Turn Window Shoppers Into Buyers: Email Retargeting Strategies That Actually Work

1. Collect and Segment Customer Data for Effective Email Retargeting

The power of email retargeting lies in the ability to collect customer data and understand your website visitors and customers.

Collecting and segmenting data based on user behavior and attributes, like browsing history and company information, allows your brand to target specific audiences more effectively.

How to Collect Information from Website Visitors

Form fills like sign-up, customer login, contact, and content download forms are the quickest way to gather prospect and customer information.

However, an identity resolution tool can also track hidden website visitors on your site, with or without a form fill. This simple piece of code gathers behavioral, demographic, and firmographic information about users to use in your email campaigns.

Using an ID tool can help you double your current email lists. Discover who’s buying your products and generate a net-new audience of hidden shoppers resembling your best customers

Create Audience Segments Based on Browsing History and Abandoned Carts

Customer segmentation is a key component to personalized email marketing. Segment audiences based on website behaviors like browsing history and abandoned carts to tailor your messaging.

For example, someone who visits a particular product page several times should receive a different email than someone who abandoned their cart. By splitting up these audiences, you increase your chances of conversion because you’re meeting them where they’re at in the sales funnel.

2. Craft Personalized Retargeting Emails for Better Engagement

Marketing emails are a strategic tool to re-engage customers and drive conversions.

To truly recapture the attention of your website visitors, try out personalization techniques inspired by their behavior and preferences.

Personalize Emails Based on Purchase History and Previous Browsing Behavior

Filter your audiences based on different behaviors, like purchase history or previously viewed items.

For example, you could send an email of complementary products to a list of customers that recently purchased a specific type of sandal. This creates a cross-selling opportunity and keeps them engaged by showing them similar products.

Use Dynamic Content and Relevant Offers to Re-Engage Inactive Customers

To re-engage inactive customers, try using dynamic content based on their preferences.

If someone hasn’t interacted with your brand for a while or hasn’t purchased within a certain time period, send them an email with a “We Miss You!” subject line with a discount code inside. Or, recommend newly released products to stir up interest.

3. Best Practices for Running Successful Email Retargeting Campaigns

Following email retargeting best practices is crucial for successful remarketing campaigns. It’s important to nail down the timing, testing, and maintain a good sender reputation.

Timing Your Retargeting Emails to Match the Sales Funnel

Timing is everything. It’s important to match email sends with where your audience is at in your sales funnel.

For instance, send a cart abandonment email within 24 hours after a cart is abandoned. While a follow-up email can be sent a few days later to someone that viewed a few of your product collection pages.

Testing Different Email Templates and Sequences for Maximum Impact

After you’ve built up enough data, consider testing email formats and sequences to see what resonates best with your audience.

A/B testing subject lines, interactive elements like videos or image carousels, email designs, and call-to-actions like discount codes or loyalty programs are ways to prove what your audience prefers.

Just remember to only test one element at a time to identify a clear winner.

Avoiding Irrelevant Emails and Building a Strong Sender Reputation

Your customers already receive hundreds of emails a day. Sending them too many emails can not only drive them away, but also harm your email sender reputation, which can affect your deliverability rates.

To avoid this, only send high-priority and relevant emails. Be selective about your frequency and focus on emails that provide value, not spam.

4. Integrate Email Retargeting with Your Overall Marketing Strategy

Email marketing is a part of your overall marketing strategy. So why not align your email retargeting strategy with the rest of your channels as well!

Aligning Email Retargeting with Online Advertising and Retargeting Ads

Combining email retargeting with display ads or social media retargeting can increase brand recall.

For instance, if a customer receives an email about a new fall/winter collection line, seeing the same brand with the feature collection in a Facebook ad might be the final push they need to complete the purchase.

Monitoring Retargeting Efforts to Optimize Click-Through Rates

Zeroing in on click-through-rates (CTR) in retargeting campaigns can reveal important deals about what engages customers.

Take a look at what prospects and customers click on, including subject lines and offers, and study what design templates convert best to optimize future campaigns.

Combining Channel Data in a Demand-side Platform

Recall the identity resolution tool we mentioned at the top. Data pulled from this tag is housed in a demand-side platform (DSP), an all-in-one solution to build and manage programmatic advertising campaigns.

Within this platform, you can build custom or lookalike audiences with data pulled from the Untitled ID Tag in tools like Facebook Ads or Google Ads. Simply integrate your ad channels into the DSP. Doing so improves your ROAS with a more qualified audience.

5. Triggered Emails to Win Back Visitors

Strike when the iron’s hot by sending trigger emails to re-engage site visitors when they’re most likely to convert.

Using Triggered Emails to Automatically Re-Engage Visitors

Trigger emails, an automatic message sent to a website user based on specific actions, are a quick way to re-engage people right after they show interest.

For example, send an email soon after someone adds something to their cart but doesn’t purchase. Or for a new subscriber, send a welcome email followed by a series of gentle awareness-level promotions aimed to get them to make a first purchase.

Offer Discounts or Free Gifts to Incentivize Conversions

Within a cart abandonment email, you could try enticing them with a free gift or discount code. To finalize the offer further, make the discount code time sensitive to bring them back to your site sooner.

Ensuring Emails Are Mobile-Friendly for On-the-Go Shoppers

We know most people shop online on their mobile phones. According to Statista, in Q2 2024, smartphones accounted for over three-quarters of retail site visits in the United States and generated roughly two-thirds of online shopping orders.

That means your email retargeting campaigns have to be optimized for mobile viewing. Use mobile responsive designs, short but compelling copy, and a clear CTA that’s easy to click and see.

Ensuring Emails Are Mobile-Friendly for On-the-Go Shoppers

We know most people shop online on their mobile phones. According to Statista, in Q2 2024, smartphones accounted for over three-quarters of retail site visits in the United States and generated roughly two-thirds of online shopping orders.

That means your email retargeting campaigns have to be optimized for mobile viewing. Use mobile responsive designs, short but compelling copy, and a clear CTA that’s easy to click and see.