By the end of March 2020, ecommerce sales were up by up to 25% The Coronavirus lockdowns have forced customers to turn to online services for different purchases ranging from groceries to gaming products.
Increased digital presence allows brands to get their messages in front of larger target audiences, which could lead to more leads and conversions for your online store.
How are you handling customers who are stopping at the decision stage of your sales funnel during this time? Letting them go without taking any action means missed sales opportunities. It’s possible to re-ignite their interest through re-engagement and possibly get them to make a purchase. Read on to learn more!
1.Understanding Re-Engagement
Also known as re-targeting, re-engagement is basically serving ads to customers who failed to convert in previous engagements. These ads appear on websites and mobile apps that a lead visits, which is possible through cookies that are installed in their web browsers during the initial interaction.
The goal is to get these leads to purchase or take action since they have already interacted with your brand and are familiar with your products, services, or other offerings. Converting this type of customer is usually less costly than targeting completely new customers. This can be about $0.25-0.60 per click compared to $2-3 for normal ad clicks.
For example, for e-commerce stores, users can add products in their carts, but fail to complete the checkout process. In this case, you can use dynamic product ads (DPAs) to re-engage them, showing them the exact products they added to their carts and reminding them to complete the purchase.
Related: Should You Pause Your PPC Ads Due to COVID-19?
2.Customer Acquisition During the Outbreak
People are spending more time on their screen playing, texting, video calling, and browsing social media. COVID-19 has increased internet use by about 70%t. Taking advantage of this online boom could be a gamechanger for businesses with the right strategy.
First, you can use PPC ads to improve your conversions. With more people using ad-supported mobile devices, you now have more inventory to your customer base. Moreover, right now there is a massive opportunity to advertise since large industries, such as hospitality and travel, have shut off their current ads. This has caused prices for PPC ads to drop by about 50%.
Re-targeting ads can be effective during this period. You need to develop a PPC strategy that delivers the optimal results for your business. This will even be more effective if you are in entertainment, gaming, and health & fitness industries, which have recorded the most traffic during this outbreak.
Be sure to compliment your ads with other content types, such as videos, podcasts, and webinars. People want something to listen to or watch while at home, so make sure your content strategy considers content that would educate and inspire your audience.
3.Budgeting for Your Re-Engagement Campaigns
As noted before, prices for online ads have significantly dropped due to marketing budget cuts and shutdowns across some core industries. Pre-COVID businesses were spending around 5 to 10% of their advertising budgets on re-targeting ads.
During COVID-19, some businesses have allocated up to 95% of budgets to re-engagement ads. This has been a trend among businesses that mostly sell their services online. Budgets for these campaigns largely depend on the business type, product/service, and company’s buyer-seller relationship.
For example, grocery stores with online operations might keep their budgets at a maximum of 25%. On the other hand, businesses selling consumer electronics will be more comfortable with small increments in ad spend. The key to successful budgeting is calculating the time and place ads are delivered to your target audiences.
Bombarding customers with ads is also not advisable. It would be best if you had a well-defined strategy that takes into account all the different types of customers who interacted with your business. For example, it doesn’t make sense to serve consistent ads of certain products to a customer that has already bought them.
Related: The Impact of COVID-19 On Newsletter Ads and Online Notifications
Final Thoughts
With the Coronavirus pandemic, ecommerce businesses must learn to adapt to take advantage of the growing online audiences. More importantly, it’s necessary to understand consumer habits and their economic circumstances during this period.
Your re-targeting ads should be based on the data you’ve collected. If possible, you can leverage predictive software algorithms to understand your customers’ spending habits and intent. This way, you can price your products accordingly and deliver highly relevant and personalized ads in real-time.