completing a comprehensive email acquisition focused online marketing campaign you begin mailing your precious leads only to find that they aren't opening your emails. What could be the reason for this, after all you spent loads of time identifying who they are, where they go and what message would motivate them to sign up...
Well the answers could come from multiple causes
1) Email acquisition
How were the names acquired? Were they incentivized with a sweepstakes? Were they gathered via co registration? Either tactics will result in a lower quality (but lower cost) list of addresses
2) Assimilation
Were expectations set upon registration? Did the customer receive a welcome email setting the tone and reinforcing expectations? Welcoming the customer and letting them know what to expect will help them make a decision on whether to stay on the list and/or open the emails.
3) Content
Did you make good on your expectations? Is the customer recieving content truely valuable or just a string of promotions, discounts and sales?
Today's internet savvy customer demands customized/personalized (whether by behavoir or selections) material and will reward the companies who provide it and shun the ones who dont.
Careful with that retargeting
Most direct response focused online marketers have already found what appears to be the silver bullet of online media: Retargeting. But beneath those rosey ROI metrics lies a nasty truth...
Some of those sales were already heading to your site. Most ad servers use view through metrics to measure banner conversion, which means that a user doesn't have to click on the banner to become "cookied", they just have to be shown the ad. Couple view through conversions with the root of retargeting (marketing to customers who have already been to your site) and you can begin to see that perhaps all those conversions were already on their way.
