The Power of Email Retargeting

When and How to Use Email Retargeting Campaigns?

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We all know that email is one of the most effective channels that is touted to generate greater click-through and conversion rates than any other channel. Statistics indicated that for every dollar spent on email marketing, the average expected ROI was $42. Therefore it’s not surprising to note that nine out of ten marketers utilize email channels to distribute content organically.

And yet, most marketers fail to tap into the power of retargeting using the email channel. The go-to channel for retargeting remains the paid network of display, search and social media, while email continues to be underused.

What is Email Retargeting?

Email re-targeting or re-marketing focuses on sending relevant emails to re-target a prospect who has already expressed interest in your brand. Email retargeting done in tandem with a multichannel approach of website, social media or mobile marketing can expand brand visibility and put your brand in front of your most receptive users or subscribers.

According to a study, email re-targeting boosted conversion rates by a staggering 150%.

Besides, email re-targeting is also considered to be less intrusive than other paid channels as users have already opted in to subscribe to your brand’s messages, and they can choose to read or ignore them. Moreover, they even include the option to unsubscribe completely, so the individual has complete control.

Ways to use Email Re-targeting

• Re-engage website visitors who have shared their email ID, created an account or subscribed to your newsletter
• Re-target prospects based on their online browsing behaviour such as viewing specific product or pricing pages with limited-time discounts, promo code or deals
• Follow-up with shoppers who have abandoned carts or leads who have abandoned forms
• Reactivate dormant users of a product or service based on their usage history
• Cross-sell or upsell to customers with relevant product recommendations
• Encourage repeat purchases by sending exclusive reward and loyalty benefits
• Send renewal reminders for elapsing services or subscriptions

Steps to get started with Email Re-targeting

Executing an effective email retargeting campaign is not easy. In fact, only 26% of e-commerce sites re-marketed to their audiences through emails. Email Re-marketing ensures prospective customers keep both the product they were interested in and the brand at top of mind while they decide on the purchase. Here are vital steps to implement email re-targeting:

1. Build your Email Subscriber List

You cannot build a successful retargeting campaign without a robust email list. Gather user email IDs from multiple data sources including CRM, social media, website, offline events, etc. and grow your database. Here are some simple ways to build your email list:

• Add an email sign-up pop-up to your portal and offer an incentive for users who share their contact information such as a discount, free gifts or valuable content
• Craft social media posts that encourage followers to sign-up for your emails
• Create gated content that encourages visitors to share their email ID before they can access them
• Collect emails from attendees of offline or online events, forums and webinars

The important thing here is to explicitly state how you will store and process the user’s first-party information along with a disclosure that you will avoid spamming their inboxes.

Here’s a free download of an IP Warmup Calculator to plan your IP warming up frequency so that popular mail servers allow them to pass their spam filters and eventually land on your recipients’ inboxes.

2. Define your Audience Segments

Segmenting email re-targeting lists generated 14% open rates and 100% more clicks than non-segmented campaigns. You can overlay different segmentation parameters to arrive at micro-segments of homogeneous groups rather than broader segments of heterogeneous subscribers. This will allow you to tailor your messaging in alignment with each segment’s affinities and needs. Here are some effective segmentation models you can try:

• Demographic – Extrinsic socio-economic filters to assess an individual’s needs and interests at a broad level.
• Geo-Targeting – Specific geolocation data that can help you stagger emails across optimum time zones, send region-specific messages or use geofencing to trigger email alerts notifying users about physical store offers.
• Behavioural – Intrinsic behaviour-related attributes based on recency, frequency and monetary analysis of past purchases.
• Psychographic – Micro groups of users derived from specific traits of the individual like personality, interests, lifestyle, values, attitudes, etc.
• Email Engagement Patterns – Granular segments that classify users based on their previous email engagement activity like open rate, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes and more.
• Website Activity and Behaviour – Action-based segments that assess visitors’ behaviour and intent by monitoring their digital footprint across the portal including specific pages visited, dwell time, and frequency of visits.
• Funnel Analysis – Funnel position stages that dictate the next best action based on the customer’s journey. For example, cart abandonment or form submission indicates that the buyer is at the end of the funnel.

3. Draft Segmented Emails

Utilize attractive design elements, visuals and content that resonates with each audience segment and create personalized messages. The critical aspects of effective and persuasive email retargeting communication include the following:

• Mobile-optimized design
• Personalization attributes that acknowledge audiences and their actions
• Compelling subject lines
• Differentiated value proposition with a clear CTA
• Social proof to foster trust

4. Automate Email Sequences or Drip Marketing Campaigns

Businesses can customize email re-targeting workflows to send a series of emails to your audience automatically on a specific timeline, based on actions they take or changes in their funnel position. More than 90% of consumers stated that they are more likely to buy from companies that recognized and acknowledged them. Drip emails are an effective way to stay connected with your audience in a personalized and targeted way – following important actions or events. Research showed that sending segmented drip emails generated 18x more revenue for businesses.

You can build retargeting email drip campaigns to nurture leads, follow up with cart abandoners, educate and onboard new audiences or first-time customers, recommend products and more.

5. Measure and Adjust based on Performance

The right metrics to measure your email retargeting campaigns may differ based on the type of email you send, its audience, and other factors. Monitor how your various emails are working, their open, click, engagement and conversion rates, and be prepared to make tweaks based on what you learn.

Analysis based on more than 160 million transactions found that the average time between first visit and first purchase is 33 hours and 54 minutes. Every subsequent follow-up and interaction after a lead has expressed interest in your offerings is crucial. Complementing your retargeting strategy with email can help you strengthen customer relationships using a one-to-one engagement framework. Furthermore, you can go beyond one-time purchases to encourage repeat purchases and retarget existing customers with email effectively.

All in all, email retargeting ought to be a top priority in your digital marketing strategy to create hyper-personalized campaigns at scale and accelerate marketing performance.

Have you experimented with email re-targeting yet? Drop your comments below or write to us at [email protected].

Also, read

• Emails and Campaign Management
• What is Email Marketing?
• What is Social Media Marketing?