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Do you feel stuck in an endless game of cat and mouse with your potential customers? You know they're interested in your products but keep slipping through your virtual fingers.
And this is not just 1 or 2 person who dies this. In fact, 60-80% of the potential customers abandon their purchase decision and go elsewhere. But don't throw in the towel just yet! The good news is that you can get them back with a retargeting strategy.
That's right, retargeting on Shopify is the solution you've been looking for. And with this ultimate guide, we will walk you through everything you need to know to boost your sales and turn those lost customers into loyal ones.
From the best practices to the essential apps you need to build a successful retargeting campaign, we've got you covered.
So, whether you're a seasoned Shopify pro or just starting, let's dive in and unleash the full potential of your online store.
What is Retargeting?
Retargeting is a marketing strategy that allows you to show ads to people who have previously visited your website or store. The main purpose of retargeting is to get people back on your site or store. You can use it to capture more sales, build trust and authority, and increase brand awareness.
Simply, retargeting is like having a personal shopping assistant who follows your users around, reminding them of everything they looked at but didn't buy. It will always be there to say, "Hey, remember that shirt you almost bought? Well, it's still here waiting for you!"
However, retargeting isn’t only used to recover lost sales; it can also be used to reengage customers and make them purchase again.
Why Is Shopify Retargeting Important?
How would you feel if all the people who looked at your website or store but didn’t make a purchase were brought back and converted into paying customers?
Well, that is exactly what Shopify retargeting does. Lost sales are not lost until you don’t have a chance to recover them. That is why Shopify retargeting is so important for your Shopify store. It allows you to target customers without losing personalization.
Here are the important reasons why you should use Shopify retargeting:
1. Increase your conversions and sales
Retargeting can increase your sales significantly, as it only takes one campaign to boost conversions by up to 161%.
Not only that but Shopify retargeting can also improve your conversion rates by targeting users who have already shown interest in your products or services. By displaying ads relevant to their interests, you increase the likelihood of them completing a purchase.
2. More flexibility to your campaigns
Shopify retargeting allows you to create custom campaigns based on specific user behaviors, such as products viewed or abandoned carts.
This level of personalization can greatly improve the effectiveness of your campaigns and increase the likelihood of a successful conversion.
3. Improve your brand awareness and drive sales
Retargeting campaigns can also increase brand awareness, especially among potential customers who are already familiar with your brand.
By showing them ads even when they're not on your website, you're reminding them of your products or services and reinforcing your brand's message. This is called the mere exposure effect, which is the idea that repeated exposure to a brand or product increases our feelings of familiarity and trust. And your customers will be like this whenever they see your brand name,
When people are exposed to your ads regularly, they'll become more familiar with your business than those who aren't retargeted. Over time, this can help you build customer loyalty and boost sales.
4. Reduce abandoned carts
Baymard Institute used data from 41 studies to paint the most accurate picture of cart abandonment rates. Their findings show that, on average, customers abandon their shopping carts almost 70% of the time.
Abandoned carts are a common issue for Shopify stores, but Shopify retargeting can help to reduce this problem. By displaying ads reminding users of the items left in their cart, you can encourage them to return and complete their purchase.
5. Increase the customer lifetime value
One of the most important goals of any business is to increase customer lifetime value. This means you want customers who buy from you multiple times, which can help reduce cost per acquisition (CPA) and improve profit margins over time.
Retargeting can be an effective way to do this because it allows you to build relationships with shoppers before they make a purchase decision. An effective way to boost your CLV, isn't it?
Shopify Retargeting Best Practices
Though retargeting is an effective tool to boost your conversion rate, it’s important to use it correctly. If you don’t follow these best practices, your ads may end up annoying your customers instead of driving them to make a purchase.
Here are some best practices to help you get the most out of your retargeting campaigns.
1. Start with defining your ideal customer
You need a clear picture of your ideal customer, so you can use your retargeting strategy to reach them. If you don’t know who they are, you can’t create ads that speak to or target them with the right messages.
Analyze your potential customers' past purchasing behavior, lifestyle interests, and other demographic information to create a list of people most likely interested in your product or service.
This helps you create copy that appeals to your customers more personally, resulting in stronger responses from them.
2. Retarget first-time visitors
When someone visits your website for the first time, they may not be ready to buy. However, if you run retargeting ads that speak to them in a way that resonates with their interests, then you will have a better chance of turning them into returning customers.
Remember the mere exposure effect that I addressed earlier? Well, it comes into play here too. The more exposure you have to your product or service, the more likely people will buy from you. If you can get your ad in front of someone multiple times (especially if they’ve already visited your website once), they will be more likely to purchase when they are ready.
Never miss a chance to make a sale. 😎
3. Try retargeting on different platforms
Remember this: when you retarget, you should stick with the platform where most of your users spend their time. If it's Instagram, then stick with Instagram. But if you're noticing many people visiting your website from Facebook, try running an ad there too.
This is especially important if your business doesn't have a lot of followers on social media yet. If you're starting, don't spend all your money on just one platform—it's better to spread it around to reach as many people as possible and also buy real followers on Instagram, TikTok and other social media profiles.
This approach provides flexibility in the event of algorithmic changes or disruptions in one channel. By taking a cross-channel approach, such as using both Google and Facebook, you can expand the possibilities for retargeting and choose from multiple approaches. However, it may require using new tools to optimize your cross-channel campaigns effectively.
4. Use perfect creatives with effective copy
A picture is worth a thousand words.
This should be your mantra when creating social media ads. If you want to generate leads, don't waste time on text-only ads or descriptions that don't compel people to click through and visit your site. Instead, focus on the image or video you're using and the copy accompanying it. Ensure that each part of your ad is engaging and relevant to your audience's interests—this will help increase clicks and conversions.
According to Fraser, founder of Fraggell Productions, brands have to use multiple ad styles to DTC brand to see wins. He has also shared 6 winning ad styles that you can use for your brand,
And ensure you are testing them against each other to see which performs best.
5. Segment your audience for better results
The best way to use Facebook Ads is by segmenting your audience. This allows you to create ads relevant to a specific subset of people and can help increase conversions. For example, if you're selling a product for women, ensure you only target women within your ad campaigns.
You want to ensure that you deliver relevant offers and content to people who have already expressed an interest in your product. Retargeting works best when you can show a customer an ad for something they’ve already looked at or added to their cart but didn’t purchase—because these ads speak directly from the heart of someone serious about buying.
6. Personalize your content
Did you know 70% of consumers grow frustrated when shopping experiences are not personalized?
Yes, that's a lot, and you don't want to sacrifice that sale just because you didn't personalize your content. Personalization is about making your messaging relevant to the individual customer.
Personalizing campaigns based on social proof, product knowledge, and discounts can subsequently enhance conversion rates. - Christian Rasmussen, Founder at CiteType.
It’s about using data you have on them (or can get) to identify commonalities among your audience, so they feel like your messaging was created just for them.
Best Shopify Retargeting Apps
The best Shopify retargeting apps help you create personalized and relevant ads for your customers. They do this by using data about your customer base, including their demographics and interests, to deliver the right message to the right people at the right time.
We have reviewed the top 8 Shopify retargeting apps to help you find the best fit for your store. Each of these solutions caters to a different type of business, so we’ve broken them down by the goals they can help you achieve.
Spoiler alert: This section won't make any difference if you skip by scanning the app names. So stick with me to boost your ROI.
1. BiteSpeed
BiteSpeed is an all-inclusive retargeting solution that will help you increase your sales by optimizing your campaigns, creating new ones, and measuring their performance. Unlike other display ads, it helps you directly communicate with your user through Facebook messenger.
The best thing? It helps you personalize the content from their name to the product's image. It also has pre-made templates to help you accelerate your campaign in just one tap. Moreover, you can create "Click to WhatsApp" ads and redirect your potential customers to chat with you directly.
You may wonder why, but this is an important feature for your business. WhatsApp has an open rate of 99% and a click-through rate of 70%. Once you build your audience on WhatsApp, it is possible to retarget them to convert them into customers without spending on ads again.
And comparing the CTR of Facebook display ads which is 0.7%, WhatsApp has 100 times more. When you have their details on WhatsApp, you can gain more using multiple campaigns on BiteSpeed.
Your creative possibilities are endless with BiteSpeed. It does everything from abandoned cart campaigns to review collections with one single tap.
2. Sixads
Sixads is a Shopify app that allows you to easily create and manage ad campaigns across multiple platforms—including Facebook, Instagram, Google, and more. With Sixads, you can create custom ads or use pre-made templates to launch campaigns with just a few clicks.
The app also includes analytics and reporting features, allowing users to track your campaigns' performance and optimize them for better results. With the preview option, you can see how your ads will look across different platforms before launching them.
In addition, Sixads uses machine learning to automatically optimize ad placements and audiences for maximum effectiveness, bye-bye to those pesky manual optimizations.
Overall, Sixads is a powerful tool for Shopify store owners looking to increase their reach and drive more sales through targeted advertising campaigns.
3. Dynamic retargeting ads
Dynamic Retargeting by Rontar is a Shopify app that helps you retarget visitors who have shown an interest in their products but didn't purchase. The app uses advanced algorithms to create personalized ad campaigns based on the user's behavior on the store's website.
The app tracks users' browsing and purchase history and shows them relevant ads based on the products they viewed or added to their cart.
The advantage is that you can display ads on various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Google, and more, ensuring your store's products are visible to potential customers. The app also provides real-time analytics and insights into campaign performance, enabling you to adjust and optimize your campaigns for better results.
Rontar is a valuable tool for you if you want to maximize your advertising efforts and increase conversion rates by targeting customers who are already familiar with the brand and products.
4. Adwisely - Social & Google ads
Adwisely is a Shopify app that helps online store owners to create and manage retargeting campaigns across multiple platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Google, and more. The app uses advanced algorithms to track user behavior on the store's website and create personalized ad campaigns based on their browsing history on multiple platforms.
Adwisely allows store owners to create custom audiences based on user behavior, such as product views, cart abandonment, and purchase history. This allows for highly targeted and personalized ad campaigns, increasing the chances of conversion.
The app also provides real-time analytics and insights into campaign performance, allowing store owners to adjust and optimize their campaigns for better results.
5. AdRoll
AdRoll Retargeting is a Shopify app that helps you retarget visitors who have shown an interest in your products but didn't purchase them. The app uses advanced algorithms to create personalized ad campaigns based on the user's behavior on your store's website.
The app tracks users' browsing and purchase history and shows them relevant ads based on the products they viewed or added to their cart.
AdRoll Retargeting can display ads on various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Google, and more, ensuring that your store's products are visible to potential customers.
The app also provides real-time analytics and insights into campaign performance, enabling you to adjust and optimize your campaigns for better results.
6. Omega - Multi Facebook Pixels
The Facebook Multi Pixels app for Shopify helps you install multiple Facebook pixels on your store's website, allowing you to track and optimize your ad campaigns more effectively.
With this app, you can add up to 10 Facebook pixels and create custom events to track specific actions, such as purchases, add-to-carts, and more. This way, you can retarget customers with ads based on their behavior on your site and improve your conversion rates.
In addition to its retargeting capabilities, Facebook Multi Pixels provides detailed analytics and insights into your ad campaigns, helping you make data-driven decisions to improve your ROI.
7. AdEagle
AdEagle is a Shopify app that helps online store owners create and manage retargeting ad campaigns. The app allows you to easily set up dynamic product ads on Facebook and Instagram, targeted to users who have previously visited your store or shown an interest in your products.
Like other apps in this list, it tracks the user's behavior on your store's website, including products they viewed or added to their cart, and creates personalized ads based on this data. This ensures that your ads are highly relevant and effectively converting potential customers.
With real-time analytics and rich data, you can easily track the performance of the ads and make adjustments to increase their effectiveness.
8. Scalify
Scalify is a Shopify app with various marketing automation tools to help store owners grow their businesses. The app offers features such as social media automation, email marketing, lead generation, and retargeting campaigns.
Regarding retargeting, Scalify enables store owners to set up custom audiences based on specific events or actions visitors take on their websites.
The app can automatically create ad campaigns targeting these audiences on various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Google. The best part is that it can automatically optimize the ads to bring the best to your table.
Wrapping Up
And there you have it, folks! A complete guide to retargeting on your Shopify store so that you can turn those window shoppers into loyal customers. But remember: don't use it too much, and you might end up like that annoying salesperson who follows you around the store, trying to convince you to buy something you don't need.
Instead, use retargeting strategically and in moderation. Retargeting is powerful, but it can hurt your brand if used incorrectly. So make sure you're doing it right! Moreover, don't forget to use "Click to WhatsApp ads."
Because you don't want to keep spending on ads to upsell/cross-sell to them, once you collect their information, you can keep gaining sales from them using your buddy BiteSpped. It makes your retargeting expense a one-time effort, as you can reach out to them on WhatsApp and convert them.
Still, we have more strategies on our sleeves and are ready to reveal them to you, but on our demo call. When are you free for a demo call?
