Internet tracking tools let you keep your message in front of shoppers
I often get asked, “How do you retarget” a customer?” A customer interested in your dealership may find your website through a search, or might decide to visit your URL after seeing your dealership’s traditional advertising. Generally, two per cent of shoppers convert on the first visit to an online store. Retargeting helps bring back some of the other 98 per cent.
By definition, retargeting means putting your dealership’s message in front of car shoppers who have left your website in order to attract them back and ultimately convert. Retargeting works by keeping track of people who visit your dealership’s website and displays your specific ads to that very individual as they continue to navigate the Internet.
In fact, 92 per cent of all websites on the Internet allow this form of advertising, e.g. ESPN, Fox News, YouTube, Facebook, and millions more. A car shopper may browse your site, but life gets in the way, and they leave before they can place a call to you or fill out a form to provide you with their information.
REMINDERS, REMINDERS
Later, even if they want to return to your site, they might not remember the URL. Or, they might have pushed that initial desire to buy a new vehicle to a later date. A retargeting strategy’s job is to continually remind them of that desire.
They will see your dealership’s ads on scores of other websites as they read the news, check out the latest sports scores, check the weather, download a recipe for dinner or read about their favourite hobby.
Retargeting ads perform so well because you’re reaching the right people, the ones that have already expressed interest in your dealership. Retargeting shows car shoppers the right ad at the right time, over and over.
This generates greater sales by keeping your dealership in a potential buyer’s mind. Retargeting is also extremely effective for marketing a dealership’s service and parts department, collision shop, and secondary finance department.
DID YOU KNOW:
• 49 per cent of car shoppers visit five dealership websites before making a purchase;
• Dealers using a retargeting strategy receive an average increase of a 42 per cent return visit rate;
• Dealers using a retargeting strategy can increase their leads by 52 per cent in 6 months.
If your dealership doesn’t have a retargeting strategy, then you’re wasting a lot of money on lost prospects. Think about it this way; 95 per cent of the individuals on your website will never fill in a form or call you.
It is left to chance that they will give you an opportunity to sell them a vehicle or service. However, with a retargeting strategy you can start talking and marketing to this 95 per cent with your message over and over again, so they will never forget your dealership.
MULTIPLE TIMES
Studies say you have to remind a person 21 times before they act. What are you doing to remind your audience 21 times? How much does it cost to do a TV, radio, direct mail, or newspaper campaign and talk to someone 21 times? Are they even watching your commercial?
Retargeting strategies have a superior return on investment and a proven track record of success. Dealers that use retargeting see a true decrease in cost per lead. When comparing the cost of a retargeting campaign to a search campaign, retargeting wins every time.
The cost of a retargeting campaign combined with the zeroed in focus of who is reached is unbeatable. Where search campaigns cover a wide demographic the consumer may not be getting served ads that are tailored to their specific needs or desires. Retargeting is tailored to the individual based on their web browsing history so they receive the right ad, at the right time and direct them to the right place.
An appropriate retargeting strategy will not lead your customers to feel you are stalking them. Rather they will be gently reminded on a continual basis of that original desire that brought them to your site in the first place.
You may not realize it, but you have been the subject of retargeting yourself. Have you ever visited a company’s website and then started seeing their ads everywhere you went online? That’s retargeting.
Does your website have the ability to follow shoppers on the Internet, continually reinforcing your message with repeated impressions, and ultimately bring them back to your website?
The question remains are you following the customer lead? If you are not using all of the tools in your marketing tool belt your cost per lead will continue to rise.
The ease of retargeting brings the cost per lead down and allows you to focus on the important bottom line. Like a car shopper, do your research then create a retargeting strategy that will zero in on the right leads.
