Email retargeting, also known as email remarketing, is a marketing strategy designed to engage with inactive or unconverted subscribers. It involves sending targeted email messages to individuals who have previously interacted with your brand, but have not yet made a purchase or taken a desired action.
For example, if a website visitor adds items to their shopping cart, but does not complete the checkout process, an email retargeting campaign might be used to send them a reminder email with a special offer or discount code. This is meant to incentivize them into completing their purchase.
Email retargeting is highly effective, because it targets individuals who have already shown an interest in your brand or product, making them more likely to convert. Aside from that, email retargeting can also provide benefits such as:
- Higher engagement rates: Because retargeted emails are highly focused and relevant to the recipient, they tend to have higher open and click-through rates than generic promotional emails.
- Improved customer loyalty: Retargeting campaigns can be used to re-engage inactive subscribers, reminding them of the value your brand offers and encouraging them to become active customers again.
- Cost-effective marketing: Email retargeting is often less expensive than other forms of marketing, such as advertising, but can still yield significant results.
Types of Retargeting Emails
There are several kinds of email retargeting strategies to use for your business. You don’t need to leverage them all, as each one has their own specific goals. Here are the most common types of retargeting emails:
- Abandoned cart emails: These emails are sent to individuals who have added items to their online shopping cart, but did not complete the purchase. Abandoned cart emails typically include a reminder of the items left in the cart and an incentive to complete the purchase, such as a discount code or free shipping offer.
- Browse abandonment emails: Similar to abandoned cart emails, “browse abandonment” emails are sent to individuals who have viewed products on your website, but did not add them to their cart or make a purchase. These emails can include product recommendations based on the recipient’s browsing history and a call to action to encourage them to return to your website and complete the purchase.
- Re-engagement emails: Re-engagement emails are sent to inactive subscribers who have not engaged with your emails over a certain period of time. Re-engagement emails can include a special offer or incentive to encourage the recipient to become an active subscriber again.
- Cross-sell and up-sell emails: Cross-sell and up-sell emails are sent to customers who have made a purchase, suggesting related or complementary products that they may be interested in. Cross-sell and up-sell emails can increase the customer’s lifetime value and encourage repeat purchases.
- Personalized emails: Personalized emails are tailored to the recipient’s behavior and preferences, such as recommending products based on their past purchases or browsing history.
How Does Email Retargeting Work?
To implement email retargeting, you will need to use email marketing software that allows you to track subscriber behavior and trigger targeted emails, based on that behavior. The email marketing software tracks user behavior on the website or online store by using cookies or other tracking methods. This works to collect data on the user’s activity, such as the pages they visit, items they view, or products they add to the cart.
You can then use the features provided by the email marketing platform to segment users based on their activity and interests. Using automation workflows, the email marketing software can trigger an email based on specific user behavior. For example, if a user abandons their cart, the software will trigger an abandoned cart email to remind the user of the items in their cart and encourage them to complete the purchase.
How to Create an Email Retargeting Strategy
Creating an email retargeting strategy involves several key steps. It’s important that you follow these steps to have a complete understanding of:
- How your customers behave
- How to choose the best retargeting email to incentivize them to take action
Here’s how:
- Define Your Goals: Determine what you need to achieve with your email retargeting campaign. Are you trying to increase sales, reduce cart abandonment, or promote specific products?
- Identify Your Target Audience: Determine who you want to target with your email retargeting campaign. This may include users who have abandoned their cart, visited certain pages on your website, or engaged with specific products.
- Set Up Tracking and Segmentation: Use tracking and segmentation tools to identify users who match your target audience and then track their behavior on your website. There are plenty of email marketing tools with these features, such as AWeber and Mailchimp.
- Create Your Email Campaign: Develop a targeted and personalized email campaign that speaks directly to your audience. Use dynamic content to tailor the email to each recipient’s interests and past behavior.
- Monitor and Refine: Keep a close eye on your email retargeting campaign’s performance, including open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Use this information to refine your strategy and improve your results over time.
